Thank you for the welcome. I have been poking around the site for a while now. My wife and I are driving to Great Lakes in the morning. Yes, through the bad weather.

Thanks Paul, My son arived last night 12/16/2010. We got the phone call this morning @ 1:00AM. I'm new to this site but will learn fast I guess.

Paul, what can I say?  Been there was one of the best moments in my life (if not the best one).  Seen my daughter in the first row carrying one of the Divisions flag and wearing the dress blues, it moved my heart, I cried and felt pride of a job well done as a father but at the same time humble of such honor of having a daughter serving God and her country!! I spend the rest of that afternoon with her and Paul, she looked so beautiful in that uniform and a few people at the restaurant took the time to thanks her for serving in the Navy!! One thing that I noticed was that there were many sailors with no family members around..and it broke my heart when this young lady that my daughter knew.. I told her congratulations and shake her hands and her eyes got full of tears and I knew then that she needed someone close to her to share that moment!!  We need to encourage all the dads to make a great effort to be there for that great moment..only happen once in their life time.

Paul,

Bob left on Wednesday. we got the I'm here call but thats it so far.

Paul,

The changes you made to the site worked, I can now view the site on both my iPod and Android phone.  Unbelievable customer service!

Tim C

Paul,  Thanks for the welcome and the information, this is a great site.  My son shipped on 12/13, and we just received his 2nd letter.  His 1/1 day was 12/29, he is in ship 4 div 805 graduating on 2/18/11.  We have already made reservations to go to the graduation.  Sounds like he is doing fine so far, we can't wait to see him at graduation.   I have watched several videos, it's good to get a feel for what he is going through.

Thanks again,

Johhn

The response to this was great. I never expected to have a welcome like this.
My son Wyatt is still in the very early stages of entering the Navy. He will go to his physical test and final enlistment next month. He hopes to be headed to bootcamp right after his high school graduation. Im am very proud of him. He was looking at going to the Coast Guard for the last couple of years. One of his football team mates enlisted in the Navy last year and came home a month ago and told Wyatt what he had seen and done. That was it for him, the Navy was his choice. He is very intrested in the SWCC or a Master at Arms. I think he is wanting to follow in the Law Enforcement area after the Navy. We will see.

Thanks again for the warm welcome.

Chuck  

Paul,

TNX for the welcome note. My son, Emmett, flies the MH-60R, on the Abe (CVN-72)....currently deployed. I just heard about NAVY DADS on Friday and joined. I am looking for ward to it !

Paul, How long are the 2011 calenders available?  gotta save from SS.

Thank you so much! My son Jon just left for boot camp almost two weeks ago. My wife and I have tried to educate ourselves the best we can with the military so we can better understand our son's endeavour that much better. After basic training Jon will begin A-school for Operations Specialist which is also at Great lakes. My wife and four other children will be visiting Jon March 18 to see him graduate.

I have an 21 year old son who will be graduating college this Spring- who will be attending law school next fall. I have a 20 year old daughter who is also in college. My 19 year old Jon is the one who just entered the Navy. I have a 10 year old son who in 5th grade and a 3 week old infant son! One big family and I wouldn't trade it for anything!

I'm just learning about this site, so I apologize for not getting back to you sooner.  Thabnks for bringing me "on board" and congratulations for having two children in service to our country!!!!

It's so interesting being a parent...when we can escape our own ego and be even more proud of our children's accomplishments than our own.

Best wishes to their continued success!

Chris

Thanks Paul. I have received many helpful comments today. Jason has BS21 this week and I cannot wait for the call. I got on the site today so I had a better understanding of what comes next. There is a lot of good info here on PIR that has been most helpful.

I was sitting here last Saturday making the trip plans and my phone rang displaying an 'unknown number". I knew right away that it was likely from his calling card. We got to talk for about 45 minutes and I was on top of the world for a week. That was the first we had spoken since December 14 (his Mom and I get nice long letters but his girlfriend normally gets the phone calls). I am praying that the Chicago weather gods smile on us so there are no issues seeing him graduate on the 18th. He is grad and go so we are still a little uncertain about how much time he can spend with us that weekend but any time is great by me.

