My son is in OCS Class 07-10 and becomes commissioned Jan 22. Guess who is giving him his first salute. Guess I better remember to bring the hankerchief!

My deduction from Sam's time there on the major trouble spots was simply the sickness everyone got. Sure there were a few injuries that caused someone to "roll back a class" but according to what he's been able to relay most of the rolls were from sickness. Don't sweat not hearing from him for the first week or so - they aren't allowed to email or phone. But being good sailors (how quick they learn!!) he will figure out a way. The land line connections leave a lot to be desired though.
Sounds like 08-10 will be the CandieOs that will be greeting them and introducing them to the greatest Navy in the world.
Glad you started us and feel free to fire those questions at will!!! Cookie

Sam's class did aeet and greet at local place the night before D Day called The Brick Alley. Nice place and lots of room. I went and so did 2 other Moms. Gave them a good bonding experiance. My wife says there is akins of list on N4Moms but try www.pcs.navy.mil/OCs.requiredpaperwork.asp for better info. Hope I got that right. Also small scissors to cut off IPs - pack do not carry on!!!!!! One extra t shirt that is 1 size smaller than normal. An extra pair NEW running shoes. First pair gets trashed quickly I hear. If I hear more will pass it on.
Cookie

Below web is OCS. Not. Pcs!!!!! Sorry thick fingers

OK - direct from Ensign (wanna be) Sam from OCS --- "It would be good to have a good phone card and a home made letter writing kit (plain paper, book of stamps, Legal size envelopes stuck inside a manella envelope), a good iron, pantyhose to shine new shoes for RLP, clear fingernail polish, nice tweezers, tiny scissors, lots of socks, underwear and razor blades." They will need an unused tee shirt and skivvies for their RLP (Room, Locker, and Personnel) Inspections.
Hope you got the right web addee: WWW.OCS.navy.mil/OCS.requiredpaperwork.asp
I was using my Itouch one letter at at time. Keyboards are so much more easier. Cookie

LOL One thing for sure -- what ever he does it will be wrong! Darned if ya do and darned if ya don't! Part of the learning process and for when you try but don't please the Commanding Officer.
Nothing like a Marine Drill Instructor to put you through your paces.

Yes he did. He went back from Christmas leave with Pneumonia but got put on light duty so he squeaked through on that one. Tell Jake to hit the memorization stuff hot and heavy as Sam thought that was the main thing that got him through the major RLP (Room, Locker, and Personnel) inspection. I don't know what the percentage is of start/finish but I know for some other classes it has been pretty high.
I have my new ribbons and mini-metals ready to go for what ever Sam wants. Do need to buy a new type white shirt and the epaulets that CPOs now wear. May have to buy a new cover too if I can reshape my old one. My wife and I have our uniforms at the cleaners so we are in hot stand by as they say.
Last night was 9.2 deg as a low but I see 27.6 right now and some warmer weather on the way. I have a backyard weather station that is on Weather Underground so I keep tabs on the weather. One needs to around here!

I found these OCS commentaries. They are recent (2008) and seem to describe the experience accurately:

http://www.projo.com/extra/2008/ocs/

Hey guys,
Does anyone have a lo in the 12-10 class. we have had very little contact for the last 3 weeks and i am getting conflicting reports from the navyformoms site. it is a good site, but there is alot of chatter on it and not really sure if we can believe half of what is posted. we have been told that this is a fairly new format for the ocs boot camp because they now have 3 weeks of indoc. they were to have their rlp this thursday and then outpost on friday. i think no news is good news. when we did talk to him he sounded very tired, but fairly confident. thanks ahead for any updates

Thanks for the response. We received the only phone call we have had on Sunday after the first week. They give them 5 minutes exactly and it did not sound like my son at all. We have had one letter. that one we received last week. I think we have memorized it. The frequency that you get either one depends on quite a few things, but mainly the what the DI will tolerate.
needless to say we have been on pins and needles waiting for calls and letters. As i understand it they used to have classes of 40-50, but with this one they have about 100 people but split them into two separate companies with different DI's. their privileges depend on how well they are doing as a group and where the DI thinks they are. Thanks for the suggested website, we have just about memorized it over the last few weeks. it is a little dated but fairly accurate from what we have seen so far. one of the differences is that now indoc is 3 weeks instead of 1 week. Let me suggest navyformoms.com as another website to look at. my wife checks it constantly for updates. there is some good info, if you believe everything that is posted. since there are two companies we get to see postings from parents in both companies. it can also give you a heads up if you see where other parents are recieving phone calls or letters. i apologize if you have already seen it, but if not it is worth the time. of note, we have been told that both websites are monitored so be careful about any information you put out there.
Good luck to your lo. hope this helps.

