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Comment by janenrich (1202-4) on July 31, 2014 at 10:02pm

KimS - goin' on 11 weeks now, right? NOW we know why it's called the Silent Service.  :-)  We're guessing it could be very soon but could be very wrong. Que sera sera.....

Comment by janenrich (1202-4) on July 27, 2014 at 1:35pm

Our oldest is the sailor, his younger brother is an Airman. Both on their first tour of duty and both have reenlisted for additional 2 years. Their two sisters sometimes keep us more informed of their activites than the boys do themselves. :-) Ah yes, the joys of parenting, both normal and military. Sons have experienced very different training and deployment issues in the USN vs the USAF. As you say ... one giant learning experience accompanied with lots of pride. Last time we could hear from sailor was when he met up with our Airman in Japan on Mothers Day weekend.

Comment by janenrich (1202-4) on July 23, 2014 at 1:10am

Kevsmom93 I don't know much at all what he'll be up to while waiting for the boat. Sometimes I think they may actually send him to the next port of call, if possible, but I simply don't know.  It's very likely you're not getting a lot of info from son because no one can give HIM much detail at this point. Seems like there are always more questions than answers in the first couple years. When the boat returns, the crew is on stand down for about 30? days, I believe. Work continues but some take vacation leave for part of that time. My understanding is that work hours are sporadic but could be a bit intense if necessary. Relative to the deployment pace, they will likely not seem intense, however.

Be sure your son gets sleep now because it is at a premium whenever the sailors are on underways (short trips) or deployments. :-) You're correct regarding the numbering of e-mails while on deployment. They "get" our e-mails whenever space/time/security allows. They'll be read & edited (if necessary) prior to being passed along to the crew. You'll get a copy of what was forwarded if yours had to be edited. Follow the guidelines from the deployment manual that son receives and/or ombudsman passes along. I don't think we ever heard any real significant news from ombudsman until a couple weeks before the February deployment. (Mostly social events prior to that.) While son is deployed, our future daughter-in-law is learning a bit more Facebooking with a couple of GF's or wives she met while visiting son at NNPTC and/or Pearl Harbor.

Son landed in PH in Sept and, if I recall, we never learned his NPO address (for deployment) until maybe Dec. or Jan. Look up "half-way box" and any other info that you can find regarding customs that the sailors experience while deployed. Seems like when we heard about them from the ombudsman, we had to act really fast to make sure our son wasn't left out (or else we missed something somewhere).

Don't know how much is actually still relevant for those on the Columbus, but I've found the THIS LINK extremely informative as the parent of a new submariner.

Another tip I'd pass along to your son is to continue studying hard and earn his qualifications as quickly as he can. Sailors that do that will stand out and be noticed sooner than later -- if they keep themselves out of trouble in the R & R department.

Finally, don't be surprised by the lack of info. All you can do is ask the questions and see if he knows the answers. I don't know how I'd personally handle all the "not knowing" as a sailor myself. It would drive me nuts until I simply accepted it as the way of life in the military. It's become sort of a challenge for us to think of questions that he might know the answers to so we're not just reinforcing in his mind all the things that he still doesn't know. :-)

Comment by janenrich (1202-4) on July 8, 2014 at 12:56am

Hi Kevsmom93! As mentioned earlier, I don't check this site very often. I was unable (and don't really wish to) access the Facebook site that the ombudsman uses in her e-mail signature. My experience with our other son (in the USAF) when he was in AF boot camp last summer was that the FB sites are far less cautious about OPSEC issues. To my knowledge, a sailor is supposed to include the names of people they want contacted by the ombudsman on one of the zillion forms they're supposed to fill out at some point. I really don't know how much flexibility the ombudsman has in terms of adding others to the list. I'm thinking very little, quite frankly. Much of ombudsman e-mail (1-2x monthly) pertains mostly to those living in on/near the base.

FWIW, contact with our son is sporadic at best as Kim S mentioned. At this point, it's kind of like boot camp ... you have to figure no news is good news. I feel far worse for the newer spouses/fiances than for us parents, though.

I think/hope that, after this first long term deployment, we'll be able to talk long enough to our sailors that we'll have a better idea of what to expect next time. I know on this first time out the first timers were probably more anxious about getting everything "right" for themselves and their superiors more so than for "the folks back home."

We just keep our e-mails to him short, sweet, and upbeat and try to keep from getting them edited and chopped by the "reviewers" that read them first. :-) Our guys are in good hands and have been trained (and are being trained) for success!

Comment by KimS on July 3, 2014 at 11:18am

Hi Kevsmom. Welcome! The best ways we have found for contact is by email and skype. We did use Facebook chat once. Skype is great since you actually get to see them. They can get emails as often as you want to send them, but they may not email you or contact you for several weeks.

Comment by janenrich (1202-4) on June 23, 2014 at 2:49pm

KimS -- Check your INBOX for a message from me regarding contact with the ombudsman.

Comment by KimS on June 16, 2014 at 12:43pm

Janenrich - thank you for responding. I have not had any luck in contacting her and was wondering if you could contact her for me to see if she will contact me. That is if you are in contact with her. My son was surprised that no one had contacted me so he must have given them my information. There is no emergency, I would just like to have some contact with someone who knows something about their boat especially in case we do have an emergency. If you can't contact her I understand , but would really appreciate it!

Comment by janenrich (1202-4) on June 13, 2014 at 1:34pm

KimS - Doesn't look like it's very active. Just joined the group ourselves a few weeks back. We don't check N4M very often these days and only occasionally check the e-mail account it's linked to. Jamie (ombusdman) sent the last message out on 6/9. Don't know if I should post her eddress here but you should be able to contact her on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/usscolumbusombudsman

Comment by KimS on June 4, 2014 at 12:45am

Hey, just wondering if there is anyone active in this group. My son has recently joined the crew of this sub. I have not heard from the ombudsman and was wondering if anyone knew who she is and how to get in touch with her. Thank you.

Comment by Rhondapir12/17/10 on November 10, 2012 at 11:58pm

Any new/ current  moms with sons on the Columbus. My son just got his assignment on Oct 30, 2012. This is his first assignment. I would love to find mom's with sons on the Columbus out of Pearl Harbor.

 

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