Wow, Commander. Honolulu, heh. I always thought you were Texan born and bred.

Well, yesterday, before A Schoolers bolted Groton for some home-cooking, their old bed, and some family love, the Chief put the billets on the board, and they picked in class rank order. As expected, the first three picked Bangor and King’s Bay. At fourth, Junior was the first to pick Hawaii. He and I are both very excited.

Strange how things work out. I was on his butt to finish at least in the top three, so he might have a shot at a GN or Virginia. But failing that, I thought a 688 would be a better choice than a Boomer, for a lot of reasons; no insult intended to any Boomer guys here; I just thought it would be better for him. He ranged from first to third during most of A School, but fell to fourth on the last test, by a fraction. So, rather than a boomer guy at King’s Bay, God willing, come January, he’ll be a fast attack submariner at Pearl Harbor. And, about that, I say “all is well.”

I picked him up from the airport at 11:00 last night, and now he’s in the bosom of his family.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

Congrats on your son jag985! Hope all goes well for him.

Betty, I checked out your profile and saw that your husband's boat is the USS Columbus... which is funny because I go to The Ohio State University, and two weeks ago the CO, COB, and a JO from the Columbus came to my NROTC unit and spoke to us about submarine warfare. Seeing as how three (including me) out of 30 freshman midshipman are interested in Subs, I got to speak to them one on one... It was pretty cool hearing some stories and leadership principles from them. The COB seemed to genuinely care about his enlisted guys and led me to believe that if you have a good attitude and are willing to work hard on that boat, he will in turn work his butt off to help his enlisted guy's careers.

quote:

Originally posted by jag985:
Wow, Commander. Honolulu, heh. I always thought you were Texan born and bred.

Nope - been here for 20 years, but still have da kine Aloha Spirit in my veins. I love Texas and Texans... My Lady is a Native Texan. In my 74+ years on this planet (this time around) I have lived and traveled all over the world. Hawaii and Texas are the best - for different reasons. I'll work a few more years and see where we wind up.

Congratulations on your son's achievements. Y'all must be very proud.

"Mack the Knife"
CDR USN (Ret)

Alaska and Hawaii are the two states I've not been in. I've spent the last 15 years in Texas before returning to CA for family reasons but I liked the pacific northwest the best. Have fun in Hawaii.

Hey Jag I have some advice for your son going to Hawaii. I had a car out there which was great. I do not know if he has a car or not but I also had a bicycle. The ride from Pearl Harbor to Waikiki is about 25 miles round trip. I used to love riding down there on the weekends. Of course being a NUB he has quals first but just something for him to think about. I also understand the bus system out there is really good too.

Jag,
Glad he got Pearl too. He'll have a great time and yes the Bus system is great, but an "Island Car" is a must if he wants to get around on Oahu. (I had a bike also, but it was pretty limiting. (Heading back there myself next May for a week). He needs to get off "The Rock" though and see all the other islands.. Plus he can take AMC (Air Mobility Cammand)"Space A" flights from Hickam AFB to Japan, Korea, you name it. He'll really enjoy Hawaii... But have him get the ALL IMPORTANT Boat Quals done first... Most boats have a saying, Welcome Aboard, "You're Dinq"

Great tips from one and all. Thanks. He wants to ship his car, which I think is a little absurd. And as indicated, his life as a nub will be pretty busy in the near term.

But a scooter, Vespa, or Moped seems much more sensible, financially and practically, for a small island. What's the scooter situation there? Seems like they would be plentiful. Of course, might be tough to haul a surf board or scuba gear on a scooter.

The two main traffic routes from Naval station Pearl Harbor and Sub Base are The Nimitz Highway and of Course H-1. A scooter is inappropriate for both, ok for around base though.
You are right about hauling scuba gear also. Shipping his car is not out of the question, but an island car is not out of the question either. But remember about parking. Not sure about the parking situation either, subbase was always kinda cramped, even more so now. They have built two new high rises there since I was stationed there. So space is even more of a premium. Check it out on Google Earth. But he will be ok for a while using the good ole' G.I. Shoe leather express. And also remember he will make friends and shipmates and they will have cars too. Keep his off boat distractions to a minimum. He needs to be paying attention to watch station quals, learning to read a SIB, (Ships Information Book) and leaning to be part of his crew. For six months to a year he needs to accept the fact that it’s all just not about him. His focus should be totally on the boat and becoming a “Hot Runner”. Remember he joined the Navy to be a Submarineer, so that should be his total focus from the get go once he checks aboard.

Actually Jag the Navy will ship his car for him. They shipped mine to the island and back when I got out. So no biggie there. I never had a problem finding parking. I just had to walk a bit sometimes to the barracks.

Do not think Oahu is a small island. If you drive around the island it is almost 140 miles if I remember correctly. To get up to North Shore it is a bit of a drive also. So a car is practical. There used to be a dive shop that gave lessons on base. I was a SCUBA instructor before the navy so I was loving life in Hawaii. About half the guys on my boat were qualified divers.

OH definately take the car. You can't get anywhere outside of Hono with out one really. Since the Nav will ship it for him for free... it's a no brainer.

People think Hawaii is small, but as MP points out.. it's quite large all things considered. If they ever get that stupid ferry up and running then he can take his car over to Maui and to the Big Island. Big Island is HUGE compared to Oahu. Takes over 2 hours just to drive across, and that's the DIRECT route on the Saddle Road. Kina fun though, but don't wander off the road... unexploded ordanance... Serious.

