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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Choose your Username.  For the privacy and safety of you and/or your sailor, NO LAST NAMES ARE ALLOWED, even if your last name differs from that of your sailor (please make sure your URL address does not include your last name either).  Also, please do not include your email address in your user name. Go to "Settings" above to set your Username.  While there, complete your Profile so you can post and share photos and videos of your Sailor and share stories with other moms!

Make sure to read our Community Guidelines and this Navy Operations Security (OPSEC) checklist - loose lips sink ships!

Join groups!  Browse for groups for your PIR date, your sailor's occupational specialty, "A" school, assigned ship, homeport city, your own city or state, and a myriad of other interests. Jump in and introduce yourself!  Start making friends that can last a lifetime.

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

...and visit Navy.com - America's Navy and Navy.mil also Navy Live - The Official Blog of the Navy to learn more.

OPSEC - Navy Operations Security

Always keep Navy Operations Security in mind.  In the Navy, it's essential to remember that "loose lips sink ships."  OPSEC is everyone's responsibility. 

DON'T post critical information including future destinations or ports of call; future operations, exercises or missions; deployment or homecoming dates.  

DO be smart, use your head, always think OPSEC when using texts, email, phone, and social media, and watch this video: "Importance of Navy OPSEC."

Follow this link for OPSEC Guidelines:

OPSEC GUIDELINES

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:

RTC Graduation

**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.

Format Downloads:

Navy Speak

Click here to learn common Navy terms and acronyms!  (Hint:  When you can speak an entire sentence using only acronyms and one verb, you're truly a Navy mom.)

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Navy.com Para Familias

Visite esta página para explorar en su idioma las oportunidades de educación y carreras para sus hijos en el Navy. Navy.com

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My husband and I recently got married, I was looking into the different Tricare plans and was curious if anyone had an opinion on which is better? Any pros/cons of each plan, advice, or information is greatly appreciated!(:

Views: 575

Replies to This Discussion

Hi Brooke!

There are lots of pros and cons to both plans and each person has to weigh them to decide which is best for them.

Tricare Prime you receive almost all your healthcare from a military treatment facility (MTF). You pay no co-pays or shares, but you must receive a referral to go anywhere other than a MTF for any care besides a true emergency. 

  • Pros:
    • No out of pocket cost
  • Cons: 
    • At the naval hospital up here it was often impossible to get appointments in a timely manner. I waited more than 4 weeks on more than one occasion just to get an appointment with my PCM. Now, they would book me with someone else if I needed a same day appointment, but I wanted to see MY doctor because I had a reoccurring problem and this took much longer to get scheduled. 
    • You have to get a referral from your PCM in order to see any specialist. Dermatologist, podiatrist, etc. Sometimes they do send you off base for a specialist, but it can take a while for these referrals to go through. 

Tricare Standard and Extra you can go to any civilian doctor, but must choose in-network in order to keep your co-pays/shares low. This isn't hard in a large military area. You do have to pay some out of pocket costs, but compared to other civilian plans, it is very VERY low. 

  • Pros:
    • You can choose any doctor you wish at any time. 
    • You do not have to have a referral to go to any doctor. You want to stay in-network, but you can see a specialist without a referral at any point. 
  • Cons: 
    • You do have out of pocket costs. However, I have found these to be extremely minimal compared to the stress that Prime caused me. My co-pay for the year is $150 and once I reach that, I only pay 15-20% of the negotiated cost for in-network doctors. I have never seen a bill for more than $20 after I paid my $150 for the year. 

So, if you can't tell, I am on Standard and I would never go back. However, like I said earlier, everyone has to choose for themselves. Your decision can also be based on location. Some stations have better hospitals than others. Let me know if you have any other specific questions!

Wow Emily-Aaronsgirl1 thank you so much for your input!
I was leaning toward standard before and now I am definitely thinking that is the best choice for me.
Hello Brooke! I am on Tricare Prime and really like it. I think the biggest thing you have to decide for yourself if whether you prefer on-base care or not. I personally like going to the hospital on base. I don't have a hard time making appointments, although I try to do it at least a week in advance because they sometimes fill up quick. I've seen several doctors at base and all of them have been attentive and over all good doctors. The corpsman are always on point too and very professional. The other thing you have to consider is whether you're okay with paying a small co-pay fee to see a doctor off base. It was really important to me to try to eliminate any extra costs for medical care and get completely free prescriptions. If you do want to do Standard I believe the only service you can receive at the hospital on base is Urgent Care in case of an emergency. But there are pros and cons to each, hope that helps!
Thank you so much for your opinion!(:
Actually I do have a question. If you're on prime and visit the hospital on base do you have a choice in doctors or do you just see whoever is available?

They assign a PCM to you, and that is your doctor.  You can see others in the clinic if yours is booked,  and you can switch if you don't like an assigned doctor.

My biggest problem is they keep sending my docs on deployment, but it is an AF base; the Navy doesn't do that the same way.

Awesome AntiM thanks for answering my question!

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