NAVY BOOT CAMP

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Comment by Jim Butler on November 30, 2009 at 9:49am

Got the first letter sitting on the my pc right now ;)
Talked to the recruiter and they said they'll call back this afternoon.

As I said before, Chris has been away from home before, for extended assignments with Americorps, so he's got a bit of a leg up on the homesick front, and he's 24, so a bit older than a lot of his shipmates, I think.

What an exciting time!

Comment by Larry Jenuwine on November 30, 2009 at 9:40am

He should have it withing 24 hours of your son's arrival at Great Lakes. Write him as often as you can. Start today! Every day if possible even if its only a few lines. John told us that if it wasn't for all the letters he got from his family he didn't think he could have made it. The first 2 -3 weeks is really hard on them.

Comment by Jim Butler on November 30, 2009 at 9:18am

Larry,
Thanks so much for the details. As I've said before, my wife and I are soaking up every single detail we can. Today is the first day of boot for our son, and as is to be expected, we can't stop thinking about him. My wife, not always known for her patience :), is going to call the recruiter today to ask for our son's address, as someone over on Navy Mom's said that they get the address today for their cruit.

Jim

Comment by Larry Jenuwine on November 30, 2009 at 8:46am

We were lucky enough to drive down to Great Lakes to spend Thanksgiving day with our son. It was absolutely the best Thanksgiving ever! My wife got most of our dinner ready here in Michigan and she cooked the turkey in a "set it and forget it" rotisory oven. On Thursday morning we were at the base at 07:15 and were the third car in line to pickup recruits. We got to see all the divisions march into the hall where they would be escorted to the families waiting outside. Breathtaking! Seeing John for the first time in 7 weeks was a very emotional moment for us all. When he came walking out of that hall in his navy finery I had all I could do to keep it together. We enjoyed a wonderful day with our son. He wanted to watch movies, play video games and recount as much of boot camp as we could squeeze in. We will be back this Friday for PIR. By the way our recruit informed us that on base they refer to it as graduation not PIR. What did I learn. If you are going to PIR and plan on driving to base - try to go the day before and get the lay of the land. The base is huge and there are multiple gates. Was John different? Yes. He is a man now. He carries himself with way more confidence than before boot. He is anal about his uniform and making sure everything is spot on. Is the boy that we sent to the Navy still in there? Absolutely. He is just a lot more mature now. To those of you just starting this journey my best advice is to not worry to much about your son or daughter. The Navy knows what it is doing. John words - Boot camp isn't that hard if your patient and stay out of trouble. We expect the "I'm a sailor" call tomorrow. He also has seen his orders for A school. He reports 4 days after PIR and will be in Chicago for 262 more days. Also he already knows that he has been selected for the ET side of A school.
Good luck parents! Bravo Zulu to your recruits!

Comment by Paul on November 29, 2009 at 5:21pm

http://www.cnic.navy.mil/GreatLakes/index.htm
A good link for the "A" School side including MWR Things to do in the area.

Comment by Paul on November 29, 2009 at 3:36pm

Looks like PIR 30Dec gets adopted for Christmas. We received the official letter for our Daughter who is in that group. Unable to attend both Xmas followed by PIR the following week. I hope she takes advantage of the opportunity to go with a group to either someone's home or a church group. So glad to see a community support the Military in such a Outstanding way. Thanks to all. May your families be safe this holiday season.... Prayers for all.

Comment by Paul on November 29, 2009 at 3:32pm

John,
Thanks for the ABC link for the Thanksgiving news Story. That should have been the PIR 4DEC group adopted for that holiday.

Comment by Jim Butler on November 29, 2009 at 3:02pm

My wife and I watched the video just because, well....it's NAVY...
and we were both pretty teary-eyed. What a great thing to do...

Comment by Paul Isham on November 29, 2009 at 3:01pm

My son (Ship 09 Div 35) wasn't part of the video either, calls his mom, so not in the loop as to what he did for turkey day. Got a letter from him asking to check him out for Christmas. His PIR is 12/30, decisions, decisions.

Comment by John Frank on November 29, 2009 at 2:09pm

My son wasn't a part of the dinner either but I enjoyed watching it. I think it was only open for recruits with PIR 12/30. My son's PIR is 1/8/10. He is Ship 03 Division 050.

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