Good morning all. From what my son said the phone quality leaves a bunch to be desired so if your son doesn't sound like your son that's why. The time they have for the phone is, in Sam's case, a set time and is then divied up between the class members who police themselves. As time progresses they will eventually have a bunch more phone time privileges. They will at some point be able to email but not on a regular bases. Seems they sort of have to sneak that privilege - kinda sorta.
N4M is a great site but remember it is a bunch of Mom's worried about their "babies" and the old rumor mill can get crazy.
Not sure how the 100 classmates thing is going to do their stuff as I can only speak for Class 07-10 which graduated 46 I believe. Wait until they show you the Chowhall Procedures and how they eat everything with a spoon. Sam said hydration is the word of the day!!! The first week he said they HAD to drink 48 oz of water with every meal - it is more important than food he said. That plus many canteens full of water during the day. He said a few folks roll back because of dehydration. Oh, don't be surprised if they get sick. Just about everyone in Sam's class got sick and a few rolled because of it.
All of you need to plan now to attend the Hi Mom's Dinner on Thursday evening before graduation. It is lots of great finger foods and is a tie affair. We had a ball getting to meet all of Sam's classmates and put a face to the Moms from Facebook and the kids too. There was a Lobster dinner on the second floor also but I guess we didn't look hard enough as we didn't find it. Maybe you will luck out. Graduation Friday is fantastic. We did a private commissioning with my wife (retired Commander) giving Sam the oath. Then I gave him is first salute on the quarterdeck located on the first floor when you enter King Hall. I didn't have to many proud tears!
At some point they can have visitors on Sundays. I know several gals that went there and went to church with their boyfriends or husbands. A lot of students get religion as it is a break from the routine. Some go for the right reason though.
If your son makes a reservation at the Navy Lodge you can stay there. The rooms are great with a kitchenette. If not there are a lot of places close by. I think The Best Western is the closest.
Make time to go downtown and eat some great seafood and to tour The Breakers and a drive around to see those multi-million dollar homes/castles.

Thanks. You are right on about the N4M site. there is quite a bit of chatter so you have to negotiate through it to get to the good stuff. but considering we have only had 2 contacts since my knucklehead left we can't be too choosey about what we read. still waiting to hear how rlp went. as they say, no news is good news.
apparently our grooup was given phone privileges following the new classes arrival on sunday. that was the good news, the bad news was that some of the class starting crying while on the phone so the di rightfully stopped all calls(this is if you can believe what you read on N4M). "there's no crying in the Navy".
His class in now starting week 4. approximately when do they give them email privileges and will they recieve their Navy email address?

Steve; LOL the phone thing sounds like the DI's. Those guys are some pretty tough dudes - most have come from the war. RLP the BIG one is a major hurdle to cross. They hit 'em with knowledge stuff too. We figured Sam would get to do it again on Saturday and do fine but he surprised us, and himself, when he was one of 12 that passed the first time. I figured it was a given that you fail the first time.
The email thing, if I remember correctly, happens when they get to spend more time in the class room vice doing push ups. The address is for OCS only as they will get the permanent one once they get to their duty station. The N4M is really good but as you say you have to sort out the real from the unreal. Moms will be moms though and we will never be able to prevent them protecting their children - LOL.

Check out Navy Wife Radio Podcast. Today the MCPO of the Navy will be on for an interview. The woman, Wendy, who does this works for my wife. Perhaps you and or your wifes will find this podcast interesting. She does a call in show and seems to be very popular with the women folk.

Oh I forgot I believe the show is on at 3:30 EST.

Great update and so glad your son was able to email. Hope his experience continues to be so positive. He's in great shape it seems, both physically and mentally. Way to go!

My daughter called this evening and thought I'd update everyone. This is day 3 of her being assigned to H-class; she was with 13-10. Again, she seemed in good spirits. She had been suffering from dehydration and basically she has not been drinking enough water. Several folks in H-class have been helping her and today during PT in H-class she was able to complete all of it with the group, so we are thankful for her new friends for helping her out. She said that she will be seeing a podiatrist for the 2nd time on Monday and he is helping get her inserts and gel pads for her feet, as he said that she is not walking/running properly (fallen arches maybe), and these aids will help take some of the strain off of her feet when she runs. She's never complained about her feet before so this is all news to my wife and me, and we didn't know she had seen a podiatrist earlier this week also. She is making a lot of friends in H-class it seems. Take care, everyone.

