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Started this discussion. Last reply by Brian Losey May 22, 2016. 3 Replies 0 Likes
My son is on USS Ronald Reagan and this is his first year. What is the longest time that he can come home for? Let's say he has a month of leave days saved can he use them all at once? I'm still new…Continue
Started this discussion. Last reply by James Edward Rohrer May 19, 2015. 5 Replies 0 Likes
Hope all of you strong parents, grandparents, siblings and friends of our recruits are doing good. My son has been in the boot camp for 27 days today and I still didn't receive the letter from him :(…Continue
Started this discussion. Last reply by Steve Chiabotti Apr 30, 2015. 11 Replies 1 Like
Today marks the week since my son left for boot camp and miss him like crazy but knowing that he is doing something so great gives me more peace and strength to keep going and me strong for his…Continue
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I'm sorry Tihana- I was doing laundry and getting ready to head back to work tomorrow and wasn't on the computer
Greetings Tihana! When my son joined the Navy I really had no idea nor a clue on what he’s about to partake in besides what I’ve seen on tv and some stories I've heard from friends and relatives who have served in the military.
However, I'm so honored and very proud of his decision to serve our great country.
From the start, I’ve perused Navy and recruiter information online and beyond but felt that I needed more peace of mind to help keep me from worrying too much. I also wanted to hear from real people who've been around the block and others to share knowledge and experience throughout this entire journey.
That's when I found this website while searching for answers...
We're all in this together and I hope you too will find NavyDads.Com useful with lots of real shared information.
Please don't forget to check out our Groups section and join a group that shares your interest. Please keep us posted on your Sailor's progress via status updates, discussion forums, blogs and photos...
A Warm "Thank You" from our family to your son Alnardo for his service!
Welcome Aboard and GO NAVY!
If you think you are alone, this was posted by a dad to another member dealing with separation anxiety....
"I know you have seen some encouraging comments from other members, but I wanted to weigh in here too. On 28 January, a month after completing college, my son was sworn in to the Navy DEP. It was a couple of days after that when it hit me....after 23 years of a daily relationship with him everything was about to change! I knew joining the Navy was going to be the absolute best thing for him. But in spite of that, I became very depressed. I had no idea what I was doing but googled Navy support groups. I found this site. I remember posting my first comments.....reluctantly because I thought others would think of me as less of a man.....how depressed I was already at the thought of my son leaving and he was not leaving for boot until 1 May. Well the responses were surprising! All the admins and a number of other members put me at ease when they responded that every dad on this site, if they are honest with themselves, experienced the same thing. I also followed the great advice from the admins to read as much as possible on this site. All of this really helped! But then came the week before he left. I became very upset and just wasn't sure how I was going to cope. It really took some work to get it under control. Then the day came to put him on that plane to Great Lakes. As the tears flowed, it was my son in a bit of a role reversal that said, "dad, it's going to be just fine." Well from that point everything happened just as it was described by the admins and other members on this site from receiving the "kid in a box" to the form letter to the first phone call. The best advice I received after his departure was to write often. I didn't really think my son would care that much because my son has always been very independent and not the "home sick" type. But I found out two things in writing the letters: he loved them and encouraged it and they were very therapeutic for me! In the 7 weeks after I received his address I wrote 16 letters. All typed, no spacing, and not one under 4 pages long! I would never have imagined being able to come up with that much to write about....but you will be surprised. It truly helped the time move along as well. Then believe it or not, PIR was upon us. My son graduated on 28 June. The only thing I can say about PIR is that as it relates to my son, it was the second greatest day of my life......second ONLY to witnessing his birth! When you see your sailor march into that hall and you realize he/she is now a part of something greater than themselves, it is an indescribable feeling of pride. A feeling that washes away all the tears and angst of the previous 8 1/2 weeks of separation. Now as I look back, I am amazed how time has passed so quickly! As of today my son has been out of boot camp almost as long as he was in it. He is in Pensacola attending IT A school. This is totally different from boot camp. It resembles being away to college as you can communicate freely (voice, text, e-mail) with the exception of when they are in class. So to wrap this up, as others have said, hang in there! You too before you know it will be in the same shoes as many of us....looking back wondering where the time went and posting comments to help parents going through that which you have endured. I cannot emphasize enough how wonderful this site is to help you through it.....from really good information to Navy FAMILY who are there for moral support. God Bless you and your son for his service to our great country!"
Welcome to NavyDads.com Tihana! 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 attached to VAW-125, and back on the USS Theodore Roosevelt. 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!
I'm sure you'll find NavyDads.com as useful, educational and informative as I have over the past few years. Click How To Get Started for a guide on getting going in your NavyDads.com experience! I hope you take the time to explore the site and make some new friends. Read the discussions and add your comments. Browse through the postings in the various groups or start a new one. If you have any comments, questions or concerns about your sailor and what he is going through...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 Tihana this is a great place to brag as well! So join in, get active, and be sure to let us know how your son is doing! Please remember that we talk about the Navy here and we must keep the security and safety of our sailors and the fleet in mind. On the right or starboard side of every NavyDads page is an area we call Key Information. Please take a minute and read through the Operations Security (OPSEC) link for some guidelines as to what we should not talk about in a public forum like NavyDads.com.
As a parent of a sailor currently or soon to be at Great Lakes you'll have many questions about what Alnardo is going through. In the Navy Bootcamp group is a discussion called A MUST READ for all New Navy Parents. Read through this post as it will do a lot to give you some understanding about what your sailor is learning and why. And be sure to check out the videos available in the Bootcamp Group as well and as PIR nears be sure to spend time in the PIR group for hints and helps!
Best Regards- Paul