Gary T.'s Comments

Hey Gary,

Just wanted to pop in and say hello... it's been awhile.  How's Nick doing these days?  I hope he's enjoying his time in Pearl.  Has he been on any deployments yet?  Billy's ship returned from a 7-month deployment at the end of October.  They made port stops in Hawaii (2 times), Guam, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore (2 times), and Japan.  They participated in some of the CARAT (Cooperation Afloat Readiness And Training) exercises.  And spent some time in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden chasing after pirates.  This being his first deployment, it was a great experience for him.

I was out in San Diego last week to attend his frocking ceremony.  He made Second Class from this last testing cycle.  He is planning to re-enlist as soon as all the necessary paperwork is processed.

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas holiday!  Will Nick make it home for the holiday?  Have you planned any trips to Hawaii?  I will be back out to San Diego for the New Years weekend to celebrate with Billy and another sailor's family from AZ.

Best Wishes to you and your entire family!!

Gary - He bought a nice 07 Mustang GT and loves it. Unfortunately 30 days after he bought it he had a lesson in driving around a corner on gravel in a rear-wheel drive car. He lost the back and and skidded into a pole - did some real damage to one side. He's heartbroken - but one-experience smarter I guess. Thankfully no one was injured. He's in process of getting the repair estimate now. Refresh my memory - is your son assigned to a ship at Pearl?

Hi Gary,
Great to hear from you and get an update on Nick. Glad to hear he is enjoying his new duty station in Pearl Harbor. What type of ship is the USS Lake Erie? I agree with the friendship issue. Sounds like he and the other sailor have finally made that connection. It's good to have some buddies around!! Billy is doing great. He stays very busy! No time for girlfriends, he says (Whew!!). He volunteered to be a member of the VBSS team for the Howard and will attend training for it before the end of the year. There is a VBSS school in S.D., but it is full, so he and some other sailors are penciled in to attend the school in Pearl Harbor in November. He's been training for a position on the SARS team as well. He's also taking martial arts classes. So, with all that and his IC job in the Navy, the young man doesn't have much time to think about girls, lol. He's moving into his first apartment at the Pacific Beacon this Friday, so he's really excited. With any luck, he will find time during the next month or two to make a trip home to visit with mom. Either way, I'm planning to make a trip to S.D. to see him over the Labor Day weekend.

Thank you for staying in touch! I hope you have a great Father's Day on Sunday!!

Take Care,
Paige

Hey Gary,
I'm sorry for taking so long to get a message back to you. My only excuse is that I've been working really long hours and my time on-line is very limited these days. I'm thrilled to hear that Nick is doing so well in C-School. 100% GPA... can't ask for anything better than that. Billy had alot of open book test in some of his classes also. His ship is a destroyer. They have gone underway several times since Billy reported for duty. He's getting a taste of sea life just alittle at a time. He's stays very busy on his ship and is responsible for maintaining and repairing several different kinds of equipment. He volunteered to be one of the Search and Rescue Swimmers (SARS) for his ship and will attend a 4-6 week training for it some time in April. He has put on weight since bootcamp. It has been intentually...he's been working out regularly and drinking all those special protein drinks.

I hope Nick continues to enjoy his time in San Diego! I hope all is well with you and the rest of your family. Thanks for keeping in touch.

Hey Gary,
I haven't messaged you in awhile. It's been difficult these days finding the time to log-on. Is Nick still waiting for C-School? I hope he's able to spend the holidays with you. Billy was just home for a few days and had to leave yesterday, so we celebrated early this year. He had his first taste of being on the ship at sea. Just before he came home they went underway for about 3 days. He said he only got sick once the first day and then was fine for the rest of the trip.

Have a Merry Christmas!!

