Does welcome home stuff really matter?

[villanelle]

I spent an hour today, much of it in the rain, shoving cups into a fence to spell out welcome home messages, and attempting to put signs up around base, because several dets were coming home today/tomorrow.

I'm happy to do this stuff if it really makes a difference, but as I was standing there getting rained on, I wondered if anyone really cares if the fence has missed them and is happy to see them, or if the bus drives past a sign that says "We are proud of our Sailors".

Do you guys or the sailors really care at all about this stuff? Is it a waste of time and energy, or worthwhile?

 

[MasterBates]

Personally don't care for it, and think most of it is cheesy. I want a beer and a ride home. That's about it.

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[Pags]

I always felt that the homecoming ceremonies that we used to do at the hangar were sufficient. Birds flew in. Hugs and kisses. A few quick words of thanks from the Skipper and off you went.

 

[kmac]

I agree, and it's even talked about at the Warrior Transition Program for those coming back from Iraq/Afghanistan. For some, even a family Welcome Home ceremony is the exact opposite of what one wants. If you've been living in a 10-man tent for the past 9 months, the best thing to have is some privacy when you return. As for NavAir, I agree with Pags... keep it a simple hangar-based mini-ceremony. As for the signs and what not, it does let everyone else know on base that you're back.

 

[villanelle]

Maybe it's the det concept thing, but there really is no ceremony in the hanger. When birds show up for the fly offs, guys who are at work and can spare a few moinutes come down, but that's about it, other than the families who come. For the rest of the guys here, they take the ship, then get on a bus for an hour and get fairly unceremoniously dumped at the squadron or in front of the Q. With busses arriving on and off over a few hours, there isn't much fanfare. And I think it's tougher out here, where no one has extended family, so unless you have a spouse and/or kids, there is no one waiting to greet you, other than maybe the SDO and the Natops officer who are anxious to get back to their desks, and the CO/XO.

But it doesn't surprise me that you guys don't seem to care about the signs. That's sort of why I asked--"Do we do this because we think it matters, or because it actually matters?" Sounds like it's the latter, in which case I'll stay inside out of the rain from now on.

 

[fattestfoot]

I'll also say that I definitely didn't even notice any of that stuff. I just wanted to get home, take a shower, and for the first time in months not have to worry about work 7 days a week.

As far as single guys go, I'm pretty sure even if they have no one they know there, they're not really about to get excited to see someone else's family greeting them.

 

[MasterBates]

Yeah. I hate having to stay in the plane while they walk out cruise boxes of flowers, then let the wives and kids come up. I just want to get out of the Damn plane or Helo and go home.

I also hate being forced to go to other welcome home ceremonies for people I don't know.

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[Jim123]

I'll cast one more vote for indifference- although I acknowledge that a certain amount of fuss and fanfare makes the families feel good (especially the kids).

MB summed it up with a beer and a ride home. You could prepare cold drinks... one good way would be to start with an innocent looking vessel such as a fountain pop cup from any fast food chain, dump out nearly all of the soda, then top off with adult beverage of choice for a welcome home surprise with an edge. Just an idea...

 

[eas7888]

After my last deployment, which had me away from home for almost 18 months, I didn't care what was happening on the home front. I really just wanted to get to my own bed as quickly as possible.

Leaving for the deployment was something else. . .It was nice to see the support. When we left, we had the Patriot Guard escorting our buses out, streets were lined with people, a flight of two CH-47s flew over head for almost 20 miles, and all of the signs on the interstate were wishing us the best for our deployment. It was really touching to see the effort that the FRG put forth for our sake.

 

[MasterBates]

What was easily the WORST welcome home, was the squadrons duty driver blew me off, and I walked home 6 miles from Jax international.

If you have one or two flying home early prior to translant/pac. Dont forget them. I had no US money, ATM card didn't work, and my govt travel card was turned off by an admin fuckup.

Welcome home indeed.

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[phrogdriver]

What was easily the WORST welcome home, was the squadrons duty driver blew me off, and I walked home 6 miles from Jax international.

If you have one or two flying home early prior to translant/pac. Dont forget them. I had no US money, ATM card didn't work, and my govt travel card was turned off by an admin fuckup.

Welcome home indeed.

Sent via my HTC EVO 4G

Dude, you need more friends.

 

[The Chief]

I'll cast one more vote for indifference- although I acknowledge that a certain amount of fuss and fanfare makes the families feel good (especially the kids). ....

I think Jim hit it dead center. The fanfare is for the folks standing on the tarmac or on the pier, not the sailor manning the rails or holding in the cockpit awaiting the ceremonies.

Related: Last evening I had the opportunity to give to a small group my mini-dissertation on how absolutely essential the wife's clubs' were and how so very dangerous they were. Leathal.

 

[villanelle]

Our fly-offs land at the squadron, and those who ride the ship home have busses running all day from that base to ours, so if would be difficult for anyone to get forgotten.

Given that the work I put into today wasn't even for my own husband's home coming, I'm definitely going to scale back in the future. If this stuff gave those returning some warm fuzzies, I'd be fine doing it, but it certainly isn't fun for me, and if the families want it done for their own sake, the fence is available, as are the signs. Since we have a one or 2 aircraft fly off, and then a couple dozen guys trickle in, rather than an entire squadron returning, there isn't even really a big family vibe. It's typically 2-3 wives, a handful of kids, and whomever didn't hide in the bathroom (sorry, "head") long enough to avoid getting dragged downstairs when the helo is about to land. It's not a production at all, and the place is cleared out 10 minutes after the guys climb off the helo.

So I'm officially ditching my responsibility as sign-hanger in chief. How on God's green earth did I--the least wifey wife ever--end up being nominated and voted spouse's club president? The end is nigh, folks.

 

[helo_wifey]

When we were at 14, the OSC would do food/drinks/welcome home bags, etc for the single guys and would leave them in their Q rooms when they got back. The ESC would do the same for the single enlisted guys in their rooms. We would all try and be at the hanger to greet those coming back. Granted, it was mostly for the carrier but 14 was having more dets toward the end of our tour there. Nothing was done for them like the carrier based guys, we just met them at the hanger and went on our merry way.

 

[helo_wifey]

So I'm officially ditching my responsibility as sign-hanger in chief. How on God's green earth did I--the least wifey wife ever--end up being nominated and voted spouse's club president? The end is nigh, folks.

LOL...you can refuse that you know... I was asked at one point to hold a position and politely declined. It's been nice here in Jax where we don't even have that!