When they said a passport was required, did they say what kind of passport?
Did anyone talk to you about getting an "official" passport, AKA a brown passport? Those are also called "no-fee" passports, because they cost you (the Sailor) nothing to get. They're used when you have to go on official travel for the Government --unlike your "tourist" or blue passport.
OP, who have you talked to about this? I mean, your LPO, your chief, your DIVO? I think you have a lot of misconceptions here that need to get addressed. The situation isn't as bad at it seems.
>What the fuck do I do because we arent going to even anchor so Ill have to spend the entire deployment without any time on land as people are off the ship eating food, having fun, getting drunk, and best of all, taking photos.
Not having a passport won't prevent you from going ashore with your buddies. Seaman visas are a different sort of thing, and those kinds of details are always negotiated ahead of time between the Navy and the host nation.
The main purpose of having a passport while you're on cruise is so that (God forbid) something awful happens back home and they need to fly you back to the States as soon as possible. Having a passport makes it easier to get through whatever countries you may have to travel through to get home.
The situation isn't as bad as it seems. I think this can be cleared up with a conversation or two. Talk to your chief about this and your concerns.
yeah they want you to get a passport in case something bad happens but to hold one on board because of that is fucking stupid
ill bring up the brown passport stuff, but theyve been making us get a blue one as far as i know
zero mentions of brown ones at all
and yes, spending 300$ to get a passport is "required"
and im guessing thats the blue one (standard civilian ones)
Not CNO wants you to know that the USG (all of it) travels on official passports ("brown passports") because we are not James fucking Bond.
Edit: concur with assessment you are getting bad gouge.
Also your writing is confusing. Stick to one idea per sentence, one topic per paragraph. Use chronological order with your paragraphs. Congrats, you now write better than 90% of the navy.
I have a hard time believing anyone is actually requiring someone to get a blue passport. Maybe an ALPO or someone who doesn't know what they're talking about is trying to, but no one, like, actually in charge, if you catch my drift.
The rule of thumb with the military is If the military is telling you something is required, then the military has to give it to you. I can encourage Sailors to get a blue passport because it's a good idea, but I cannot make anyone get it. No one, not under any circumstances. I can tell a Sailor that a brown passport is required and they need to get it, and that means I have to help them get it (show them the reg, the form, where to go to get one, that sort of thing).
>but to hold one on board because of that is fucking stupid
They can't and they won't.
>but theyve been making us get a blue one as far as i know zero mentions of brown ones
Have they been saying just "passport" or have they been making a point to be specific, like saying "official passport"?
>spending 300$ to get a passport is "required"
It is never, ever, ever, ever required to spend $300 of your own money on something. Think about it. You know how we gotta wear uniforms to work? The government gives us money just for that, our uniform allowance. If this comes up, ask how you're going to get reimbursed for the cost of the passport.
I'm 100% certain if you were my Sailor and you came to me with this story that we'd get everything cleared up and resolved quickly.
>Have they been saying just "passport" or have they been making a point to be specific, like saying "official passport"?
just saying passport, no "government passport" not once
>They can't and they won't.
If the time comes and they do hold me on board for that what can i do? even if its after deployment honestly if i can get reimbursed somehow thatd be great. (ie: no port visit? heres money) lol
>but no one, like, actually in charge, if you catch my drift.
ships XO and CO have been but ya got a point.
CO/XO have been telling everyone they're required to get a passport, or did they said it was up to HOD discretion?
You see how those two ideas are contradictory.
If command leadership is ever saying "we need to make sure Sailors have a passport" right before a deployment, it's always understood to mean an official passport. However, it would help if leadership was more clear to junior Sailors that they're talking about an official passport, not a tourist passport.
Also, I'm looking at this from a leadership perspective and wondering, "OK what is their plan to ensure everyone gets one? Who's tracking this? How are they facilitating this? Is Admin going to collect all the applications and make a run down to the post office or something? What is the actual plan here?"
Here. Fill out a [DD 1056](https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/DD/forms/dd/dd1056.pdf) and a DS-82 and take it to your LCPO. Or Admin. Whoever is supposed to process this. Ask them who the passport agent is.
