David Olaf Hjembo's Page

Hi Daivd, short of an Act of War (seriously) the Carrier will be at Pearl as scheduled.  That schedule was established long ago with a lot of pre-planning for many reasons.  If a lot of luxury is not a big priority, I would suggest looking into the Best Western motel that's right by the airport.  It's a bit dated, but clean, and reasonable prices...for Hawaii.  You can call for the motel van to pick you up when you get to Honolulu.  A small restaurant is in the motel.  The next morning all you need to do is take the motel van again back to the USO facility at the airport terminal (between E&F gates).  Get to the USO early if you'll want a seat inside to wait, otheriwse as long as you get there say within 1 hour of the ship's boarding, you'll be fine.  There will be a lot of other people also waiting for those same buses.  They will have buses to take you directly to the dock, maybe a 10-15 minute ride.  All the buses will have "Ships Company" escorts.  No matter if you're first in line or last for the buses, you will get to the ship in plenty of time.  Make sure you bring your approval paperwork, and a picture ID with you.  It'll make boarding the buses easier for you....Do you get sea sick easily?  Think about a patch (behind the ear, DR Rx) or meds BEFORE you board.  USN care for civilians on board is not authorized unless there's an emergency.  Let me know it you have any other questions.  Perry Z.

Welcome aboard David.
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, PIR, 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 4000 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 son Karl on his enlistment and please thank him for me for making the choice to defend the freedoms that my family, this country and I have and enjoy.
Navy dads Co-admin Tim

Welcome to NavyDads.com David! 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 carrier Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) and recently reported to Helicopter Squadron Light-37 (HSL-37) in Hawaii after re-enlisting last year. My daughter Kat is now a Navy veteran and was stationed on the carrier Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) as a Mass Communications Specialist and is currently using her GI benefits to go to school. If NavyDads.com were around in those early days, it would have made my journey 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. 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 David this is a great place to brag as well! So join in, get active, and be sure to let us know how Karl 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 About This Site. 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.

Play the following video for a brief introduction to NavyDads.com. We've made some cosmetic changes to the site since this video was made, but navigation remains the same.

Best Regards- Paul