Hey Paul, good to hear from you.  I know you're real busy, so no worries.  I haven't done a good job of keeping in touch either.  Hope you have a great time in Seattle with Kat.  I'm sure you're really looking forward to the trip.  Hope all is going well for Eric.  Billy is doing well and preparing to leave for his first deployment soon.  Haven't done anything recently in the way of care packages, so I'd better get back on track with that soon.  He's counting on getting some of that homemade jerky.  He's been underway a number of times, so he's got his sea legs ready to go.  I was out to San Diego just over a week ago to attend the Howard's Family Day Cruise and had a blast. 

I've been very busy also.  After being pursued for several months, I agreed to go back to work for my previously employer at the engineering company.  It was a tuff decision to make because I was doing well at the other job.  So, I pray that it was the right decision given that our economy is still unstable.

Have a good time with Kat!

Paige 

 Thank you for taking the time to welcome me to this site. Looking forward to learning more and connecting with other dads .  

                                                                 Thanks again Lance 

Hey Paul, hope that all is well.  My son is doing pretty good.  He received the Blue Jacket Award for last Quarter and they have really seen his leadership skills and work ethics.  I am really proud of him.  He is part of the VP-26 Squdron stationed in Jacksonville, FL.  

Listen, any word on when we can expect new Tribute Videos.  I love to see these things.   Take good care and God Bless.  

Luis-Navy Dad & DAMN Proud!     

Admin Paul, my son graduate last February on his "A" class,now he is in San Antonio,TX on a CVT class, he is doing very well we are very proud of him.

His commitment on serve this country is very high.

You have been very helpful. I wish I had more time to learn all this. It's amazing what you have built here!

I am having trouble uploading a picture for my profile. I managed to get two into my pictures but that is where I stalled. Suggestions? I am not asking you to do it, I want to learn. I also want to change my profile name to Golfer. If I do it in my profile: 1) will it stick? 2) for those I have friended, will it become automatic or do I need to tell them first before I do it?

Funny my wife has her own relationship with Grandpa - Navy mom's, of course. He is quite knowledgeable and is very open to sharing. I have been trying not to bother you guys too much, I can see how this could quickly become consuming.

A few years ago, we would not have been able to any of this. It's amazing how much technology has changed. We even to get "FaceTime" with our son about once a week. This has to be one of the best things about cell phones!

Thank you (collectively) for all the work to bring this site to what it is.

Regards,  Mark H

Paul you and the others have been such an inspiration. You probably don't know how many people appreciate your time and effort in administrating this site, but I am sure it is the hundreds if not more.

                         The music is great . My wife just came by and said that is music to make you cry. I am a huge fan of Toby Keith and what he has done for our troops.

                       Paul keep in touch and bravo zulu

Proud Navy Dad Van

Paul, I really enjoy your page and unfortunately the songs are so moving that it makes me want to see my son that much sooner. Brian is going through battlestations as I am posting this comment. I know he will be alright, but if you would keep him and the other recruits of division 921 in your prayers, I sure would appreciate it.

You have some special sailors and I know how proud you must be of them both.

Keep in touch

Proud  Navy Dad Van

Paul-

As a father of OC Kristin Greene in 09-11 Charlie, I understand the next step after grad is SWARS. What does this entail and approximately how long typically. Do officers ever study a specialty like "A" School? Just curious because people always ask " what's her MOS?" I know that's army talk but everyone seems to use it because Rate & Rating don't seem to be as widely known; or, honestly, aren't quite as descriptive.

Thanks for any input. Regards, Kevin

Thank you Paul. Appreciated your hard work creating and contined efforts with Navy Dads.

Yea I've been so busy. I got promoted and moved back to the mainland in Laguna Niguel, CA. Davids still with the same Squad and I see him often even though he's back in Norfolk. They do training up in Fallon, NV and one of my Resorts is outside of Reno so when he's there I plan a trip to see him. Now its the Bush for an extended deploy.

How's things with you? I assume Eric will be on Oahu. You going to move there too? I see he's an AM3 now.

Great to be back!

Rich

Hi Paul,

Thanks for the warm welcome.

As you may expect I feel quite a mixture of emotion - anxiety, pride, anticipation... This site has already provided me with valuable information.

I appreciate your efforts - keep up the good work.

Frank

Paul, Thank you for the welcome and congratulations and thank you for the service of your son and daughter.

With regards,

David Moffitt