Posted by jim caroniti on October 5, 2009 at 8:30pm
My daughter is a new Navy doctor doing rotations at Portsmouth VA Navy Hospital. I'm very worried about her. She has to work 12 to 15 hours a day, and make good medical decisions every time. She feels that if she asked her resident for help with all the paperwork ect. she will be transfered to a "out of the states" assignment. Is she right ? Can anyone help ?Worried Dad in Florida
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Posted by james A Luper on October 3, 2009 at 11:01am
What Emanuel and I decided to do to try to keep him with a positive balance in the bank , was to get a prepaid debit card , So now that he has a positive balance, when he gets paid he takes some money out of his account with Navyfed and puts it on the prepaid card and this way he can't spend but what is on the prepaid card and can better keep control of his spending. thanks for all the responses. it makes me feel that my blog was worthwhile
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Posted by james A Luper on October 2, 2009 at 10:26pm
I am putting this information out for our members to possibly help their relations that joined the military with understanding the banking system. I am not doing this to critizize the bank. My son jopined the Navy June of this year. When I went to Great Lakes for his graduation it costs us about $1000 for three days , a car and r/t plane. (I am retired on SS). After graduation he brought stuff at the Nex. His pay is direct deposited and with direct deposit there is something called Navchek advance, where the person that has the direct deposit can get a advance on their direct deposit account up to $500. His bank statements come to me (they are mailed to his home) and I would read them and at first I couldn't understand how when he got paid on the first and fifteenth how he could be overdrawn a few days later. What I discovered when I got his 2 month statement , was that he had been spending the Navchek advance between paydays , so that when he got paid he was just paying back the advance he had got, and what this did was to make him automatically start spending the advance again. So what I did was to come up with a plan to break this cycle. I paid his phone bill plus sent him some money so that he wouldn't have to use the advance. To show you much the bank had him in the cycle, I had him check his balance this month when he got paid and not to spend anything, He said that all he had left from his actual pay was$23, and the Navchek advance to take care of his expenses until his next pay day. Now when he gets paid on the 15th , he will have his actual pay plus the $500 Navchek advance in case of emergency. I hope This story helps some other person's relative out. I am not talking against the bank , Which in this case is NavyFederal Crdit Union of which I am a member, but as information and to help any others that might be caught in this cycle of spending.
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Posted by Barry Barlow on October 1, 2009 at 2:36am
My son and I were involved in The United States Naval Sea Cadet Corps. I still am. He graduated out as CPO. The correspondence courses are the same as the Navy. We drill with the Navy and we do a wide variety of summer trainings. www.seacadets.org. It is a great youth program. Whatever the Navy does we do on a smaller scale. I cannot recommend this program enough. We have had several appointments to Anapolis, Coast Guard Academy and Colorado Springs.I did want to point out something a little misleading on my profile. There isn't a pick to say my son is in ROTC at Texas A and M so I put active duty as the closest one to choose from.This looks like a fun place to visit and read about Navy and marines.Thank you,Barry
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Talked with Brandon yesterday, he will not be coming home after graduation, worst yet he will only have a few hours after graduation to visit. If he comes home now he may not be able to come home for Christmas... Good choice.He sounded good and still pretty excited.. He knows he made the right decision. Can't wait to see him.
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Anyone have any idea on how long Graduation lasts? We think Brandon will be coming home with us. From what I can find it looks like Graduation starts around 8am but not sure how long it will last or if we should plan to spend the night and travel home the next day? (it's about a 4-5 hour trip) Any ideas?
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Graduation day is getting closer!!!! Looks like Brandon will have a week before he has to report to Pensacola? Not sur eyet if he will have to stay in Great Lakes or will be able to come home?
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Posted by Eddie Gamboa on September 21, 2009 at 9:40pm
I know I am new to navydads, but I feel so much better knowing that someone is there when i'm feeling down. Although my son Sean is leave for basic training on 11/16, I am preparing my feelings for his departure. We are a very close knit family and this will be the first time any of us have been away from each other. With your help, I know I can get through this. My son is so excited about his new adventure, and I am very proud of him.Thank you navy dads.....................