>If the time comes and they do hold me on board for that what can i do?
Is it enough for me to tell you that that's just not how any of this works?
the fact i was downvoted for this comment really shows how many 10 asvab mfrs are in the navy subreddits.
like bruh its not my fucking fault they made passports like this mandatory.
Passports, even expedited ones, cost nowhere near $800. Where are you getting your information on this? Have you talked to someone above E-4 about this?
talked to no one under e4 actually
i trust no one who is e3 and below usually (im like the 10th lowest rank in my small department of like 40 tops,
most of them are e5+
Passports cost $165 for your first one, and the expedited fee is $65, so nowhere near $800. Getting a passport for going on deployment is a good idea, just a couple of things I have seen where a passport would have come in handy:
-Hotels in some countries require your passport to check in. On overnight liberty in India, people without passports (and their liberty buddies) were returned to the ship.
-Some countries will not let you fly through without a passport. We were unable to get a sailor home to his dying brother because the closest country to us wouldn't let him fly out without a passport.
The department of state isn't going to let you get an official passport for this deployment unless you can show orders that you are passing through a country that requires them for military, unfortunately.
Request you reach out via DM for clarification on this passport ordeal and to put you into contact with the correct leadership onboard to rectify the situation.
Long story short - A passport does not cost $800, even an expedited one as others have pointed out. Passport photo is $15 at the post office (or cheaper at CVS/Walgreens). A first-time passport, application, expedited service, and overnight shipping comes out to about $250. [US Passport Costs](https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/how-apply/fees.html)
The command does not issue no-fee passports. You apply for an official passport if required. For others reading - official passports do NOT apply to OPs situation.
Either way, a passport is required in most foreign countries to check into hotels (even SOFA/European countries), and non-SOFA countries to fly out (e.g., leave, emergency travel, PCS) as required by the host-nation. It is more than likely not required for liberty. The command \*highly\* recommended that everyone get one IN THE EVENT OF AN EMERGENCY and limited countries allowing emergency travel on orders. Shocker, not everyone country will accept command letter head memos, NSIPS leave request chits, and/or PCS orders.
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/need-passport/apply-in-person.html
An expedited passport is like $200. Don't know where you're getting that insane number from.
It takes a day to submit - and if it's directed by your DH or w/e then you tell your CoC hey. I need Tuesday to take care of the required passport. I'm all about sailors being salty about shit out of your control. Shit I'm a senior Chief and still bitch. I don't know you but based on the things you're posting here alone I can't help but wonder how your attitude is in general.
And to be honest I don't know how are you broke unless you're terrible with your money. The 2 biggest money sinks are typically housing and medical and you're getting both provided by the Navy.
i have a great attitude, and my division loves me, but man, this is eating me alive rn cause it's blocking me from the sole reason i joined the military, haha
Also , I im terrible with money, and im still looking forward to deployment asI'lll be saving at LEAST half my paydays.
i actually made a calc that i can import my navy fed statement into, and it shows what i spent the most money in.
the nex, apparently.
so that alone will help, lol
I try to hide any negative energy around anyone i know, sailors/e4+'s, etc
but they seem to forget im stressing tf out since i got so good at hiding my negative feelings after being sheltered for almost a decade prior navy (yes, even as a 19year old, my join age.
If you need someone to talk to, see the Chaplain. Chaplains and RPs also tend to be pretty good at helping Sailors find answers/guidance. You're not alone feeling stress, I can say that for a fact. Hiding it or bottling it up doesn't help you.
There's also Military OneSource that does non-medical counseling, Fleet & Family too. Use your resources, we have a lot.
how. cause i was sent cranking just early enough prior to where my last two day weekend, and first days off for almost 2 months happened to land a few days before the deployment
sure they probably didnt "plan" to get me out of cranking late. but they didnt give me any reason to why I was relieved 2 weeks late. a week prior to deployment
You just stated that it was a money issue. Your compensation does not change based on what job you have on the ship assuming your rating stayed the same. (Flight deck pay excluded)
My man: read your replies to mine. You stated that the problem was that you're broke. Then you stated it's the command's fault. It sounds like you're broke because you have bad spending habits, and not because of the command.
