Thanks for the warm welcome, Jim.  My son begins OCS 6/16/24 and couldn't be more proud.  Father's Day this year will take on a whole new perspective.  While there are a ton of questions, I'm finding out that less is more.  My wife and I are driving up to Newport for the weekend to drop him off.  Is it best for him to take a taxi from our hotel to the base, or will we have access merely to drop him off?  That's probably the biggest question I have at this point.

Thank you Jim for the welcome!  I just watched the Boot Camp: Creating a Sailor video.  Urging my entire family to watch it.  I told my son he should be doing sit-ups and push-ups every day but my wife thinks that I'm overdoing it.  I told her to watch the video and then tell me again if she thinks I am.  One thing for sure, thanks to her, he should be used to getting screamed at.  ;-)

Navy Officer Candidate School (OCS) is often described as a challenging and demanding experience. Many participants and their families find it to be one of the toughest parts of their military careers, sometimes even more difficult than deployments[1]. The program combines elements of Navy bootcamp with additional responsibilities and schooling, and includes aspects of Marine Corps bootcamp[3]. Despite the hardships, OCS is viewed as a necessary step towards becoming an officer, serving as a "means to an end"[5]. The phrase "embrace the suck" is commonly used to encourage candidates to accept and tackle the challenges they face[2].