Gary, thanks for the update on Nick. I had been thinking lately that I needed to get a message sent off to you with an update on Billy. So, thanks for the nudge : )
Glad to hear that Nick is expecting his orders anytime now. I hope he gets the assignment he's looking for. I'll be anxious to find out where he's headed. Billy finishes his final C-School today and will only need to report on Monday to get his certificate. His ship (USS Howard) has not returned from deployment yet. So, rather than be on hold, he has elected to take some leave time and come to AZ and spend some time with dad and some time with me. I believe he has to be back in S.D. by the 13th. He's very excited about reporting to his ship. He has been in contact with his LPO's on the ship and has requested that they consider allowing him to volunteer for the VBSS team. It involves participating in an 8 week training/school and meeting other physical qualifications. Billy thinks since the ship will be in port for awhile once it returns, it will be a good opportunity for him to get this accomplished. I'll keep you updated on his plans with all that.
I have been doing fine... though life has been stressful lately. Because of this struggling economy, the company I work for is having difficult financial times. So, I have been busy recently trying to line up new employment options...sending out resumes and going for job interviews. I have a couple of strong prospects that I am pursuing now. In the meantime, my wonderful boss is keeping me working for now until I have something new lined up. Anyway, I'm uncertain about how often I will have opportunites to post on the site, so please be patient with me if I do not respond to your messages right away. I will do my best to keep up with everything.
I'll be waiting to hear about when & where Nick is going to be shipped out. Best of luck to him!!
Take Care My Friend!!

Thank you very much. I noticed the GM group and will check that out. This site and people like you have been very helpful in getting through this initial separation. I left for the Navy in 1985 and had no idea what affect it had on my parents. I thought they were just being over dramatic. Now I know!

Gary, so glad to hear that Nick was finally able to get started with GM A-School. I bet he is real excited about that!! I'm anxious to find out where he will go for his duty station. I wonder if GM's have C-Schools.
Billy's doing good. Just started C-School #3 on Monday, so 2 down and 2 to go.
I'm hosting a Navy moms & dads get together on Aug. 22nd. Any chance you will be passing thru AZ around that time? I'm sure that's probably not feasible for you, but I wanted to mention it anyway. You would certainly win the prize for having traveled the furthest distance, LOL.
Have a good week, my friend!

Hey Gary,
Just stopping by for my monthly report on Nick, lol. How's he doing? Any ideas yet on where he will be sent? Hope you're still fitting in as many weekend visits with Nick as you can. Billy was home for the 4th of July weekend and he brought a sailor buddy he's known since bootcamp home with him. We all had a fun weekend!! Billy's on his way home again at this very moment. Should be here before nightfall. I do worry about him having to drive across the hot summer desert to make his way home. I'm just afraid he will breakdown. Think positive, right? He'll be pretty busy this trip. He'll be working at the Navy Recruiter's office for the rest of this week and then heads to his dad's place on Monday.
I hope everything is going good for Nick. Take care and drop me a line or two when you have time.

Gary - any word on your son classing up for A school?

Gary, my friend I hope you have a terrific Father's Day!! Hopefully you will have Nick home for the weekend. How's his schooling going? Any talk of orders yet? Billy's moving right along with his C-Schools. His second school ends 7-21 and then he has a couple of weeks off before the next one starts, so he's planning a trip to AZ to spend a few days with mom and a few days with dad down in Globe, AZ.
Hope you are able to have your whole crew together to celebrate Father's Day. Enjoy your day!!!!

Hi Gary,
Nice to hear from you, as always. I've been real busy at work and haven't had as much time on here as I would like. No complaints though, I like being busy cause then I know I still have a job to go to the next day. Congrats to Nick for completing ATT. Too bad about the hold situation, but we both know from what we've heard, it could be alot worse. How long is GM A-School? Also, glad to hear that he and Brett will be on the Cole together. Billy liked his time at the Cole. He seemed to like it better than some of the other ships he was at. Billy is doing very well in his C-Schools. His ship just left for a 4-5 month deployment yesterday along with the carrier Reagan and all the other ships in that support group. Billy will be finishing school about the time his ship returns to S.D. He received some really good news last week. He found out that he passed his Petty Officer 3rd class exam and is being promoted. I'm real proud of him with all the progress he is making. He came home for Memorial Day weekend. His truck broke down on the way here, but luck being on our side, he was only about 8 miles from home when it happened. With the help of some friends, we got his truck fixed and returned to him the next morning. The fuel pump went out, so thank goodness it wasn't too serious or expensive to repair.
Have fun on your trip to Vegas. Be safe and enjoy your trip through AZ.