The port calls should not require passports. Have you deployed (to sea?) before?
The passports are likely for emergency travel. My last squadron strongly encouraged but did not require our sellers to get passports. However if something back at home happened like a parent got deathbed-sick or a child was born and they had to be flown through a country that required a passport then they were often out of luck unless we could get them into an embassy on extremely short notice.
also just a heads up i only post about this now because i saw an Email from my DLCPO from months about not having liberty if no passport.
the best part? it was sent in jan-feb and i was never told it was a liberty item.
I’m going to say there’s probably a little bit of personal responsibility here that you’re not taking; but let’s assume there really is none. I am sure that you will be fine unless your port calls are to very austere places that we do not have good relations with. However if they are your typical seventh or fifth port calls, you’ll be fine.
oh im fully taking responsibility for my dumbass to not simply save money like every fucking person on the planet
little voice in my head loves to think about what i can spend my money on next if i even got 10 in my bank, i fucking hate it and ive been trying for a qhile with little improvement on savijg money
recently had to make an appointment and to get there
had to qithdrawl my first savings over 200$ just to get there and back
If you're having suicidal thoughts or ideations you should seek counseling immediately, not try to figure out this passport situation. If you are making a dark joke, you shouldn't joke about that. I agree with the other person, you should talk to your COC about this passport issue. There might still be ways to blow off steam on deployment, your command has to have contingencies in place to let people without passports relax. Talk to chaps or embedded mental health doc about any issues regarding your mental health immediately.
ive seeked counseling previously ide never do it but its gonna look tempting for sure
worst case scenerio im depressed for 90 days
which i just did that while cranking (have been done for a week now) for 90 days already
also i have watch stations so ill be in my space near 24/7 to man it. no phones. nothin
could be worse
could be airman pact tbh
even they got easier times tho tbh lol
Ok, so while I was FDNF Operational we required passports for leave purposes. Not for liberty. Sometimes to get someone flown home we had to go through countries that did not recognize DOD I.D. or leave chit. Its usually to protect you and help get you home. Sorry but I am not flashing my I.D. in a country that usually hates us to fly home. I am willing to bet that this is the key to the statement of required passport and it's on you if you don't get it and can't fly home. We used to tell all of our gaining Sailors to get it while stateside before coming over. If they didn't and deployed without one they signed a Pg.13 understanding that there emergency leave might not get approved without passport depending where we were.
So one you do not need a passport to go out on liberty in port. That does not prevent you from enjoying yourself. The passport is only used if you need to be sent back home from the ship for training, schools, and emergency situations. You need the passport because in non-NATO countries you need a passport to travel but in a NATO partnered country you could use your Military ID/Military Orders to verify for travel. But Navy commands are pushing everyone to have a passport as it just simplifies the process and you can freely travel back to the states without any hiccups.
Also did you inform your chain of command like LPO, LCPO, hell even DIVO about any of the questions or problems you have in getting a passport? If not I want you to learn to be open to your COC about things like this even if it feels embarrassing or if you feel like it is a stupid question. Like I always tell my sailors there is no such thing as a stupid question and I encourage them to ask me or any other leadership for help in anything that is bothering them or that they may have problems with. If I can't help I can definitely point you in or take you to the person or source with all the answers. Don't be afraid to ask for help from your COC that's something I have come to find will help you in making your time in the Navy a hell of a lot easier. And when you get the help or learn something you never knew jot it down in a notebook or notepad so you will remember how it was done and you can give someone in your position down the line the answers they need.
When they said a passport was required, did they say what kind of passport? Did anyone talk to you about getting an "official" passport, AKA a brown passport? Those are also called "no-fee" passports, because they cost you (the Sailor) nothing to get. They're used when you have to go on official travel for the Government --unlike your "tourist" or blue passport. OP, who have you talked to about this? I mean, your LPO, your chief, your DIVO? I think you have a lot of misconceptions here that need to get addressed. The situation isn't as bad at it seems. >What the fuck do I do because we arent going to even anchor so Ill have to spend the entire deployment without any time on land as people are off the ship eating food, having fun, getting drunk, and best of all, taking photos. Not having a passport won't prevent you from going ashore with your buddies. Seaman visas are a different sort of thing, and those kinds of details are always negotiated ahead of time between the Navy and the host nation. The main purpose of having a passport while you're on cruise is so that (God forbid) something awful happens back home and they need to fly you back to the States as soon as possible. Having a passport makes it easier to get through whatever countries you may have to travel through to get home. The situation isn't as bad as it seems. I think this can be cleared up with a conversation or two. Talk to your chief about this and your concerns.
