NavyDads Admin (Paul)'s Comments

Thank you very much. 

John

Thank you, Paul. It was a lot easier to be a Marine, and going to boot camp, than it is to be the father watching your son tackle OCS. Looking forward to learning what he is going through, as well as what others have already learned about the experience.

S/F

Ingo

'On Children' by Kalil Gibran-

And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, Speak to us of Children.
     And he said:
     Your children are not your children.
     They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
     They come through you but not from you,
     And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

     You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
     For they have their own thoughts.
     You may house their bodies but not their souls,
     For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
     You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
     For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
     You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
     The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
     Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;
     For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.

Thanks Paul,  I lost sight of the first email you sent and was looking at this link that was dated 2012.  The First Week of Navy Officer Candidate School - Navy Dads

I got it now. 

Hi Paul,  My son is currently at OCS class 12-21.  Do you know how accurate the "Survivors Guide to Navy Officer Candidate School' is these days? It has great information but seems 10+ years old in some of the info.  Just checking as have only had 1 letter (do not expect alot) but curious what he is going through each week.  THanks, James  

Paul ... thank you very much for the info and congratulations on your son and daughter!!!

Thank you sir.  There's a lot of good information here!  I appreciate this site's effort. 

Thank you Paul and thank you for all that you do to keep this site up.

Hi Paul, thank you for writing.

My daughter arrived at RTC on December 2, I received her 30 second phone call, and have not heard anything since. I have heard several times "no news is good news", but I expected to have received her address by now.

I've been on another Navy site, and today I was told due to Covid and the mail issues, it is taking longer than usual to get the form letter out to parents.

One woman even said she received the letter 3 days before her son graduated, so if that's the case, I might not even be able to write to my daughter before she finishes basic training.

I'll look around the site, and thank you for the links, I'll be checking those out as well.

Thanks again, and Happy New Year!

Marc

Thank you I appreciate you letting me join Thanks for all you do

Thank you, Paul.

My son, Alex, is doing great.  (Thanks for asking.)

He graduated 10/8 and now has his orders to A-School, but he is still in THU at RTC (Ship7) waiting for travel.

I do intend to look around the site and I will be sure to check out the getting started information.

Thanks again,

Peter Timewell

11/6/20 Graduation Not 11/67 LOL

Happy Update!: We received a letter from Brendan reporting that he was sent back to training on Oct 1! He will not lose any bonuses or benefits, and this will not appear on his record. He thanks all who prayed for him because he credits Divine intervention with this quick resolution. His graduation date is 11/67! Thank you to Navy Dads for all of the support through this difficult situation! 

Thank you Paul. We really appreciate this group. We are in distress at the moment, because we got the call a couple of days ago that Brendan is on Ship 5 for standing up during Moment of Truth. He called his recruiter, and not us, so we have no idea what he said, but he did tell his recruiter that he made a mistake. He is a clean kid, honor role, no medical or psych history, natural leader,  played sports, started a work out club at school, been in DEP for a year, got his best friend to join the Navy also, and they worked out together during this COVID time getting ready for Boot Camp. We already have one daughter in the Army and one in Air Force. Both did very well through Boot Camp and received honors, so we never questioned that Brendan would do well, because it is like God created him for this. This came as a huge shock to all of us, and even his recruiter. I was able to speak with legal yesterday (thanks to this group where I found the number) and found out what his rights are and that his briefing is today. Still haven't heard from Brendan. Hoping that he can call us with some info soon. In the mean time, we are all praying.

Thank you for all the wonderful information and for the add..

Thanks so much Paul. These links look like they will be very helpful. Initially my son was thinking Marines, but my mission was successful and he gave that up. Together we researched the AF and Navy. Lots of videos (some good, some better, some clickbait), and personal interviews of service men and women.It was a good father-son experience. Excited to see what language he is assigned for DLI, since my plan is to learn it as well. The irony of the quarantine is that they are getting a light intro to military life and time to get some learning taken care of. He's now understanding why I told him to crank out sets of pushups throughout the day. At least he was on his own an early riser 5-6am even during his senior year in HS. -John

Thanks so much Paul!

Thank you for the background, Paul!  Although I went Air Force, I'm a Navy brat, so I grew up slinging the lingo.  Even so, I experienced the usual concerns most parents experience when their sons and daughters sign up for military service.  So very proud of him, though!