Navy Nuke Girlfriends/Fiancés/Wives

[c_denise3]

Hi ladies,

My SO leaves for bootcamp in January, then will be shipped to Nuke school shortly after. I've done my research on the intensity of A School and Prototype, and I know that he is going to be super busy with not a whole lot of free time.

Can any of you ladies give me some advice as to how you handled it and what you did to help the relationship survive? I'm not concerned about us ending our relationship, I just know how hard it's going to be communication wise and he and I already dread that. We've talked about the possibility of me moving down to where he will be. I'll be just finished with my masters program, and he will be about a month into his schooling. I will be 8+ hours away from him when he's in Nuke School and weekend visits are never long enough. I know he'll get holidays and such as well, but I know it's going to be hard not seeing each other.

Can I please get some advice in regards to this? I know you ladies have either been there or are experiencing it now, so any input will be appreciated!

[jenlee11]

My boyfriend is in the Navy, on a sub. We weren't together for his schooling but we've been together through 2 deployments now which I can imagine would be similar. When he's deployed there's the time difference (14 hours where he goes), and then there's when he's underway and we might be able to get an email back and forth in a week. So it's basically not speaking. We just try to make the most of what we can. We Skype when he can. He's back in his home port now but he still has duty every so often where we don't talk for a day and a half. It sound like awful advice but you just have to take what you can get. In the bigger picture, he's making a great choice by joining. It can really set his life up well. I get to see my boyfriend about every 6 months. And yeah they get holidays off but my boyfriend still has watch, for example on Christmas Day. And they have to use their time off to travel even if it's around a Holiday to cover leave.
If I wasn't so realistic about it all it would be harder to get through, but the more you know about how it works the easier it will be to understand the situation and it's stipulations.