So, I've been watching this board and site for over 9 months now while my daughter was in DEP. I'm very grateful to the people who make this site work. Today, she flies out to Great Lakes for Boot Camp. As a 10 year veteran of the US Navy Submarine Service and a father, I am so emotionally conflicted. I tears me up inside to see my only child leave home but I can't be more proud of how she has chosen to move forward in life. Here is to "Fair Winds and Following Seas" as my daughter sails off into her amazingly bright future. Only God knows where this journey will take her!
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Great news! I hope you get to go to PIR, if you can then start making plans.
Thanks to everyone for your words of encouragement!. I received my daughter's personal affairs box last week just a few days after she left and received the information letter with her address and PIR date today. Looks like she is in Ship 12 Div. 188, PIR is 5/13/2016!
Congratulations!
It's great to have such a big family behind you/us now, Navy Dads, Moms, grandparents etc. When my daughter left for Great Lakes, we still had her younger sister at home so that helped a little bit. But almost 4 years later, our house is empty and would be very quiet except for our dogs. (our sailors' younger sister has moved to Australia last fall). I'd trade the empty nest to have my girls back at home in a heartbeat. It doesn't get easier to me, I think you just get used to it little by little. That's life, we did our best to raise our girls, and then they flew off on their own. Our sailor is doing very well, she really likes what she is doing (CTT2), her joining the US Navy has worked out very well for our whole family. You have some great things to look forward too, especially PIR. Once in a while I'll watch a live PIR just to get a feeling of how exciting it is, and how proud I was to see my girl march into that Hall.
....and so it begins! I hope that you know that we are all behind her and your family as she gets underway. I'm sure that she will be amazing!