This site is for mothers of kids in the U.S. Navy and for Moms who have questions about Navy life for their kids.
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Link to Navy Speak - Navy Terms & Acronyms: Navy Speak
All Hands Magazine's full length documentary "Making a Sailor": This video follows four recruits through Boot Camp in the spring of 2018 who were assigned to DIV 229, an integrated division, which had PIR on 05/25/2018.
Boot Camp: Making a Sailor (Full Length Documentary - 2018)
Boot Camp: Behind the Scenes at RTC
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Events
**UPDATE 4/26/2022** Effective with the May 6, 2022 PIR 4 guests will be allowed. Still must be fully vaccinated to attend.
**UPDATE as of 11/10/2022 PIR vaccination is no longer required.
**UPDATE 7/29/2021** You now must be fully vaccinated in order to attend PIR:
In light of observed changes and impact of the Coronavirus Delta Variant and out of an abundance of caution for our recruits, Sailors, staff, and guests, Recruit Training Command is restricting Pass-in-Review (recruit graduation) to ONLY fully immunized guests (14-days post final COVID vaccination dose).
FOLLOW THIS LINK FOR UP TO DATE INFO:
**UPDATE 8/25/2022 - MASK MANDATE IS LIFTED. Vaccinations still required.
**UPDATE 11/10/22 PIR - Vaccinations no longer required.
RESUMING LIVE PIR - 8/13/2021
Please note! Changes to this guide happened in October 2017. Tickets are now issued for all guests, and all guests must have a ticket to enter base. A separate parking pass is no longer needed to drive on to base for parking.
Please see changes to attending PIR in the PAGES column. The PAGES are located under the member icons on the right side.
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Tons of questions for Navy Spouses from someone about to join you!
Hi, all! A little background: My husband (31) and I (29) have been married for almost 8 years and have a 3 year old daughter. He has a job where he makes good money, but is very unsatisfied and feels like he is not making any difference in the world. At the beginning of the year, he brought up the idea of joining the Navy. After months of talking to each other, talking to our families, talking, talking, praying, talking, etc, we decided that this would be the best option for our family. He leaves in November as a CTN, which is a 6 year contract. All of this is so overwhelming that I am trying to find out as much as I can beforehand so that I can be prepared. So, basically, I have some questions for spouses that have been through all this (sorry about the incoming wall of text!):
1) I am confused about the leave between A school and our first duty location. He gets 10 days--correct? And he can take extra leave days, if he wants? (He'll have about 20 days by then, since his JCAC is 6 months) Does that mean 10 days, and then he travels to his duty station, or is it 10 days to get everything moved, drive to the duty station, find a house, move in, and start his new job, all within that 10 days? How exactly does a PCS work?
2) How soon into A school do you generally find out where you will be stationed?
3) I have read somewhere that spouses can get a plane ticket or something through the military so that I could go out to the duty location to look for a house and a job. Is that true? How does that work? (I ask because I am a teacher, and they generally only hire teachers a few months out of the year, so I will need to go there as soon as I know where we are stationed in order to start introducing myself to local districts and turning in resumes)
4) The constant debate, I'm sure: On base or off base living? I was totally for living on base, but then a friend of mine whose husband is in the AF told me that we would only be eligible for a 2 BR, and we could be put into a 2BR apartment, basically. We own a house and are used to our own space/privacy. However, I noticed that a lot of bases do have 3 BR houses available--would it be possible to get one of those, and not a 2 BR? Adding on to this, what is the pet policy on base? I have read that it is generally 2 pets, but do they give any exceptions to that? We have 2 cats and 2 dogs, and I would hate to have to give 2 of them up.
5) If you don't live on base, would you say it is better to buy or rent? I hate the idea of just "throwing away" money by renting (in quotations because I do understand the benefits), but how do you build any equity when you move every 3 years?
6) Speaking of moving...How often do you move in the military? Is a "tour" 3 years, or your whole contract time (in my husband's case, 6 years)? Are you pretty much guaranteed to leave after 3 (or whatever) years? I ask because my friend whose husband is in the AF said they were stationed at a base for 5 years before he volunteered to go overseas.
Anyway, I'm sure I'll have more questions as the time draws closer to him leaving and then going to JCAC. I appreciate the answers to all or even just a few of these! Thanks! :) I'm excited about becoming a Navy spouse, and so proud of my husband!
Views: 158
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Anti M on
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1. Leave after A school (or C school in the case of CTN) is usually a week to ten days. It depends on the report date on his orders. It would be unusual for 20 days to be authorized after training. He also gets a couple days which are travel days and do not count against his leave. Once he gets to his first command, he can request "house hunting leave", which is not leave at all, but a period of time most commands can give to a married sailor to look for a place to stay and get settled in.
When figuring out A school length, remember they do not start school on the day they arrive. There is indoc, and usually a hold waiting for other student sailors to arrive to class up. It can add weeks to the process, or even months. It requires a great deal of patience and can make planning difficult.
2. With a long school, they get orders toward the end of the process, in some cases, after graduation. Usually you have a month or so notice where you will be going. I suggest finding the CT group on here and see how it is going for them specifically.
3. Not something I have heard of for the Navy. I will check, but it is unfamiliar to me. They will pay to move you to the new duty station, but not to go there beforehand and then again. Unless this is the "house hunting" time I referred to above. It is time off for the service member, not a separate trip for the spouse.
http://www.public.navy.mil/bupers-npc/reference/milpersman/1000/130...
You may end up with a year of temporary teaching work if the move doesn't coincide with the hiring period/school year.
4/5. Housing varies a lot, and "base" housing for the Navy is usually privatized and actually off base, in secure neighborhoods. Pet policies vary place to place. (Lie about the cats). You can look at the housing near the bases he may get orders to, it is all online. And it isn't always all apartments, that is more like what they have overseas. Usually they won't give you a larger place unless there is a lot of excess inventory, and generally, that does not happen. Look for Lincoln housing or Forest City, as those are two of the big housing providers now.
Buying means a VA loan, which is wonderful. When you transfer again, you can get another VA loan, but then you have to deal with renters and a management company if you decide not to sell. BAH is designed to cover rent, not mortgages, so it may not be cost effective after all. It isn't throwing away money to me, as it is the government's money they are letting you use. I never have been a fan of buying a home while active duty, but I was either single or stationed overseas. Some housing markets are just not worth it.
6. Never compare Navy to the AF, they really are quite different in the details. You don't "volunteer" to go overseas with the Navy, you get sent, like it or not. Probably not in your case, but be aware it is not off the table.
Yes, a tour is generally three years. So he will be in training for roughly a year (oh, yes, it probably will be that long), then get an accompanied tour of three years. Then he could request to extend at the same command for another year, so there is four years in one place. And then there's the decision about that last year. He'd have to extend his contract in order to PCS to a new command, so they might just keep him in place. Don't overthink this part yet. Short answer: tours are generally three years long, and can be extended.
I hope this all helps, although I suspect there are now more questions and concerns. Yikes, huh?
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Permalink Reply by sourpatchkid on
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Thank you so much for answering in such detail. Yes, I have a ton more questions brewing, but this cleared up a lot of misconception for me! Thanks! :)
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