Comments

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  Cyndie R December 4, 2012 at 10:44pm

  Hi, Bill :)  You are officially my first 'friend' on NavyDads!  "Our" sailor is indeed on the Ike.  He is actually our daughter's boyfriend of 4+years, a neighborhood young man that we are very close with.. he grew up just a block away from us, our families are now close. 

  This has been a very interesting deployment, it's our second experience in the role of "Ike Supporters".  Our military experience until 4 years ago was all Air Force, so we had to re-learn so much.

  Are you planning to meet the ship at the pier?
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  Timothy Kearney October 6, 2011 at 9:16am

  Bill, Welcome to Nave Dads and Airdales. I connected last year when my son was on his first deployment. He is a helo pilot with HSM-77 in San Diego (NAS North Island). He was on the Abraham Lincoln for last deployment. He's now on a exercise with the Lincoln group getting ready for a December deployment. Right now, he's with a small detachment of his squadron and on the USS Momsen, DDG-92, and they are in a communications "black-out" called "River City." I send him e-mails but he can' t respond. It was puzzling at first, but now I understrand more about Operations Security and the fact that they lock down information in many instances. Today's Navy is probably a lot different than when you served. Navy Dads give you a forum to see and hear what is going on...and ask questions.
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  NavyDads Admin (Paul) October 5, 2011 at 8:48pm

  Welcome to NavyDads.com Bill! 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 (AM3) was on the carrier Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) and just reported to Helicopter Squadron Light-37 (HSL-37) in Hawaii after re-enlisting earlier this year. My daughter Kat is now a Navy veteran and was stationed on the carrier Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) as a Mass Communications Specialist. If NavyDads.com were around in those 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 Bill this is a great place to brag as well! So join in, get active, and be sure to let us know how Patrick 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
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  NavyDads Co-Admin, Calvin October 5, 2011 at 5:11pm

  Bill, Welcome to NavyDads. My Grandson Joined the Navy and went to Boot Camp in February, 2008. When I joined I knew nothing about the Military and this site has really helped me understand what to expect and has relieved some of the worries I had. Please go to the Groups Page and check out all of the different Groups and join in to learn more about what your Guy or Gal will be learning and doing. We are a big family here and you can find answers to most any question or concern you may have regarding what is in store for you recruit. You will find others that are new to the Navy along with those that have Loved Ones that has been in for some time. We like to hear about your recruit the good times, the concerns and the questions. I think you will find that our member are just a great big family and everyone wants to help others understand what to expect and hear how your recruit is doing.
  
  Please feel free to ask questions.
  
  I would also like to Thank You for your Service.
  
  Again Welcome and keep us updated as to you recruit’s progress.
  
  HooYah US Navy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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  NavyDads Admin, Tim October 5, 2011 at 3:28pm

  Welcome aboard Bill.
  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 Patrick 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
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  NavyDads Co-Admin, Gary October 5, 2011 at 3:26pm

  Greetings Bill Livingston!
  
  My son recently joined the Navy and I really had no idea or a clue on what he’s about to partake in besides what I’ve seen on tv and some stories told by friends and relatives. I am honored and very proud of his decision to serve our country.
  
  I’ve perused recruiter literature from DEP and beyond but I felt that I needed more information to keep me from worrying too much. I also wanted to hear from real folks on what their experiences were like and what they've gone through. That's when I found this website while searching for answers.
  
  I hope you too will find NavyDads.Com useful with lots of real shared information.
  
  Welcome aboard...