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My son just went back to base after spending the last week home on leave. Looking back on the days we had together, I just can't imagine how it could have went better. We spent the first two days just sitting on the porch catching each other up on all that had happened in his life, and at home, for the last year. He entertained us with stories about the deployment and pictures of the far away places he had been to. It seems he had a grand adventure into parts of the world that I will never see.He has a twin brother who was also here for the week, and the three of us went on a two day fishing trip. We river fished for oppelousa catfish and were fortunate enough to catch 2 big ones! The weather was perfect, low 80's and sunny in the daytime and low 60's at night. No bugs, good food (cooked on my cowboy wok), lots of fish caught, great times, and lots of fun and jokes made it a memorable fishing trip.His brother went back to New England with him on reports that the job market there was somewhat better than here at home. I also think that the whole twin thing had left both of them feeling incomplete for the last three years. They will be sharing the rent, and seemed excited to be back together again. So, the wife and I have the emptiest nest we have had for over 32 years. While our closest child is now 450 miles away, the twins are almost 2,000 miles from us! We've never had both of them so far away.I think my son will probably re-enlist. He's thinking seriously about making the Navy a career. I don't know how they stand it cooped up inside a 300 foot long steel pipe. And it will be hard having him so far away all the time while his mother and I grow old, but I want the best for him and we couldn't possibly be more proud if he decides to stay in.
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Posted by Art Cabral on September 8, 2009 at 7:08pm
well.....in 8 days my son will become a "Chief".Where in the world has the time gone? It doesn't seem that long ago that he was heading to Boston to enlist, and leave for Boot Camp in Orlando, Florida - that was 18 yrs. ago.When he walked into the room and I saw him in his uniform for the first time, I dissolved into tears, but heart was bursting with pride. (OHHH by the way/ this is Jeff's Mom, Jean/ not Art). He became a Seabee, and I had no idea what that meant, but soon learned that he would be "off and seeing the world". Guam/Japan/Korea/Australia.....the list goes on and on. We cherished the "leave" and have him back in New England. Found out that no matter how old they get,,,they are still kids at heart when they all get together.We went thru the deployment to Iraq and Kuwait, and Mom was able to hold it together. First few phone calls I learned that time was too precious for those "happy tears" and he didn't neeed to hear Mom blubbering. =)Pictures that came in weren't the "gangly teenager" that I had sent off to BC, so long ago.He's gone thru his 6 weeks of what I call "Chiefs bootcamp", and was fortunate enough to get to attend theUSS Constitution Heritage CPO week in Boston.I can't imagine what it will be like to see him, in the new Chiefs uniform, next week. I do believe that I will need a towel, not just tissues. Wish me luck,,and if I can see,,I will take some pictures. Better yet, I'll just let Art do the pictures, as I do get to pin an anchor on his collar. Do I sound like a proud Mom??If you read this, son....... well done, and you certainly do deserve this honor. I know you'll make us proud, as you always have. I love ya "kiddo"!!!
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Wow it seems like an eternity since Julian left. Young absent minded with no idea of what his future would bring him. He was the kind of young man that would sleep till noon, one or maybe two in the afternoon. Nonchalantly get out of bed, say whats up and start his day as if he'd been up for hours. He would stroll around as if no worries in the world until I hit him with the dose of reality, go find a job (not that there are many out there) or we can have a discussion with the recruiter. Gave him some time, just to see how he would process the notion of heading off to boot camp or having to work for a living. He worked for a short time but not until after he decided to go and talk with the recruiter. He was truly proud of himself when he took the ASVAB test and scored fairly high. When I asked what he was thinking about doing he mumbled something like, maybe go the nuclear field... I dont know.See having served myself in the US Army for three years I knew about the adventure he was about to embark on and I made every attempt to guide him but ultimately it would have to be his decision. After all he would have to live with it, then he told me Dad I will be in the Nuclear field with the US Navy. The sense of pride I had with in me was overwhelming to say the least.Now he is in his 3rd week of basic and even though I havent received a letter from him I know he is all right, see he has a girlfriend and apparently she has received a letter all ready. Well I am glad he has his priorities straight and is at least writing her. She is a very beautiful young lady with a sweet demeanor and she has told him, I will wait for you. If they choose to marry one day I will be proud of them both but they are still to young for that (listen to me I sound like........my dad).I know he is home sick, as I was when I left back in 1982 but I will never regret one day I spent with Americas Guard of Honor the 82nd Airborne Division. I know when he finally finishes boot he will hold his head high, be proud as he has just become a sailor with the US Navy. It will definitely be funny to hear our household when he comes to visit and Army is playing Navy in football.I am proud to call him son and thank God for the opportunity to have him. May God Bless all our troops at home and abroad. Till the next blog, take care.
