PIR 3/28/14 Ship 13 Div 123 News

Hi, I am a newbie to Navy Dads.  My son Steven is in RTC with a PIR date of 3/28/14.  He is on Ship 13 (USS Marvin Shields) Div 123.

First so very proud of him and all his fellow recruits. What a big step in their lives.  Although it looks to be one of the coldest winters for the Great Lakes I am confidant that they all will be looking back on this experience in 10 or 20 years and be thinking it was one of the best times in their lives!

I hope you all are getting the letters and phone calls from your recruit.  I actually had a third one from my son just yesterday.  (he was using a calling card he purchased at the Navy Exchange) We got to talk for about 25 minutes.  That plus the 40 minute call we had with him on Sunday gave us a much clearer picture of how he is doing and how things are going.  He said his Division may (?) be able to earn one more call home

If I may, for those who may not know I will try to give a few bullet points on the overall status.

As of today (2/27) PIR 3/38 class will be in WEEK 3 DAY 1 of training.  By tomorrow they will be at their halfway point in training.

Swim tests are all done.  Most recruits in his division did well.  Just a handful need some extra training.  My son said so far the swim tests was his BEST day by far!

Most everyone seems to have a cold.

Div 123 needs some help in their marching.  They are all testing OK, but are not a top level Division just yet.

Yesterday they were fitted for their "Dress" uniforms (blue winter and white summer).  My son thinks he looks best in the dress blues with the "dixie cup" cover (hat)

They get another haircut next week

He is getting about 7 hours of sleep...not a real GOOD sleep but good enough

The food (chow) seems to be above average.  My son was never a breakfast person but he now loves the eggs, bacon and blueberry pancakes (and Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal).  They get 12 minutes to eat (in silence)

They have started PT.  My son is lucky to be in great shape (unlike Dad) and so this was never a concern for him

IMPORTANT!.   Keep them letters coming!  He told me that receiving letters from home is VERY important to all the recruits.  Even just a card or quick note.  I write him something every day.  He says the worst feeling is when they have mail call (each weekday night) and your name is not called.  I asked him to send me the names of any of his fellow recruits who do not seem to be getting any mail so we could send them some words of encouragement.  He thought that was a SUPER idea and is ending me two names.  I would encourage you to ask your son/daughter to do the same.

I asked my son, so is boot camp, better, worse or about what you expected.  He said it what what he expected.  I asked him if he regretted his decision to enlist and he responded with a very confidant No! 

He sounded more relaxed and settled in when we spoke yesterday. He is meeting some good people...perhaps some of your sons...(Ship 13 Div 123 is all males).  Working as a team is critical.

And finally, apparently you have to stand in line for EVERYTHING ! :)

We all need to be big time proud of them.  Will post more if I learn of any good new info.  Will look forward to reading other posts as well.  Hope to meet some of you at PIR.

Best regards,

Paul