Ray L Smith's Page

Welcome to NavyDads.com Ray ! When my daughter enlisted in 2005 and left for RTC, I had virtually no knowledge of Navy life or how the Navy did things. By the time her PIR rolled around, I was starting to get the hang of things and understand some of the language and abbreviations, but still felt like a fish out of water when dealing with most topics concerning the US Navy. When my son enlisted and left for Great Lakes in 2007, I got serious about trying to learn as much as possible about the Navy. Now, several years into my journey, I’m blessed to say I have two sailors in the family - my son Eric (AM2) was on the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71), was attached to Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 37 (HSM-37) in Hawaii, and is now attached to VAW-125 ("The Tigertails"), is stationed at Iwakuni, Japan and is currectly deployed as part of Carrier Strike Group 5 on the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76). My daughter Kat is now a Navy veteran and was stationed on the carrier Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) as a Mass Communications Specialist(MC3). If NavyDads.com were around in those early days, it would have made my first days as a Navy parent much easier!

If you have any comments, questions or concerns be sure to post them! In my experience someone here can answer your questions or concerns or can point you in the direction to find out. And Ray this is a great place to brag as well! So join in, get active, and be sure to let everyone know how you are doing!

Best Regards- Paul