Sorry guys, I should have mentioned to y'all that the mail service leaves a lot to be desired!! Good luck to you all and don't get discouraged because your youngin rolls. I'll bet abut 30-40% roll for one reason or another. I also should have mentioned the prepaid phone cards. We sent a couple so Sam could give one to somebody that needed one. Believe me when you see them again you will not believe the change they have accomplished and the pride and respect they have for their fellow man, country, and themselves!!!!!!!!!
Sam made a comment that only he and his classmates knew exactly what they went through as a team. Lots of ideas but only 07-10 would have that eternal bond.

My daughter called this evening (2/1/2010) and had a nice talk. She said that the folks in Class 13-10 tomorrow get their NWUs (not sure what this is) but it sounded good. She is in H-class so this doesn't apply to her other the other 5 or 6 folks in H with her from 13-10.

I thought I'd mention to everyone that maria said that they just changed the rules again and this affects 13-10 and later classes. Instead of being an IC for 3 weeks (it used to be just 1 week), class 13-10 and later will only be an IC for 2 weeks, then they become OCs. there were a few other changes she mentioned but I can't recall this. Soon 13-10 will be getting their rifles and I think when they go to NWU they won't have to wear their poopy suites any more. She's still in hers so it will be a while before she can get out of them. Oh yes, she said that the ones that are in SWO may be getting their ship assignments 6 to 7 weeks into training and will ship out right after graduation I think. I don't know if this is just for SWOs or not, but somehow they are not going into A school as they might have otherwise. I think I got this message correct but I apologize if I got some of it confused; the phone connection was horrible (every other sentence I said "could you say that again...."....best of luck to your sons and daughters in OCS right now....take care....

thanks for the info joe,not sure what all the abbreviations mean.so maria says swo's will not go to A school? not sure what A school is.glad to hear they ship out right afterwards.that is what zach was hoping for.so does only two weeks of IC move up the graduation?trying to figure out travel plans

Hi Jim, on your question of only two weeks of IC moving up graduation, I can definitely say no. The program is 12 weeks with your class; for my daughter, now that she's in H class for at least 3 weeks, it will be 15 weeks for her (hoping of course no more trips to H class anymore!). I think what they do is that if they limit something like IC to 2 weeks, they increase something else a week, such as academics or something else. Take care Jim....

FYI NWU is Navy Working Uniform. It is the new digitized bluish navy cammys. Not many of the old salts like 'em.
I'll have to pass on to my son they have changed the course already. Three weeks seemed like a long indoc. There are a lot of other things they need to learn too.
Don't know if any of your OC's have this guy as a DI but he is there and they might have run across him. Tough Marine for sure!! He gave a really motivating short talk at the Hi Mom's reception. I believe it was posted yesterday.
www.foxprovidence.com
Michael Salazar is a drill instructor at the Naval Base in Newport, and has composed an original song for the people of Haiti.

Hi all, My Son David is in class 13-10 and is heading to NUPOC. His Mom and I are dying to hear from him as I am sure all mom's and dad's are. Glad to find this site although the Mom's site is a good bit more active.

We are sending out a phone card today. We have also been laughing to ourselves that he probably doesn't know our phone number as our cell numbers are programed into his phone.

hi George my girlfriend is in the NUPOC program too! she hopes to class-up with 13-10 when she gets out of H.

George, our son is in 13-10 and NUPOC as well. We've only had one email from Brady in the two weeks he's been gone.
Question to Joe - we count exactly 12 weeks to graduation from the date this started on Sunday, Jan 24 for graduation if no holding?

hope you can hear him if you hear from him.zach called last week,sounded like two cans and a string.

If this is duplicate I apoligize but I can't find what I just sent.

We just heard from our son David Martin. As we expected he didn't know our cell or email numbers. He also said he would not be able to call again for another week.

He sounded good, hoarse, but good. He said it has been very exhausting and they are down to 31 of the original 51 in class 13-10. He said it is nice to be out of the poopy suits and in regular uniforms. Tomorrow is the big PRT. He is worried about it because they are all worn down from lack of sleep and physical activity.

They have one more week of indoc and then they can send mail.

If was very nice to hear his voice.

