NAVY BOOT CAMP

Comment

Comment by John Neeley on September 23, 2009 at 6:41pm

Larry - I just mailed letter # 20 this morning. Mine are mostly sports pages, before leaving he advised me he needs to know how the Yankees are doing, some weird news, high school football scores, etc. The last five or so letters have ended with "write your MOM". He'll get the message, letter # 21 will be advising him that when we are at PIR we're taking him to some McGrease for some slop burger and fries instead of the nice steak dinner he believes he is worthy of. He'll know my humor and will respond appropriately when able. I just keep telling his mother that Ship 10, Division 371 must be full of screw-ups and they are all being punished as such and will earn the ability to mail letters in due time. It doesn't help that the NavyforMoms site she scours hourly is full of women screeching about how they got multiple letters in one day and bellowing about the multitude of phone calls another day.
Before he left for Great Lakes he sent a "future email" to his mom, it showed up last week, she called me at work, delirious about it, I had to break it to her after she read it to me 5 times that there was no possible way he was supposed to be sleeping, had skipped off the ship and was in some Captain's office using his email to send us the funny note. Upon looking at the hard copy at night I noticed the "future email" info and told her her loving 18YO son had done this to her. Life is good, I do not remember doing anything like that to my mother except coming home from overseas once with no one knowing about it and walking in on my mom and asking her what she was making for dinner. That did not go over to well, it was over 30 years ago and she still gives me hell about it.

Comment by Larry Huffman on September 23, 2009 at 4:32pm

HAHA John...I was thinking tha same thing.

I remember my rackmate whispering to me one evening before lights out back in boot "The CCs (we called our leaders Company Commanders...or just CCs...same as RDCs in today's lingo) must be warming up to us. Instead of calling us lowlife bottom dwelling pukes, he just called us Pukes today." I realized he was right, and so we sat there very happy that we were only called pukes.

Edward...Sounds like your son is really getting a lot out of boot camp and that he really got a great opportunity to shine. That is very good. Congrats...and I know what you mean...those letters are so exciting. I used to get the mail first and wait until my wife came home an hour later. Was a very long hour holding that letter I wanted to read so badly.

John...send a barrage of letters his way. That should shake him up. I take it he is just not a letter writer anyway. My son was not. But we did get a few out of him. Write him and tell him you are selling his golf clubs/bike/or anything else of value unless his mother gets a letter from him ASAP. And remind him that even his RDCs would agree that he has a duty to write his mother, which I would venture to say is true. All in good, yet pointed humor of course.

Comment by John Neeley on September 23, 2009 at 3:41pm

Edward - Awesome stuff. My use of "ass clown" at work is not the same as the Petty Officer usage on the boys. I use it infrequently as a massive put down. My boy has been gone 4 weeks and hopefully they'll allow his Division some "down" time on a Sunday and he'll use that to his advantage to write his mother. Then we'll ALL be as happy and content as everyone else on this forum. I can only hope.

Comment by Edward Davis on September 23, 2009 at 3:02pm

We got a letter today i must say i'm really impressed with my son. In 4weeks he has made a complete turnaround with his attitude instead of knowing everything he's now learning everything. Funny letter he said the best thing happen to him he volunteered to clean the quarter deck for the ship's petty officer. He and a couple of shipmates did such a good job the petty officer complemented them he called them "ass clowns" i was dying lol! then he ask for a volunteer my son raised his hand not sure what was coming. He made Anthony pick another shipmate their job was to hold the door for Admirals,Captain,EnsignMaster Chiefs and Ensigns Commanders they were in all white. He said i was in awe but what made him (and me) real proud he knew how to greet each one who to salute and who not to salute. That made is day plus he thinks he was being tested too. Wife's not home yet so i had to share with you guys.

Comment by Andrew Ross on September 23, 2009 at 11:09am

Larry, he's got five days before he gets transferred across the street to his A school. I guess we'll bring the gift and he can use it (camera) until we leave. I have a friend that lives pretty close to the base, so I can drop it off there until he's situated. Thanks for all the info!

Comment by Larry Huffman on September 23, 2009 at 10:58am

Larry,

Yes, it is an anxious time for parents. My wife and I have done it two summers in a row. Last summer my son leaving affected my wife pretty hard. This year it was my turn with my little girl going. hehe. Why is it when we think of our kids going in the military we get visions of them at about 3 looking all cute in their little osh-kosh overalls and dresses?

I thought the same thing on occasions about wanting time to slow down...but my kids were both so excited about embarking on their new adventures that I actually felt the opposite as time grew near. With my daughter, she could not wait to get on with it...and so I began to want time to go faster...for her sake. I was gonna miss her badly either way...but I knew she was ready to get on with it. After 8 mos of DEP, each day toward the end seemed to drag for her. It drove her nuts.

