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Comment by M's mom on December 30, 2014 at 12:00am

Helomom: Yes, they are working very long hours!  My son is an Intel officer with the squadron of EA-18G Growlers which are currently on board. He says on a "fly day" he starts duty at 0600 and doesn't get off until 1930-2000!  Of course, as YOU know, whenever the planes are up the helos are flying too!  Sometimes they do night ops, and it is a long night for all.  My son says his quarters are right below the catapults, so even if he is off duty at night, he can't sleep with the racket going on overhead.   By reading the ship's Facebook page, it seems to me that their Captain is very much in touch with his sailors, and sensitive to their need for R & R as often as possible with such an intense mission.  I'm glad they all got a little break over Christmas!

Comment by Helomom on December 29, 2014 at 6:50pm

M's mom-We were able to video chat with our son on Christmas too! It was the 26th there when he called. It was wonderful to see and hear him. He said that they have been working everyone very hard on this tour, not much down time. Work, rinse, repeat but everyday is a day closer to coming home.

Comment by M's mom on December 25, 2014 at 2:34pm

Helomom: That is cool, but wonder how many of those random service personnel thought it was a joke being played on them by a friend?  Pres Obama: "Hello, this is President Barack Obama."  Service person: "Yeah, right!  Joe, is that you?"   haha

Helomom, I seem to recall that your son is presently on the CV, as mine is.  DS was able to call us yesterday.  It was so good to hear his voice!  Sounds like they will have a pretty good Christmas feast on the ship.  The Facebook pics of their Thanksgiving dinner looked better than what we had!!!  :-)

Comment by BunkerQB on December 25, 2014 at 2:16pm

Comment by Helomom on December 25, 2014 at 12:18pm

Merry Christmas to all! The President of the United States made phone calls today to random service personnel deployed overseas. An AO1 in my son's squadron was the recipient of one of those phone calls. Christmas greetings from the President, that's cool!

Comment by BunkerQB on December 11, 2014 at 12:10am

Gatormom, I just sent you a friend request. I'll be happy to share w you more details. Not sure how many would be interested about after-Navy civilian jobs.

Comment by M's mom on December 10, 2014 at 11:04pm

pbmcdaniel: Glad to hear that your son is getting settled in.  My son passed two Navy physicals before being accepted, and three weeks into OCS, he had to take a flight physical.  Some scan revealed that he has a minor heart valve anomaly that is not life-threatening and about 1 percent of the population have it, but even though he can remain in the Navy, it DQ'd him for pilot or NFO.  Now that they have all these high-tech scans in medicine they are finding things that many pilots probably had before, but now they are able to see them, and they're not wanting to take any chances.  If my son had been thrown out of the Navy, he WOULD have been devastated, after all the hurdles he had to jump to get into OCS.  But he was able to transfer to Intelligence, which was his second choice, so he was OK.  He specialized as an aviation intelligence officer, so he works closely with the pilots and planes even if he can't fly them.  He was stationed at Whidbey Island Naval Air Station off the coast of Seattle, assigned to a squadron of EA-18G "Growlers" which are electronic jamming and surveillance planes.  He and his squadron left in August on the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson for a ten month deployment.  The Navy has announced that the Vinson is in the Persian Gulf launching airstrikes against ISIS, so I can state that here.  He works with briefing/debriefing the pilots before/after their missions.  We have limited email communication with him, but he seems to be adapting to shipboard life OK.  His wife is staying at Whidbey Island where she has a local job.  We are trying to keep in touch and support her while son is gone since they have only been married 18 mos.  After he gets back next summer, looks like he will be heading to a new assignment on a base in Japan!  His wife will be able to go with him there, so they seem excited about it.  ---But it's a long way for hubby and I to go visit!

Comment by pbmcdaniel on December 10, 2014 at 10:05pm

M's mom: Yes, our son is settled in P'cola. It was the hardest thing EVER to pack a few kitchen supplies, tv, laptop, and clothes and send him to P'cola to figure it out.  He stayed at the Navy Lodge for two nights after reporting in at 10:30pm after a ten-hour drive.  He was able to secure an apt. his first day, signed a lease, purchased a mattress and moved in on the second day. He still has only the basics while he waits for the movers to pack up his "stuff" on Dec. 22nd.  He was told that classes will not start for 10-20 weeks.  During that time he reports daily and has a few duties here and there.  While waiting for classes, we understand he will take some type of class to get his flying license(he told us the acronym??) for about a month. He is eager to have something to do.  Several of his OCS buddies are now down there, so he knows a few people.  He has passed the physicals and preliminaries thus far, so at this point he is moving forward with the NFO designator.

Where is you son now?  Still in P'cola?  We had heard that the pilot trainee designator has a high DQ rate for various reasons. So sorry. I am sure he was disappointed. 

Comment by Gatormom on December 10, 2014 at 9:48pm

BunkerQB, just passed on your good advice to our LO. He needed it and appreciated it. Passed on your son has landed a good job. He was curious about the type of job and type of company. He has an open mind about the Navy as a career but is also interested in hearing about others and their paths after Navy life.

Comment by M's mom on December 10, 2014 at 9:46pm

pbmcdaniel:   Did your son get reported to P'cola and find a place to stay?  It seems "hurry up and wait" is the Navy norm.  They have to report early, but then their classes may not start for weeks.  At least it usually gives them some time to settle in.  Good luck to your son in flight school!  My son was originally accepted as a pilot trainee, and then was medically DQ'd, so he transferred to Intelligence.

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