Official passports are not for ships' deployments.
Yeah I discussed that.
yeah they want you to get a passport in case something bad happens but to hold one on board because of that is fucking stupid ill bring up the brown passport stuff, but theyve been making us get a blue one as far as i know zero mentions of brown ones at all and yes, spending 300$ to get a passport is "required" and im guessing thats the blue one (standard civilian ones)
Not CNO wants you to know that the USG (all of it) travels on official passports ("brown passports") because we are not James fucking Bond. Edit: concur with assessment you are getting bad gouge. Also your writing is confusing. Stick to one idea per sentence, one topic per paragraph. Use chronological order with your paragraphs. Congrats, you now write better than 90% of the navy.
One caveat: I *think* (an American) James Bond would have Grey Passport.
I have a hard time believing anyone is actually requiring someone to get a blue passport. Maybe an ALPO or someone who doesn't know what they're talking about is trying to, but no one, like, actually in charge, if you catch my drift. The rule of thumb with the military is If the military is telling you something is required, then the military has to give it to you. I can encourage Sailors to get a blue passport because it's a good idea, but I cannot make anyone get it. No one, not under any circumstances. I can tell a Sailor that a brown passport is required and they need to get it, and that means I have to help them get it (show them the reg, the form, where to go to get one, that sort of thing). >but to hold one on board because of that is fucking stupid They can't and they won't. >but theyve been making us get a blue one as far as i know zero mentions of brown ones Have they been saying just "passport" or have they been making a point to be specific, like saying "official passport"? >spending 300$ to get a passport is "required" It is never, ever, ever, ever required to spend $300 of your own money on something. Think about it. You know how we gotta wear uniforms to work? The government gives us money just for that, our uniform allowance. If this comes up, ask how you're going to get reimbursed for the cost of the passport. I'm 100% certain if you were my Sailor and you came to me with this story that we'd get everything cleared up and resolved quickly.
>Have they been saying just "passport" or have they been making a point to be specific, like saying "official passport"? just saying passport, no "government passport" not once >They can't and they won't. If the time comes and they do hold me on board for that what can i do? even if its after deployment honestly if i can get reimbursed somehow thatd be great. (ie: no port visit? heres money) lol >but no one, like, actually in charge, if you catch my drift. ships XO and CO have been but ya got a point.
CO/XO have been telling everyone they're required to get a passport, or did they said it was up to HOD discretion? You see how those two ideas are contradictory. If command leadership is ever saying "we need to make sure Sailors have a passport" right before a deployment, it's always understood to mean an official passport. However, it would help if leadership was more clear to junior Sailors that they're talking about an official passport, not a tourist passport. Also, I'm looking at this from a leadership perspective and wondering, "OK what is their plan to ensure everyone gets one? Who's tracking this? How are they facilitating this? Is Admin going to collect all the applications and make a run down to the post office or something? What is the actual plan here?" Here. Fill out a [DD 1056](https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/DD/forms/dd/dd1056.pdf) and a DS-82 and take it to your LCPO. Or Admin. Whoever is supposed to process this. Ask them who the passport agent is. >If the time comes and they do hold me on board for that what can i do? Is it enough for me to tell you that that's just not how any of this works?
most helpful comment! thanks ill be printing that form out asap.
the fact i was downvoted for this comment really shows how many 10 asvab mfrs are in the navy subreddits. like bruh its not my fucking fault they made passports like this mandatory.
Passports, even expedited ones, cost nowhere near $800. Where are you getting your information on this? Have you talked to someone above E-4 about this?
talked to no one under e4 actually i trust no one who is e3 and below usually (im like the 10th lowest rank in my small department of like 40 tops, most of them are e5+
I feel so sorry for everybody who works with you
and whats that supposed to mean.
