Being Stationed in Italy..

[ET3Workman]

Hey all, just have a few questions about La Maddalena.
Is there anyone here that has been stationed there that can give me some pros and cons about it? I still have a couple years to go before I have the oppourtunity to go, but it's never to early to start thinking about what I want to do in the Navy. I'm a Surface ET about a week from qualifying at prototype here in Ballston Spa.
Also I know there is no guarantee that if I STAR re-enlist that they will send me to La Madd, so what is the best way to get orders there?
Also I hear that you can make a lot of money being stationed there just from the extra pay and stuff you get for living over there...is this true?
Thanks

[Already Gone]

This is not a plum duty station.  You have to live on the ship, which is basically bolted to an island that is totally off-limits to you.  La Maddalena is a little town on a nearby island.  There is almost nothing to do, unless you like second-run B movies.  On nearby Sardinia, there are a couple of small resort towns, and a larger city about an hour away.  After a while, you will get tired of the topless beach and the two sorry nightclubs.
You cannot go to Corsica without a passport.  Unlike Italy, the French government requires US military personnel to have a visa to enter.

You have to ride a transport boat to get anywhere.  You cannot have a car or a place off-base. 

This is a really nice place to visit.  It is one of the more beautiful polkaces on the planet, but it will get boring.  The theory that isolated duty stations are a good way to save money is stupid.  Unless you are at the South Pole, you will find a way to spend money - especially since you will be bored out of your mind unless you travel a lot.
What is this "extra" pay that you speak of?  Family Separation Allowance won't pay for the phione calls home.  You won't get housing or subsistence allowances.  You might even lose your sea pay and sub pay for a while - although I think that most nukes on a tender get to keep those.

The best way to get orders to LaMaddalena is to ask for them.  Since most people will be trying to go to stations in the civilized world, you will have no competition for a billet on "The Rock"

[taterhead]

Well, if you are just now at prototype, that means you have a 5 yr sea commitment coming up.  I know that the detailers may cut it to 3 if you take a prototype tour, 4 if you take recruiting duty.  I am not sure that you will be able to get off your ship in a "couple" of years to go to Italy...

As far as I know, the Tenders are usually wide open, particularly if you get an RCT school en route.

Assignment Incentive Pay is available to those who take jobs overseas in "hard to fill" billets.  There is a bidding process, and the jobs usually go to the lowest bidder who is qualified for the position.

However, I would say that while planning ahead is good, you have quite a bit of steaming to do before you worry about a shore tour  

[hamsamich]

yeah man, lamad will be there for you after you do about 3 years of your seatime, or that's when they sent me to my tender.  after 3.5 years.  but don't even worry about lamad right now.  you will hear about so many other places while you are at your next duty station that you may not even want to go to lamad by next year.  lamad aint that great, I wasn't stationed there, but I stopped in for a couple weeks on the sub for upkeep or whatever they called it.  when you get to your next duty station and you really want to go, find out what tender is there and call it up.  i'm sure you can get the number somewhere.  ask for R-10 or wherever you would work and talk to them about it.  they will tell you what's up.  the scuba sure is good there, very clear water.  i'm just assuming there is still a tender (tendarrr) there, some oldass tender built in the 40s was there when I went.  I think it is gone now.

[Phurst]

I hope you're not talking about the Gilmore. I was there. Old and broken down. We hosted subs like the Nautilus, Narwal, Greenling, Skate. Fun, fun, fun! I liked it, did 2 years in RadCon but that was back in the early 70's when you could live on the beach, ride motorcycles around and go to Corsica without a problem. Food was good, wine was good, and the work easy. Once a quarter we'd go to some place like Barcelona, Villafrance, Tunisia. Probably a lot different now. Ah! The good old days

[hamsamich]

I was there in like 92 or 93.  It was kinda cool, but the way things are now I've got a feeling it might suck, and it wasn't as cool as when I went (probably) as when you were there.  When I was there I took 8 days of leave to visit my brother in Germany.  I didn't need a passport, I went to some big island via Large Liner to eventually get to Italy, then made my way up the Italian coast by train.  Made it to Heidelberg Germany but could never get my bro on the phone, he was "out in the field" as they called it (ARMY).  It was fun trying though.  I guess if you'ld check into it today and REALLY like to travel (no family) it might be a good place for a nuke to be stationed if he wanted to see Europe.  It's hard for nukes to get stationed overseas and that's one of the only places available for nukes.  I've heard some nukes getting 5/2 rotation and getting stationed somewhere really cool after 5 years of seatime for only 2 years good shore duty, but I don't know how that works.  I got the Rank Cable in charleston for my "good duty".  Man, I ALMOST wished I stayed on my sub, but not quite!