Hi everyone. Just got a call from Brady. About a minutes worth. He sounded upbeat but hoarse voice. Said he is in alpha. PRT tomorrow. He needs us to send stamps. They have uniforms now yea! we'll pray they will pass their prt.

Ditto, Jon called this afternoon he sounded good all things considered. He told us about the big test coming up this week. It was good to hear from him. We look forward to any news from 13-10.

We also look forward to any info. Just praying that all did well with PRT yesterday. Hoping that by not hearing right away means that they passed and are gearing up for the RLP coming up this Thursday.

I guess some of this "stuff" we should have gotten better information on before now...

My son Shawn just reported to OCS on 3-7-2010; Class 1510.

My understanding is the during the first 4-6 weeks of OCS one cannot receive or receive phone calls or e-mails but they can get formal written mail.

My wife was told that we cannot send him any regular USPS mail until he receives notification or he can get into trouble.

I poked around the Internet and found conflicting information.

Any thoughts?

Tx

Rich

You can write your son right away. They may not get the mail for another week because the DI holds the mail until he feels they deserve it. When they do get the mail there will be a bunch of mail waiting for them. They love the mail and it really helps them get through the program!!!!

OC (Name)
Officer Candidate School
Class 15-10
Officer Training Command Newport
291 Kollmeyer St.
Newport, RI 02841-1641

Hi Rich -

You and your wife and 50 of your friends can all write your son. Just send regular letters, nothing fancy, such as cards with music, etc. No books, no food, no candy, no other packages.....just letters. If you send a package, the whole unit has to do extra PT. My daughter is in 14-10 and right now, I'm working on letter number 36 to her. Call your son's friends and ask them to write. The one constant that I hear time and time again is that the candidates LOVE to get mail during mail call. Ive read hundreds of threads in these last several weeks, and can't recall seeing anything to the contrary.

Phone calls are different. Indocs (that's what they call candidates in their first few weeks of training) don't really have phone privileges. They may be allowed a 1 minute call the 2nd or 3rd day, but that depends on the DI. Most I believe don't permit even this. My daughter is now in week 4 of Class 14-10, and I have not yet received a phone call from her. Her group goes thru RLP this week, and I believe when they get thru this, they will be allowed to call home this weekend. Hope this info helps....take care....

Hey Rich,

I know what you are going through. My son is in 12-10 and they just finished week number 9. He is now a candio and can eat with a fork using his right hand. that is a huge thing for these guys. Let me start out by saying that no news is good news. You will hear that quite a bit during the next few months. We recieved a phone call after the first week and then didn't get one for about 2-3 weeks. I know it is hellish for you, but it is even worse for them. If i may give one word of advise--write letters daily. You cannot imagine how much they look forward to them. Also you may want to tell all family/friends to be very careful what they send your lo. Anything beyond a white envelope with a letter and newpaper clippings can get them in great trouble. One major mess up comes when a well meaning family member sends them a care package-this is a definite nono.

One suggestion if you have not found this site yet, go to www.projo.com/extra/2008/ocs/stories/day1.html
it will give you an idea of what they are going through. it is a little bit dated, but it is fairly accurate. I was glad we didn't see it before our son left for OCS. I believe I would have had to get my wife medicated after seeing it. One thing is for sure, there is constant change in how they do OCS. As I understand it the new classes go through 4 weeks of indoc, 4 weeks of OC, and then 4 weeks of candio.

to answer your question-you can send them mail at any time. once you get their address i would start sending letters and cards immediately. just remember-nothing but letters/cards in white envelopes.

One last suggestion. look at navyformoms website. alot of what is posted can be speculation at best, but it does give you an idea of what the other parents/wives/husbands are hearing.

hope this helps. sorry if i got too informative.

On Navy for Moms there is a page for class 15-10. Lots of good info there. Read the 13-10 and 14-10 pages as well. Lots of stuff. You should start writing letters and get lots to him. Print off or clip news articles about things he's interested in. No newspaper or TV or internet at OCS until almost the end. They didn't get to watch the Super Bowl so March Madness updates might be something your son is interested in. I print news articles off on separate pages so my son can pass them around without letting everyone read his letters. Classes 13=10 and 14-10 have also started Facebook pages to exchange info. All of these things really help.

Well now…

I just joined Navy Dads today and asked a question about the formality of sending mail to my son Shawn at OCS and got back 3 concise and information filled replies. And a direct reply from Paul one of the “founding fathers” of Navy Dads.

Quite impressive.