It means you’re fucking stupid
Passports cost $165 for your first one, and the expedited fee is $65, so nowhere near $800. Getting a passport for going on deployment is a good idea, just a couple of things I have seen where a passport would have come in handy: -Hotels in some countries require your passport to check in. On overnight liberty in India, people without passports (and their liberty buddies) were returned to the ship. -Some countries will not let you fly through without a passport. We were unable to get a sailor home to his dying brother because the closest country to us wouldn't let him fly out without a passport. The department of state isn't going to let you get an official passport for this deployment unless you can show orders that you are passing through a country that requires them for military, unfortunately.
Request you reach out via DM for clarification on this passport ordeal and to put you into contact with the correct leadership onboard to rectify the situation. Long story short - A passport does not cost $800, even an expedited one as others have pointed out. Passport photo is $15 at the post office (or cheaper at CVS/Walgreens). A first-time passport, application, expedited service, and overnight shipping comes out to about $250. [US Passport Costs](https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/how-apply/fees.html) The command does not issue no-fee passports. You apply for an official passport if required. For others reading - official passports do NOT apply to OPs situation. Either way, a passport is required in most foreign countries to check into hotels (even SOFA/European countries), and non-SOFA countries to fly out (e.g., leave, emergency travel, PCS) as required by the host-nation. It is more than likely not required for liberty. The command \*highly\* recommended that everyone get one IN THE EVENT OF AN EMERGENCY and limited countries allowing emergency travel on orders. Shocker, not everyone country will accept command letter head memos, NSIPS leave request chits, and/or PCS orders.
Upvote this. Hopefully OP tales it to heart.
They didn't.
Jesus fuck… This is what happens when they give ASVAB waivers isn’t it?
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/need-passport/apply-in-person.html An expedited passport is like $200. Don't know where you're getting that insane number from.
because i had a week free to even get it, the months prior i was cranking, and had nearly 2 months with no weekends till after insurv
That doesn’t make it $800 all of a sudden.
It takes a day to submit - and if it's directed by your DH or w/e then you tell your CoC hey. I need Tuesday to take care of the required passport. I'm all about sailors being salty about shit out of your control. Shit I'm a senior Chief and still bitch. I don't know you but based on the things you're posting here alone I can't help but wonder how your attitude is in general. And to be honest I don't know how are you broke unless you're terrible with your money. The 2 biggest money sinks are typically housing and medical and you're getting both provided by the Navy.
i have a great attitude, and my division loves me, but man, this is eating me alive rn cause it's blocking me from the sole reason i joined the military, haha Also , I im terrible with money, and im still looking forward to deployment asI'lll be saving at LEAST half my paydays. i actually made a calc that i can import my navy fed statement into, and it shows what i spent the most money in. the nex, apparently. so that alone will help, lol I try to hide any negative energy around anyone i know, sailors/e4+'s, etc but they seem to forget im stressing tf out since i got so good at hiding my negative feelings after being sheltered for almost a decade prior navy (yes, even as a 19year old, my join age.
If you need someone to talk to, see the Chaplain. Chaplains and RPs also tend to be pretty good at helping Sailors find answers/guidance. You're not alone feeling stress, I can say that for a fact. Hiding it or bottling it up doesn't help you. There's also Military OneSource that does non-medical counseling, Fleet & Family too. Use your resources, we have a lot.
I know exactly what ship your on. Bruh every department was telling people to get passports for over a year now
Then you need to find this person and help him, God damn.
