My son has been seperated!

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Permalink Reply by SueS (ABF Mom) on October 6, 2009 at 7:52pm

Tell him to tell them he wants to stay and wants a waiver. Tell him to push it. It may not work but it is worth a try. I researched dermatographism and it says about 4-5% of the population have this. Has he had major symptoms before? I wish him well.

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Permalink Reply by peetz on October 6, 2009 at 10:54pm

That is just what I have been telling him too. Push it and make them know you want to stay. He has not had a major reaction to anything, shaving is noticable and if he gets itchy for any reason, but it does not impeed his daily living at all. I will tell him to ask for a waiver. Thanks for the advice.

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Permalink Reply by sidemeat on October 8, 2009 at 6:00am

Hi,
My son is being separated also for a bladder stone, he graduated boot camp already. Then they put him on ship 5 for him to be cleared for duty. He emailed me Tuedsay to say they were separating him. He tried the waiver that did not work so any help on this would be great he does not want to be separated either.
Peetz I know this is stressful for you. It has been for me.
Take care and have a good day.

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Permalink Reply by Michele on October 8, 2009 at 12:48pm

I was notified today that my son is being seperated for psychological reasons. Apparently he broke last Friday (Week 1 Day5) and they have diagnosed him with an anxiety disorder. Does the Navy make no attempt to cousel them first? He had no issues on any psych evaluations in the past and he was a Depper for nearly a year and had planned a Navel career since he was a small boy. I would hate to see him lose his dreams over something that may just be overwhelming homesickness. I'm meeting his recruiter today at 5pm to see if I can get better information about what is going on.

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Permalink Reply by Gefyon on November 16, 2009 at 2:21pm

Michele,

I got a call from my son the other night over similar issues.

However, he said he was given a choice:
Stay with his unit and talk to a counselor for a short time every day
Receive some intensive counseling - and delay boot camp by one week
Take a medical separation.

He said he was going to stay with his unit and take an hour of counseling daily, but I have not heard anything since then (I sure hope that no news is good news in this case).

Anyway, if what he said was correct, then yes, they *can* offer him counseling. Whether or not they choose to probably depends on a lot of different things: how bad the break down was; what rating they are going for, etc.

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Permalink Reply by Arwen on October 8, 2009 at 1:14pm

I've been hearing about a lot of discharges for temporary or minor conditions lately. I think right now the Navy is at a point where they can be VERY choosy and keep only the absolutely best, and sadly they're considering even the most minor physical flaws to be disqualifiers. With 130% staffing, very high reenlistment rates and intense competition among potential enlistees, they can do that.

Is it fair to those who end up processed out of the Navy for injuries that will heal and conditions that require only minor treatment? Probably not. However, it is the military and they don't exist to be "fair" to their sailors.

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Permalink Reply by Lady Hamilton on October 8, 2009 at 1:40pm

Unfortunatly, there is no incentive for the Navy to offer counseling to recruits. Or cater to any special medical needs. Not when money is tight and they have a waiting list of young people ready to step forward and take the place of a recruit with any medical or psychological flaw, no mstter how slight. The old concept of breaking down recruits so that the Navy can build them up again into sailors, seems to have gone by the boards. The new approach follows the pattern that has previously been reserved for elite forces: Choose the very best, run them extremely hard, send the weakest home and graduate the survivors. Its a heartless system, but gives the service the very best sailors at the least cost.

Emma

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Permalink Reply by peetz on October 8, 2009 at 7:27pm

Ya, I am getting that responce from everyone I talk to. It is hard to convince my son he has done nothing wrong and there is other options for him other than the Navy. He is a fighter and will not go down easily but in the end, win or loose he knows he gave it his all and that is more than we asked for. No matter what happens we are extremely proud of him and will always be. I just have to get that across to him.

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Permalink Reply by SueS (ABF Mom) on October 8, 2009 at 8:12pm

The following is what one mom posted about the letter she wrote to her daughter... it is absolutely beautiful and altho we are not in the situation you all are in now.. anyone could be. Please let your son know that I HONOR him for trying!

... I told my daughter, there is not disappointment or disgrace in coming home, God had another plan for her life and sometime we have to step up and go thru doors to see if this is His plan for us. If not that door will close...But another door will open even though she cannot see that right now. I told her she just has to trust in God to show her what step to take next, she will know in her heart and will have peace in her spirit and the door will be wide open. I sent this to her in one of the letters after she called me and told me that she had been moved to Ship 5.
“A Step of Faith”
There are times in life when you must take a step in order to find out, one way or the other, what you should do. Some doors will never open unless you move toward them. At other times you may take a step and find that God will not open the door. If you trust Him for guidance and the door opens easily, you can trust that He is leading you to enter into the opportunity before you.
Sometimes the only way to discover God’s will is to practice “stepping out and finding out”. If you have prayed about the situation and still don’t know what you should do, take a step of faith. We can stand before an automatic door at a super market and look at it all day, but it won’t open until we step forward to trigger the mechanism. Trust God, take a step, and see if the door opens!

“A man’s mind plans his way, but the Lord direct his steps and makes them sure”
Proverbs 16:9

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Permalink Reply by Navy Aunt (AF Wife) on November 12, 2009 at 10:39pm

SUES(ABF MOM), that is a very inspiring letter. Thank you for passing it along.

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