I will do my best to add to the forum.

Thank you,

Rich

Hey guys I really appreciate the feed back you have provided. I do not mind posting that I feel a little better knowing that other parents have the same anxiety’s that we are experiencing.

Our Son Shawn spent a year in college at the University of Salzburg and extensive traveling so we are accustomed to him not being at home but having no communication period is a little different.

Just wrote my first letter to him this AM.

Rich

Sorry for double posting, trying to learn the site.

Phone call today!

Going into OCS Class 1510 was told that they might not have any outbound communications for at least 4-weeks. Today (Day 4), some were given a brief phone call. It seems that you can earn privileges.

So my son Shawn called and spoke with The Old Lady this PM. He said everything was more structured than he expected but that was not going to be a problem. He told her that it was amazing how busy they can keep you 18-hours a day. He passed his first Physical Fitness Exam today but many of the classmates did not and now they have to wear yellow belts because they need more supervision. He said to make sure and let Coach Bob know and pass along his appreciation for all of the training.

We live in Beaverton Oregon so 8-months ago when Shawn decided he wanted to go into the Navy I called in some favors and my son Shawn has been training at the Nike Campus with one of their coaches, Bob Williams a runner at the University of Oregon in the Steve Prefontine days who is now one of the Team Nike Coaches. Shawn went from not being able to complete the 1.5-mile requirement at all to being able to complete it in just over 10 minutes. Not bad for a big guy at 6’2” and 225 pounds.

He said the food was fine and that he was glad that he practiced his War Spoon Techniques before reporting. He said he knew it was important to prefect his technique so he could consume enough calories to meet his metabolic requirements. He said almost everyone was getting yelled at for not eating properly. So he seems to get getting plenty to eat.

He said he has been getting a good solid 4 to 5 hours of sleep at night. So there you go. His call was a huge boost in the morale of the family.

I have been writing him a letter every day. He should get the first one tomorrow.

Thanks again for your input.

Rich

Mom found a site online with Navy Moms exchanging information. One mom from Class 1510 posted that on Thursday (3.11.2010) approximately 10 or so of the class went on H Duty.

Something to do about not being able to complete some part of the PT. Sounds brutal; But hey, I guess in the real world of being a Navy Officer you cannot just stay in your bunk in bad weather can you.

Note: This information was posted on the Internet so the accuracy cannot be verified. I have not heard from my son so I assume he was not one of them.

Anyone have a short explanation or point me in the right direction for what H is all about?

Rich

H is for Hotel or Holding or Healing. If someone is injured, sick, or someone who was unable to meet the requirements of an evolution. Thursday 11 March 2010 was Throwdown Thursday for class 15-10. The day they met their Marine Corp DI. The physical training on that day is intense. If people cannot complete the run for example they roll from their class to H class for remedial conditioning or if they are injured they roll to H for healing. H class is a good thing in that people are still in OCS but they have time to strengthen themselves before classing up and moving on.

My son was in H Class for illness and he came out more focused and ready to become a great Naval Officer.

My daughter was initially in Class 13-10, but during "Wakeup Thursday" she suffered from dehydration and rolled into H Class. During the 2 to 3 weeks she was in H, she learned how to keep herself hydrated, how to modify the pushups her trainer had her doing to the harder OCS way, and better understand what the DIs are expecting. She emerged from H so much better prepared for OCS than when she entered. Her new class, 14-10, just finished RLP and she is now an Officer Candidate. She used the knowledge and stamina she developed in H-Class to not only help herself, but her fellow candidate officers; to me, that was the most valuable lesson. I am a strong proponent of H class, as I've seen the change in my own daughter in such a relatively short period of time.

Rich,
Heard that one of the classes that just had their rlp inspection only had 7 out of 40 pass. the good news is that they failed on a wednesday or thursday but have another chance to pass before they fall into h company. h company is not a death sentence but rather a detour on the way to graduation. most roll back into one of the next classes and move on. Yes it is discouraging, but it is not the end. In fact it may work in their favor as they have to "buck up" and finish strong. From what I have read and heard the Navy likes to push our guys to the limit to see how they will react.
Keep your chin up but more importantly stay positive with your son/daughter/wife/husband because it can be tough on them.

Hope we helped.

Hey Steve, Joe and Discoe we really appreciate your timely feed back!!!! We have a much better understanding what the H Class is all about. Understand it is just a detour and that we need to prepare to be 100% supportive if our son goes that route.

Thanks again.

Rich