Questions about the navy

Question

1) How often do they go afloat and for how long will they stay on water?

2) How often do they stay on land?

3) Will I be able to communicate with people outside the base every day? How often can I use the phone, or my computer? (I just don't want to estrange my girlfriend)

4) I heard they can send me to college, will I be able to pick any school in any country of my choice or would it only be limited to military bases?

5) I would love to petition my girlfriend for citizenship, how soon would I be able to do this?

Thank you for taking time to answer my questions.

Right now, I have my eyes on the benefits of joining the navy.

But I can't join if it's going to put my relationship with my girlfriend on the line, preparation for our future family is the only reason I'm thinking of joining the military. Thank you for understanding

Answer 1

1. Plan on spending your entire 1st enlistment on sea duty.  You'll be at sea at least 6 months out of every year unless the ship is in the yards for repair.

2. The ship will be in port about half the time.  You'll have the duty about 1 day out of very 4 or 5 and have to stay onboard.

3. You can't use your personal computer onboard the ship to communicate with anybody.  There may be times when you're allowed to send email on the ship's computers.  These messages are subject to review.

4. You aren't going to be sent away to college anywhere.

5. Are you a US citizen?  Only a US citizen can petition a fiancee.

Answer 2

1. It depends on the ship/assignment. It could be 6-12 months out of 24.

2. Depends on the unit.

3. Depends on the mission. Sometimes you will be able to use the phone/email everyday, others you won't.

4. Primarily on the base. Options are limited, mostly off duty hours. Other options available upon application.

5. You won't be able to petition for your girlfriend.

Answer 3

1. Count on being gone at least 6 months per year on average. There are workups, quals, Rimpac, JTFEX, etc to do on a regular basis and each takes 2 + weeks. A normal 6 ish month deployment is about once every other year with workups before.

2. There is a sea/shore rotation with every rating. The most common is 4 years at a Sea command and 3 years at a Shore command.

3. You can use email onboard when it's up. It goes down on a regularish basis  when deployed but won't be down for long. It's run by satelite and when the ship turns there are times it's out of range. You can make personal calls after working hours off the ship. There is very little signal for cell phones to recieve a call onboard because of all the steel and radar jjamming devices. You can use your computer on personal time as entertainment only. You can NOT connect your laptop to the ships server and send/receive any mail or surf the web.

4. While aboard the navy offers PACE courses for college credits. There are several other options for college courses available but those are best discussed with your educational advisor as each ship has their own PACE class offerings.

5. No, your girlfriend is not of any relation to you and has no meaning to the military. If you choose to marry her then you, you can get assistance with the citizenship documents.  

Answer 4

on subs you spend 7 months of every year underwater.

When not underwater, you live in your house near a navy base.

They will pay for yoru college, mostly any college that offers correspondence courses though.

You can make your GF a citizen as soon as you marry her, then she can live on base as well.