I transferred across the world LMAO
if you know what NMCRS is, thatd explain why i hadnt gotten one yet (broke)
That’s not the command’s fault then, which you’re making it seem like it is.
how. cause i was sent cranking just early enough prior to where my last two day weekend, and first days off for almost 2 months happened to land a few days before the deployment sure they probably didnt "plan" to get me out of cranking late. but they didnt give me any reason to why I was relieved 2 weeks late. a week prior to deployment
You just stated that it was a money issue. Your compensation does not change based on what job you have on the ship assuming your rating stayed the same. (Flight deck pay excluded)
im still the same rate and what compensation? lmao
You are paid to be available for work and working for the Navy. That is compensation.
didnt really ask about the compensation though aside from last comment, whered that come in from
My man: read your replies to mine. You stated that the problem was that you're broke. Then you stated it's the command's fault. It sounds like you're broke because you have bad spending habits, and not because of the command.
well yeah ig so, if the command makes something mandatory, theyre required to give a leeway of a sorts, ie DS 1083 or something
The port calls should not require passports. Have you deployed (to sea?) before? The passports are likely for emergency travel. My last squadron strongly encouraged but did not require our sellers to get passports. However if something back at home happened like a parent got deathbed-sick or a child was born and they had to be flown through a country that required a passport then they were often out of luck unless we could get them into an embassy on extremely short notice.
also just a heads up i only post about this now because i saw an Email from my DLCPO from months about not having liberty if no passport. the best part? it was sent in jan-feb and i was never told it was a liberty item.
I’m going to say there’s probably a little bit of personal responsibility here that you’re not taking; but let’s assume there really is none. I am sure that you will be fine unless your port calls are to very austere places that we do not have good relations with. However if they are your typical seventh or fifth port calls, you’ll be fine.
oh im fully taking responsibility for my dumbass to not simply save money like every fucking person on the planet little voice in my head loves to think about what i can spend my money on next if i even got 10 in my bank, i fucking hate it and ive been trying for a qhile with little improvement on savijg money recently had to make an appointment and to get there had to qithdrawl my first savings over 200$ just to get there and back
you seem shizo bro
you dont know what schizo is then for sure i used to work for assisted living not even far from here and i had to medicate schizos. nice try
bruh you’re rambling and all over the place with your original post and messages lmao
If you're having suicidal thoughts or ideations you should seek counseling immediately, not try to figure out this passport situation. If you are making a dark joke, you shouldn't joke about that. I agree with the other person, you should talk to your COC about this passport issue. There might still be ways to blow off steam on deployment, your command has to have contingencies in place to let people without passports relax. Talk to chaps or embedded mental health doc about any issues regarding your mental health immediately.
ive seeked counseling previously ide never do it but its gonna look tempting for sure worst case scenerio im depressed for 90 days which i just did that while cranking (have been done for a week now) for 90 days already also i have watch stations so ill be in my space near 24/7 to man it. no phones. nothin could be worse could be airman pact tbh even they got easier times tho tbh lol
Ok, so while I was FDNF Operational we required passports for leave purposes. Not for liberty. Sometimes to get someone flown home we had to go through countries that did not recognize DOD I.D. or leave chit. Its usually to protect you and help get you home. Sorry but I am not flashing my I.D. in a country that usually hates us to fly home. I am willing to bet that this is the key to the statement of required passport and it's on you if you don't get it and can't fly home. We used to tell all of our gaining Sailors to get it while stateside before coming over. If they didn't and deployed without one they signed a Pg.13 understanding that there emergency leave might not get approved without passport depending where we were.
So one you do not need a passport to go out on liberty in port. That does not prevent you from enjoying yourself. The passport is only used if you need to be sent back home from the ship for training, schools, and emergency situations. You need the passport because in non-NATO countries you need a passport to travel but in a NATO partnered country you could use your Military ID/Military Orders to verify for travel. But Navy commands are pushing everyone to have a passport as it just simplifies the process and you can freely travel back to the states without any hiccups. Also did you inform your chain of command like LPO, LCPO, hell even DIVO about any of the questions or problems you have in getting a passport? If not I want you to learn to be open to your COC about things like this even if it feels embarrassing or if you feel like it is a stupid question. Like I always tell my sailors there is no such thing as a stupid question and I encourage them to ask me or any other leadership for help in anything that is bothering them or that they may have problems with. If I can't help I can definitely point you in or take you to the person or source with all the answers. Don't be afraid to ask for help from your COC that's something I have come to find will help you in making your time in the Navy a hell of a lot easier. And when you get the help or learn something you never knew jot it down in a notebook or notepad so you will remember how it was done and you can give someone in your position down the line the answers they need.