THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, December 7, 1994 TAG: 9412070674
SECTION: MILITARY NEWS PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DALE EISMAN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines
They helped pack sea bags and said tearful goodbyes on the pier weeks ago; now hundreds of Hampton Roads area Navy wives - and a smattering of husbands - are preparing for a deployment of their own.
The spouses are heading to ports of call scattered across the globe for holiday reunions and vacations with their mates in uniform.
``We missed our first anniversary. We've missed a lot of holidays,'' said Bonnie Wilkerson of Virginia Beach, one of those making travel plans. Her husband, J.D., is a torpedoman's mate aboard the cruiser Anzio, part of the battle group that deployed in November with the aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower.
This will be the Wilkersons' first overseas rendezvous. Even for Bonnie, who makes her living as a travel agent, arranging the trip has been an adventure.
As of this week, she still didn't know exactly where she'll be going, when her husband will arrive and how much time they'll have together. The Ike and accompanying ships are in the Persian Gulf but are expected to move into the Mediterranean soon and to make a port call sometime around Christmas.
For security reasons, the Navy delays announcing ship movements and port calls as long as it can. And with a war on in the former Yugoslavia and the constant threat of one in the Middle East, any plans for the Anzio are subject to change.
``There's never a guarantee that the ship will be there,'' said Lynne Herr, manager of the SATO Travel office in the Navy Exchange hobby shop at Norfolk Naval Base.
Herr speaks from personal experience. She went to France last summer to meet her husband when his ship, the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, was to make a port call at Marseilles. The ship, hastily diverted to the Red Sea, never showed up.
Herr found out just before she left Norfolk that her husband might not be able to join her; she went anyway and had a pleasant visit with a friend's family in France. But 50 or 60 other wives of Roosevelt crewmen knew nothing of the change in plans until they arrived in France and a liason from the ship met them at the airport.
As a hedge against such a disaster, Bonnie Wilkerson has made several sets of plane and hotel reservations and is ready to make others. She and several friends - wives of some of her husband's shipmates - are booked on five flights and have changed their bookings four times already in response to news and rumors of the battle group's movements.
``We just want to make sure we're covered,'' she said.
SATO Travel, where both Wilkerson and Herr work, has made arrangements for 225 holiday trips this year for Hampton Roads military spouses meeting loved ones deployed abroad.
Margaret Allen, SATO's regional manager, said some spouses travel alone, others go in small groups or form large parties for their holiday deployments. Often, ship ombudsmen or spouses clubs help put together groups for the trips.
Allen said military discounts on foreign trips typically range from 22 percent to 67 percent, depending on whether the traveler is booking a refundable or nonrefundable ticket.
Refundable tickets typically are priced higher, but also have a larger discount. And though refundable, Herr cautioned that they often carry a penalty - generally $50 to $150.
``You do have to be careful,'' she said.
HOLIDAY TRIPS
Any travel agent can arrange holiday trips for the spouses of deployed service members. SATO Travel, created by a group of airlines to work with military members and families, has 10 offices in Hampton Roads. You can reach their ticket reservation center at 440-0400. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
RICHARD L. DUNSTON/Staff
Melanie Boyland, left, Bonnie Wilkerson, center, and Sheri Doucet of
the SATO Travel office at Norfolk Naval Base talk with customers
about travel arrangements.
Graphic
HOLIDAY TRIPS
Any travel agent can arrange holiday trips for the spouses of
deployed service members. SATO Travel, created by a group of
airlines to work with military members and families, has 10 offices
in Hampton Roads. You can reach their ticket reservation center at
440-0400.
by CNB