Ddcga--You are doing the logical thing in trying to predict when you might be able to see your DS. Unfortunately, it is usually impossible to know for sure. It is not uncommon for mids to be able to get time off before or after going to sea, but you generally do not know until the last minute. That situation is all well and good if you live within driving distance at KP. If you live all the way across the country like we do, it is much more difficult and the academy ATR's do not seem to understand the hardship. Last minute plane tickets have cost us hundreds of extra dollars for last minute trips home. Often, however, things are out of the ATR's control. Sometimes the ship your mid is scheduled for has unavoidable delays at sea due to weather or problems loading or off-loading cargo at foreign or domestic ports, sometimes the ship has to stay in port longer than anticipated in order to make unscheduled repairs. The only reason our DS got to come home for a week last year was because the KP soccer team made the playoffs. No, he's not on the soccer team, but his sea partner is and our DS had to wait for him to go out to sea. I found myself being a huge fan of the soccer team because each time they won, our DS got to stay home for a few more days! Yet every time there was another delay, it
cost us more money to change the plane tickets again. Our DS is supposed to
come home after finals next week, but I have not told his little sisters yet because I know plans often change at the last minute. As everyone says, stay
flexible and treasure the time you do have with your DS or DD!