Gary Zaetz

Male

Profile Information:

Your Sailor's First Name (Please Do Not Post SEAL Names)
April
Describe A Little About Yourself (your IP address/location will be checked::
My daughter April (shown in the photo) is a Seaman Apprentice in the US Naval Sea Cadet Corps and hopes to become a US Naval Officer someday, either through the Naval Academy or through NROTC. Her ultimate goal is to become a Foreign Area Officer (FAO), using the language skills she is already developing in Arabic, Chinese, and Japanese. As for myself, I've worked as a computer programmer for a large computer company for 30 years and have been very active in efforts to recover the remains of my World War II MIA uncle from his recently discovered crash site in the Indian Himalayas. I've attended many of the Family Update Meetings held around the country for relatives of MIAs by the USPACOM's Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), and traveled to my uncle's crash site in 2008.
What Brought You To This Site:
my child is thinking of joining
What Were Your Feelings When Your Sailor Joined The Navy:
When my daughter told me that she wanted to become a Naval Officer, I felt extremely proud. Although I am not a veteran myself, my family has a distinguished military heritage: my uncle is a World War II MIA, his plane having disappeared over the Himalayas in 1944. My father was a Navy Seabee, having served on Kwajalein and the USS Hornet during World War II.
What Is Your Relationship With Your Sailor
Dad
Please Share: How Did You Find Us?
I did a google search for any organization that might help educate parents of sailors or future sailors.

Comment Wall:

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  • NavyDads Co-Admin, Calvin

    Gary, Welcome to NavyDads. My Grandson joined the Navy and went to Boot Camp in February, 2008. He Graduated and received his Trident in Oct. 2009 and is now with his Team. When I joined this site I knew nothing about the Military. It’s really helped me understand what to expect and has relieved some of my worries.

    Be sure to check out our Groups. We have several Groups for PIR and Boot Camp, plus Groups for the different Rates like Navy Nukes, Master at Arms and Special Ops. Also Group for different Ships and Bases. Check to see if your State or area has a Group already formed to locate others in your area. There are general interest Groups like: Care Packages,
    A School for Dads, NASCAR for NavyDads and the book of acronyms and ranks. We’ve also added a Spanish language Group.

    Also check us out on Facebook just search for Navy Dads.

    We are a big family here and you can find answers to most any question or concern regarding what’s in store for your recruit. You will find members that are new to the Navy along with those who have Loved Ones who’ve made the Navy a career. We like to hear about your recruit; the good times, the concerns, and we welcome questions. I think you will find our members are a big family and everyone wants to help others understand what to expect and hear about the progress of your recruit.

    Please feel free to ask questions.

    Again Welcome and keep us updated on your recruit.

    HooYah US Navy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Mar 3, 2013

  • NavyDads Co-Admin, Calvin

    Gary, I am glad you found and joined NavyDads and hope we can help with any questions or concerns you might have. If you have problems navigating the site or finding answers to your concerns or question let me know and I will help anyway I can. I think you will find our members very helpful.

    Please keep us informed as to how you Sailor is doing.

    Mar 3, 2013

  • NavyDads Admin, Tim

    Welcome aboard Gary.
    I would like to take this time to point you in some of the right directions. For starters if you haven't had the time take a look at the right side of any page you click on. There you will find some useful information for you. The links under the about this site will help you with how this site got started, navigation, P.I.R., About us, community guidelines and some links to some of the groups that beginners with a lot of questions will find very useful. There is also a link called Navy Enlisted Ratings, this link will take you to a brief description of the rates (jobs) in the Navy that you can find your sailors rate and find out some information about the rate that they are in.
    First and foremost though we are all here for the same reason. We are curious about what our young sailors are getting into and for more information about the rate or job that they will be doing for the next 4-6 yrs. of their lives. I know when I first got here I had lots of questions and there was not a lot of people on this site but they all were either going through the same thing or had been through it and had sailors out in the fleet. Now this site has grown to over 6000 members, Dads, Moms, Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, sisters, brothers, girlfriends and boyfriends. Don't be afraid to ask questions of members in here because somewhere along the way we have all had the same questions and asked. There are a lot of knowledgeable people on this site with various years of experience in the NAVY either on their own account or through their Sailors.
    Again welcome aboard and BRAVO ZULU to you and your daughter April on her enlistment and please thank her for me for making the choice to defend the freedoms that my family, this country and I have and enjoy.
    Navy dads Admin Tim

    Mar 3, 2013