Gary, thanks for the message yesterday. Glad to hear Nick is moving right along with ATT. I've heard that it can be a difficult class. Billy took one or two weeks longer than the norm to complete it. His superiors told him they would rather he take his time and do well and learn the material. So, thats what he did and he completed all the modules with good grades. Isn't it nice having your sailor so close to home that you can see him occasionally on the weekends? I've been spoiled since Billy arrived in San Diego. I had a vey special Mother's Day weekend with him. It's only about a 7 hr. drive from here, but I decided to fly this trip so we would have more time. On Mother's Day we were invited to go and take a tour of Billy's ship. His soon to be LPO arranged the tour for us. I've had the opportunity now to see a destroyer inside and out. It was a real cool experience for me. I think I was more excited about it than Billy was. And, what an honor it was for me to be by my son's side when he took those first steps onto his ship. Billy's doing well in school. This C-School he's in now will end around July 21st and then he gets a 2 week break before the next class starts. He's coming home next Friday to spend Memorial Day weekend. As I said earlier, I've been spoiled having him stationed close to home. Enjoy as many weekend visits as you can with Nick because who knows where his Navy journey will take him next.
Have a great weekend with Nick and the family!!

Bill - Just reading your note. Danny too is waiting for A school to start, but when he finished ATT, around the same time as Brett he said they told him 4-7 days before A school would start - and that was probably ~2 weeks ago. He got mono right after that and was pretty sick - on lite duty but still has work he has to do. Bottom line is he has too much time on his hands....you're right - it's hard to keep them "up". I'm concerned that if A school hasn't started he'll never get done by end of June - we haven't seen him since Jan 5 so trying to plan vacations etc....ah well. At least he's not overseas someplace and in harms way.

Hey Gary, how have you been? I am Sooooo jealous that you get to see your boy so often. I would eat boogers to spend that kind of time with mine. Enjoy it while you can. Hopefully he will be stateside and you will be able to see him when he gets to fleet. As for Brett, no , he hasn't started A school yet. He finished ATT on the 21st of April and they told him it would been 3-4 weeks before he classes up because, get this, they had to pull instructors from A school to handle the surge of students for ATT!!!!!! CAN you believe this shit???? So, now they have to extend the holds for A school. Brett's roommate finished A school 2 weeks before Brett finished ATT and classed up in 3 days. So, Brett is pissed to say the least. He is becoming very, very discouraged and angry with the whole mess. It has become a mission for my wife and I to try to keep his spirits up. It is a struggle but we will prevail God willing. Hopefully things will once again speed up in time for Nick and he won' t have to play the game. I will keep in touch. Godspeed to you and yours, Bill

After I sent you the message HAZ-MEN popped into my head. I actually go by Joe. I'm in D-07 and worked with steve Bein, Steve Riley, Phil McMillan, Bruce Hall, Mark Hines, and Danny (DONKEY) Wisdom. I even think we raided Curry Environmental in Milan together. Thanks for the notes of encouragement. It's has been pretty sad around the house with Rob gone. Got the form letter with a two line note on the bottom the other day. I dont check my e mail as oftern as I should but will be in touch. Joe

Hey Twardo. Thanks for the msg. I'm not a great e-mailer. Can't sit still that long. My memory is getting shorter with every inch my gut gets bigger. Weren't you a motor carrier guy once apon a time?

I know what you are saying...not sure how to implement something like that right now. The ability to pull info like that together would be nice, but the member database is very limited in what it can do. Let me let this one stew for a while and see what I can come up with!!

Thanks for the welcome Gary