Hawaii is a blast. I love it there. In fact I'll be there in about 2 weeks. Taking my 1 year old to see her Great-Grands and Grands. Can't wait. Erik need vacation BADLY.

Need the car. Want the car. Take the car. Or buy a cheap one out there...E-bay can be wonderful. I personally shippped out my motorcycle. The drivers aren't too crazy (as compared to say...South Carolina), and the weather supports it all year.

Go enjoy the other Hawaiian islands as well. They are less commercialized, and really quite beautiful. A good camera is a must.

Last thing...do not be afraid of the locals. My EDMC at the time I went to Pearl warned us ad infinitum about the locals "hating" the haoles (that's us nonm-island born types). Spent my first week scared to death. Got invited out to my wife's coworkers party and fell in love with the people. They are wonderful.

quote:

the locals "hating" the haoles (that's us nonm-island born types).

Just for clarification, a Haole is a white guy. Chinese are Pake, Blacks are Popolo, then there's Pocho or Poragee they are decendants of the Portuguese and are the frequent butt of jokes, then there's the Japanee... you can figure that one out.

The locals don't "hate" haoles per se. It's just difficult to describe the whole situation with out getting into a lecture on Hawaiian history.

Hawaii people are GREAT people. I love em. Good senses of humor. Rep Replinger... HILARIOUS guy... too bad he maki die dead.

I spent 8 years in Groton and personally, I NEED snow every year to feel right....Groton was a no-brainer. I'd have gone nuts in HI. Also think about what HI is.... AN ISLAND, you cant get in your car an drive to the next state, there is a monsoon season, everything is REALLY expensive cause they have to ship everything in! Oh, and if visiting some of the most poverty stricken ports in the world sounds fun..PacFleet is for you..I was glad to be Lant fleet..... Less mosquitos

Dang Sub for someone who clearly has never been to Hawaii you sure hate the place. Oh and by the way there were no mosquitoes out there. And there aren't any monsoons either. Oh the occasional Hurricane but Groton gets nipped by those also.

And for the record I was born and raised in Wisconsin so I know all about snow and winter. I spent a year in Groton. I prefered Hawaii. The people are actually friendlier than in Groton.

You should always pick location over class of ship.
The only exception is K-Bay and Washington billets TEND to be Tridents. These days thats not even 100% certain with some of the recent re-location of some boats and the GN conversion for some others.

They won't tell us the boats anyways these days. . . and when you get your orders as a nub the boat stated on the orders is subject to change.

A squadron will typically not hand you off to another squadron, but you report to squadron first.
Squadron is within their rights to swap you to another boat. . .so if you pick the "SUPERWHAMODYNE class submarine" and the "USED-TO FISH" is in the same squadron you may end up on either one anyways.

Tell your son "Good Luck" for his tour in Pearl.

Too bad he's not going to the Virginia though (even though its in Groton). I would've been able to keep an eye on him for you.

quote:

Originally posted by ErikBloodaxe:

quote:

the locals "hating" the haoles (that's us nonm-island born types).

The locals don't "hate" haoles per se. It's just difficult to describe the whole situation with out getting into a lecture on Hawaiian history.

Some areas of the island are a little more off limits than most. While I was stationed in Hawaii, my wife was working as a visiting nurse. She would sometime drive into a neighborhood where they would yell "haole (female dog)" at her and the family she was seeing would sit a kid on my wifes car to prevent something from "happening" to it.

As for driving....we lived at what was Barbers Point Naval Air Station. It was actually cheaper time wise for me to ride my bike from there to Subbase then to get on the grid lock known as H-1. Just got rained on now and then, but the rain ALWAYS brought a rainbow. Nothing like seeing a rainbow a day for 1.5 years (sometimes double or triple rainbows).

quote:

Originally posted by Brandolf: Too bad he's not going to the Virginia though (even though its in Groton). I would've been able to keep an eye on him for you.

The Virginia would definitely have been a nice assignment. A hometown guy and friend of the family is a division officer on board. Sounds, though, that the other Virginias, in various stages of development, would be no place for a nub.

Besides, after nine weeks in Great Lakes and eight months in Groton, Junior realized just how much of a warm weather Southern boy he is. King’s Bay would have been nice (and close), but I’m pretty sure he’s excited about Hawaii and WestPac deployments on a 688. We shall see.

I will pass along the well-wishes. Thanks.

I used to think it got warm in Kings Bay until I moved to Columbia, SC. It gets HOT here....but I do remember my time in Kbay with fondness.

It gets pretty dang hot and humid on the east coast. I lived in DC for 3 years. I can handle a Phoenix, Az summer better than DC summers. Less bugs and no humidity.

quote:

Originally posted by SysEng:
Some areas of the island are a little more off limits than most. While I was stationed in Hawaii, my wife was working as a visiting nurse. She would sometime drive into a neighborhood where they would yell "haole (female dog)" at her and the family she was seeing would sit a kid on my wifes car to prevent something from "happening" to it.

Like I said, it's difficult do describe with out getting into a lecture on Hawaiian History. Yea, there are some Kanakas that don't like non-kanaka people. Given what's been done to them, and their kingdom, they may have a point. If a foreign power, a gazillion times more powerful than us came into the US and took over, we'd be pissed too. Overall, though the people of Hawaii are really nice, not just Kanaka, but everyone. Ya there's jerks, but those are EVERYWHERE.