I will say this...no cold feet mom and dad! Don't second guess this decision. No matter what or who your son is now, this will be good for him in ways that will continue to show for his entire life. It is a really good choice he is making. It is scary, but after all, we all raised our kids so they could grow up, get on their own and make good decisions. The way I see it, serving in the military is a good decision right out of the gate. It also removes the ability for our kids to easily run back home when things do not go well...makes them stand on their own a little more than other paths tend to.

A word about the list of stuff they can bring with them. Honestly, even what they list as allowed is seldom kept. My son last summer made sure that he had the listed items and nothing more. When he got to boot camp, all of it was sent back. He said regardless of what any list said, they did not keep anything.

So...this summer, my daughter took the other approach. Took practically nothing. Just stuff to entertain her on the plane trip out...which of course, came back to us in 'the box' (all of your son's stuff he takes with him including clothing will come back in a box right after he gets there...it is just called 'the box'). She reported not needing anything at all.

Now...there may be exceptions based on your son. Specific medical stuff or such could be allowed. Also, religious books are allowed, though the chaplains on base used to have small bibles and such that fit well in the A/B drawers, I am sure they still do provide those. If your son plans to take a religious book, it would be wise to find a small or compact edition...just as a word of advice.

Oh, and they each took small little address books so they had addresses and phone numbers with them. If your son is going to require a deep security clearence, make sure they have just about any name and address they can think of with them, they will need it for their clearence interviews which take place during boot camp. And they each took a couple of pictures that they were able to keep.

After that...everything else...whether on the list or not...came back. They will be given anything they need...and some stuff the Navy just has decided they do not need in boot camp at all. hehe.

I have always kind of suspected that the list was to allow the prospective recruit to feel like they would have some stuff with them as a connection to home. I think telling them to just get on a plane with the clothing on their back might scare some. Kind of drastic. But in the end, that is what happens for the most part. And even the clothes on his back will be sent home. hehe.

Comment by Larry Huffman on September 23, 2009 at 10:21am

Oh...and one more thing my daughter reported people doing that I thought was rather smart. A bunch of her shipmates were staying in Great Lakes but were not moved over until later the next week. They all wanted to have their parents bring them stuff...and they wanted to go out and blow their accumulating pay on stuff. They had a problem...they could not bring it back on base. Well, they got about 8 of them together in the same situation and got a storage unit. It cost them something like $99 for one month. Split 8 ways that is cheap. They basically had a decent size storage room to stash all of the stuff they could not take back to base, and planned to clear it out once they got transferred. If I was in those recruits shoes, I would have done the same thing, I think. Very smart on their part. So...something like that is doable.

Comment by Larry Huffman on September 23, 2009 at 10:16am

Andrew,

Congrats to you...and have a great time at your son;s PIR.

Gifts: This really depends on the gift and when he is being transferred to his school. Even after graduation, they are treated more like recruits than actual independant sailors. This is mainly because they are still on a training command and things have to be consistent. So...he will still be limited to what he can fit into his A?B drawer...which is a small drawer on his rack. There are also some rules about not having electronics, etc in the compartment or on the base. I had a son go through last summer and a daughter this summer and they both reported that some people brought back things they were not allowed to and seemed to be getting away with it...but they both opted to not take anything back with them. We still brought them gifts...we just brought the gifts back home with us and then sent them out when they got to their school. IF...your son is remaining in Great Lakes for school...he will likely get transferred to the school that same Friday, and in that case he will have more room and be able to accept more stuff to keep.

The Navy Challenge Coin can be given to him. It will absolutely fit into his locker...and those types of coins have a long military history and tradition, so it is a very appropriate gift that will be allowed.

As for uniforms. They cannot be out of uniform in public at all. What we did was bring shorts, sweats and some plain t-shirts. While in the room our grads would hang their uniforms up and put on their shorts and t-shirts. It is like PT gear and they would not leave the room. We did bring swimsuits for them, and they did go swimming. Swimming is not prohibited and they cannot swim in their uniforms so the only logical conclusion is that they can put on swim suits to swim. At least that is what we concluded. The real issue is in public. Neither of my kids would step a foot out the hotel room door without their uniform on.

Comment by Larry Jenuwine on September 23, 2009 at 6:07am

Well after over 6 months in DEP we are now 14 days away from our sailor shipping out for Great Lakes on Oct 8th. Last minute jitters are setting in for both my wife and myself while our son is a cool as a cucumber. We are checking our list to make sure he has everything he needs and nothing he doesn't. Man I wish time would slow down right now!

Comment by Andrew Ross on September 22, 2009 at 11:19pm

Okay, a quick check before I go to PIR!

I'm guessing we shouldn't bring a gift with us, since he won't be able to take anything back with him, correct? Also, I've got a Navy challenge coin for him and will be presenting him with one from my agency, too, as a token of pride. Will he be able to keep this with him?

While at the hotel, will he be able to swim in the pool with his syblings? I know there is a uniform policy, but can he relax at the hotel?

Any other dos/don'ts that you can think of?

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• …
• 719
• 720
• 721
• 722
• 723
• …
• 830
• Next ›
• Page