A Family Readiness Group (FRG) is a group of volunteers associated with the command who act as a resource and support for the families and friends of the command's sailors. FRGs are well explained in this blog post. For those who are hoping to increase their responsibility within a FRG or have been asked to [...]
For dual working parents or single parents, searching for childcare at a new duty station can be overwhelming to say the least! Below is a guide to some of the military childcare benefits available to service members and their families. Child Development Centers The military offers subsidized childcare at Child Development Centers (CDCs) on bases [...]
By Guest Author Erin Gregor Last holidays, our team here at The Submerged Life put together a great holiday gift guide! However, giving gifts to sailors about to go on patrol, deployment, or a longer underway poses some special challenges. They have limited time on land to use things like vouchers or spend time on [...]
A boomer, or ballistic missile submarine (SSBN), is a submarine with two crews that take turns taking the boat to sea. Sailors switch between "off crew" when their crew does not "own" the boat and being the crew that "owns" the boat. "Owning" the boat means your sailor's crew works on the submarine and is [...]
Story submitted by Amanda D. Once we received orders to Guam, I quickly became anxious and unenthused about our upcoming duty station. Mostly due to the negative things I was hearing from other spouses. When I would mention we were moving to Guam I would hear “oh no, I’m so sorry”, or “there’s no way [...]
Guest blog post by Sally DeBoer, Submarine Birthday 5K Team “I’m on my way home, I just need to finish one more thing!” “Boomer life is way easier; they’re not gone that much!” “It all gets better after ORSE!” Ah, yes, the pervasive myths of submarine family life. Perhaps you’ve heard them or fallen victim [...]
Did you know that the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society (NMCRS) has a non-insurance-based Visiting Nurse Program that can assist you with health education, research, and referrals? Navigating the health care systems at each new duty station can be downright frustrating, and adding your children’s healthcare on top of that and you’ve got a full-time job [...]
As we close out this year, we want to thank the 30,000 of you who have visited our site! In 12 months we published around 150 blog posts, ranging from deployment resources and PCS tips to duty station round-ups and crowd-sourcing ideas. We hope you found some value in our content as we continue to [...]
Boomer life. The good life. Family-friendly. Part time sailor life as you only "own" the boat for half the time. For those unfamiliar with "Boomers", SSBNs, or ballistic missile submarines have two crews that take turns taking the boat to sea. There is a short period of maintenance, “refit," between each "patrol” where both crews [...]