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Posted by John Livesey on August 28, 2009 at 6:30pm
About a week before the end of Audrey’s Officer Development School, we received a small white envelope in the mail. Inside was our invitation to the ODS graduation on 24-July-09. We had anticipated this event and I had arranged for travel for the family (Audrey’s mother and brother and myself) to Boston with a drive down to Newport.It was great to see Audrey looking so confident in her summer white uniform the evening before graduation. The class hosts a reception for friends and family attending the graduation at the Officers’ Club on base and we were able to meet some of her peers, along with the Sr. Chiefs who had provided training for the students. Vice Adm. John Mateczun (the highest ranking MD in the Navy, I think) was the guest of honor at graduation the next day and we were fortunate to be able to meet him (picture). The Executive Officer of OTCN also attended the reception and we met Cdr. Julie O’Neil as well.Graduation the next morning was held indoors due to inclement weather (unfortunate since the circumstances didn’t allow for much marching and some of the ceremony was scaled back). However, Adm. Mateczun gave a very nice speech and awards were presented to the top students in various categories. I’ll include pictures of Audrey’s company (Victor) as well as her first salute from the Sr. Chief attached to Victor Company.At the conclusion of the ceremony, students were detached from Officer Training Command Newport and ordered to report as per their individual written orders to their next duty station. For Audrey, that is Bethesda, MD and she was to report not prior to August 5, so we had about 10 days of vacation. We visited parts of New England (waved to the sub base at Groton on the way to the ferry from New London, CT to Orient Pt, NY on Long Island), and through New Jersey and Delaware and the eastern shore of Maryland and Virginia on the way to Washington, DC. We had a few days helping her get settled in her apartment (base housing at the National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda is nearly non-existent) before we flew home.She reported for duty 05-Aug and completed in-processing the next week. Orientation for her medical school program was last week and she completes her first week of studies in medicine today. Her courses in Anatomy & Physiology, Biochemistry, Military Studies, “Human Context”, and “Intro to Clinical Medicine” – these are foremost in her thoughts right now. She says that already the quantity of material seems just a bit overwhelming, but she’s developing strategies for coping... One week down and four years to go.She called last night to say that she was appointed a platoon sergeant for operations (the operations leadership is encompasses all military services in the class (so includes Army and Air Force in addition to the Navy), and while elsewhere a "sergeant" role would be filled by an enlisted person, the med school class is all officers, so this is a leadership position for their off-campus maneuvers). She also interviewed for a position as a platoon leader for administration for the Navy company of students.Her mother and I are adjusting to the three-hour time difference (after six years of her living away from home while in college and working as an EMT but in the same state). While she reports to class in uniform and is subject to military discipline and procedures on the base (campus), her off-duty time is her own (what little is not consumed with studying).If any of you are curious about the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, the school was profiled in the recent independent film, “Fighting for Life” that was shown on PBS television stations last Spring (and might be shown again in re-runs). The film connects medical and nursing programs at the school with the work of alumni serving in combat support hospitals in Iraq and Afghanistan and in the airlift programs that bring our wounded home for convalescence.As you can discern from the length of these posts, we’re very proud of our sailor and her commitment and resolve, as I’m sure all of you here at NavyDads are of your sailors. Her path might be a bit different but no more or less valuable and rewarding. I’ll try to remember to keep you updated as the Navy parts of her trajectory play out.JL
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Posted by John Livesey on August 28, 2009 at 4:00pm
Whew! What a summer it's been (and I'm the Dad, not the Sailor!). It's time to catch you all up on the last seven weeks since my daughter, Audrey, reported for duty at Officer Development School in Newport, RI. In my last post, I said that Audrey had confidently gone off to Newport, reporting for duty on June 21.Officer Development School is different from Officer Candidate School, though for the Navy, both are located in Newport. As I understand it, OCS is longer (12 weeks? vs. 5 weeks for ODS) and is the process by which candidates from the enlisted ranks are vetted for the officer corps. In contrast, Officer Development School is where new personnel just commissioned into an officer rank in the Navy (without prior service) learn the traditions, customs and procedures of the Navy and how to be an officer. Many (most?) of the students at ODS are in professions or professional schools (for example: physicians, nurses, optometrists, pharmacists, and some advanced-degree engineers or scientists). There’s also an increased emphasis on physical training in the last few years. While ODS is shorter than boot camp at Great Lakes, newly commissioned officers are expected to achieve the same levels of physical readiness that Navy sailors achieve at any rank (scaled by age and gender). ODS students tend to be older (mid- to late-20s or early 30s) and there is a higher percentage of women than in the Navy as a whole.Audrey’s mother and I spent the first week as many of you have – wondering how things were going. ODS students can keep more personal effects than sailors at Great Lakes, and Audrey was allowed to keep her Blackberry phone (ostensibly to use as an alarm clock, but of course, it came in handy for other things as well ). The first weekend she was allowed to call home on Saturday and we were ecstatic after that first call… she sounded subdued but grounded and fairly confident. She had expected the 4am routines and her company as a whole anticipated the rousting and got up the first morning at 3:30, made up their bunks, placed everything in military precision, and sat on the floor waiting for the wakeup… needless to say, the Sr. Chief in charge of their training was a bit surprised. (He got back at them later in the School when they weren’t expecting it, so she wasn’t deprived of the “rude-awakening” tradition!) We heard about their trip to the sand pit for “corrective” PT when two people from the company (not her) left their lockers unsecured (a rule violation).Her first PRT went well except for the 1.5 mile run… Audrey has completed half marathon races, but is not a fast runner and her speed on the runs needed improvement. By the middle of ODS, though, she had trimmed 3 minutes off her 1.5 mile run (16:30 to 13:30), coming in much better than the standard for women her age. Officers purchase their uniforms and gear, and she gradually acquired the uniforms of an Ensign over the course of the School, with the exception of her BDUs, which she has since purchased at her current duty station (more later).Classroom studies in Navy history, traditions and customs were interspersed with fire-fighting drills, abandon-ship simulations, and the ever-present PT (5am standard PT and “remedial” afternoon PT before her running time improved). She and her company were granted weekend liberty beginning in the training command the first weekend, expanding to include the officers’ club the second weekend and to off-base liberty the final weekend before graduation. Through it all, we got occasional text messages from her (not sure if that was a rule violation, but they didn’t find out) and phone calls when she was allowed to do so. She’s a pretty mature young woman in her mid-twenties, but I know this experience deepened her connection to the Navy, her fellow sailors, and to what I’ve started referring to as her “calling” – Navy medicine.More in my next post - graduation!
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Things are going good, it hasn't been as bad as evryone has made it out to be. He said if everyone could just get on the same page and be fired up things would go smoother for the whole group. He has been choosen to be one of the leaders in his drill. Pretty cool!!! They just got fitted for his Blues... and yea he says he LOOKS GOOD!!!! He said to tell everyone hi and he loves them... We are still not sure his schedule after graduation, but will keep posted. Tim
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Got our first phone call yesterday around noon from Julian. It was great to hear from him and to hear his voice. He told that he only had 90 seconds to call and wanted us to know he was ok and he sends his love. My question to him was "is it all I told you it would be?" and his response was yes. He is sending his information for graduation to his mother which should be here this week. They were on their last p day and he and his shipmates would be moving into their ship either this afternoon or by tomorrow (Tuesday). I told him to hang in there and that his time would end sooner than he thinks. Sent him my love along with everyone else in the family and we hung the phone up. Funny thing is that after going over in my mind what we had talked about I came to the conclusion that he is already sounding different, still seemed scared of the unknown but was ready to take whatever he was handed head on. Still say my prayers for my sons (yep I now have two in the military) and for the countless numbers of GI's in harms way everyday. May the good Lord grant moms and dads all over a peaceful, tranquil day.
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I wanted to take a minute to thank Paige for opening her home up to a number of Navy parents yesterday in Prescott Valley. It was a great chance to meet others with kids in the Navy and to compare stories...and to brag a little too!! I know Paige will post some photos as well but here are a couple.....
Thanks to Paige and to neighbor Brenda for all the work and hospitality! It was fun and we'll have to do it again!
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We finally got our first letter from Brandon yesterday!!!! The letter is dated the 10th??? He's doing fine and is really excited about the fact that he is really doing something with himself and can't wait till really gets going in the training program. He said to tell everyone hi.... We are so proud of him!!!
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The invitation said that it would be on Thursday Sept 3rd for ship 06 Div 942. I have not heard a word about any changes, and his letters do not indicate that he will not. But I am holding back on any reservations until I know for sure. Money is very tight these days and I will barley be able to afford the trip as it is. It really better be on time because my boss will not let me reschedule my vacation days :( . This is all so nerve racking. I really need to be there for my son and for myself.
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