Welcome, Chief West!

Chief West,

Thanks for contacting me.
Rachels first and only choice from the get go was the Navy. Her Grandfather and Great Grandfather both served. She mentioned an an interest in the Military, she said Navy would be her choice and we went and spoke with a recruiter. She took the ASVAB test the first day we went in. We weren't expecting a test but Rachel took it, & scored above 700. A week later she decided she wanted to sign up.
As far as choosing to be AECF; it was in no way forced or thrust on her. They gave her an idea of what it entailed, the pay, the ranking, etc, & she decided to go for it. Her specific job will be a FireControlman. She has a bit of schooling ahead, but I think she is/was ok with that. She started getting discouraged due to a delay between Bootcamp and start of A school. There was almost 6 weeks delay before she finally started.
When she joined, she had a boyfriend, a Marine, who is 5 years older than she. Her mom & I didn't approve but she continued a long distance relationship w/him. He has been in Afghanistan for the past several months & will probably be there for awhile. He recently sent her a ring, said he wants to marry her. Again, her Mom and I do not approve; we hardly know this young man. Shes 19, only out of High School for 6 months! This is when we started seeing unusual behavior,saying she "wants out" of the Navy, she's stressed out, etc. We now think this guy is pressuring her. I was able to speak to him a few weeks ago. I asked him to back off and let Rachel grow up, focus on her career and committment to the Navy.

I apologize for the long story but this is what I believe is happening. Chief West, please keep this confidential. I actually called Rachels recruiter,he was going to try contacting her. He also knows this is not like Rachel. I will be seeing her over Thanksgiving and am excited to spend time with her!

Any advice you might have I welcome. Thanks very much Chief West for contacting me.
Sincerely,
Thomas

Chief....I'm lurking here, but read your reply to Jim...his sailor's rate is AECF according to Thomas' profile.......

Chief West, we have a dad on here that sent us a message last night. Not too sure what to say to him, or how to help with his daughters situation. His name is Thomas Lienhart. Maybe you can give him some insight what the Navy will do.

"Hello all,
Thank you for the welcome messages. I am actually here with a serious issue that has just recently come up and I need advice. My daughter Rachel graduated Bootcamp in late September. As a parent, I've never been prouder. To see her in her white uniform was just awesome! She looked amazing. She had put on some weight, but all muscle.

Since her graduation, she had been in limbo until just about 2 weeks ago when she finally started A school. She is still in Great Lakes and is supposed to stay there until at least May of 2011.

So I'll cut to the chase here. Rachel informed us about a week or so ago thata she wants to quit the Navy; she wants out. She says she doesn't like it, doesn't like the school, doesn't like the job she chose! As a parent, I'm devastated. From what I understand and have read, the Navy has a 6 month period, the first 6 months, that will allow a Sailor to leave if they request it. They have to have served at least 28 days with pay I believe, before they can make this request.
This isn't like my daughter, she isn't a quitter, so I'm just very confused and don't know what to do or where to turn. She has had some counseling with a chaplain, and it sounds like he is also trying to convince her to stay but she is insisting she wants out. I am so upset about this it's all I can think about. I am going back to Chicago next week for Thanksgiving to be with her and am hoping we can get to the bottom of what is really going on. I'm wondering IF they will let her seperate from the Navy, what the process is, is she dishonorably discharged??? This is unbelieveable , I can't believe this is even happening. Please , if you have any advice, insight, prayer, I will appreciate it. Thank you so much.
Thomas"

Hi Chief West: thought you might enjoy knowing that the sailor of the week is mine :)

Chief'
My younger son went to visit his recruiter. The Chief in the office requested more information. Good news! They are really working on his request.

I just heard from the recruiters Chief. The problem is the paperwork that we got from the hospital it says "Renal failure" (Kidney failure) as the initial diagnosis. The Chief said it is at a courtesy med view, if cleared he can do his physical then it will go to med view for the real approval.

Lee

Hi Chief
He took the ASVAB on 3-4-2010. He was supposed to go back the next day to take the physical and get his job in the CT or IT field. We were told the next day that the MEPS Dr. needed to get a clearance from our Dr. so we did. He said it would be a week or two before we heard back from MEPS. On 4-1 the recruiter said to get everythin we could from the Dr., Lab and hospital so we did. Almost 3 weeks went by with no word so I called the recruiter. The recruiter said the the main base was flooded back east from a river going over the banks so it would be some time before we hear back. In early May the recruiter said he needed a list of Charlie's work outs, times at the Gym and swimming times.... Why??? I don't know he just said it would help. This past Monday I went to the recruiting office and was told" Wow, Charlie may have to wait six month and maybe up to a year before he will know something!! It's now almost 4 month since his ASVAB test, still has not gotten a physical at MEPS, He goes to the DEP meetings on Thursdays and DEP events, he has brought in other recruits and they already have ship out dates...but now the recruiter seems to be blowing us off.

Lee

He tagged along with a Marine Depper buddy to check it out. The Sgt. PT'd Charlie with out our consent. We found out the next day when he started to complain about his back hurting, that's when he told us that he worked out with the Marines.