Seeking Information on Acceptable Forms of Letters to My Recruit

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Permalink Reply by NavyDads CoAdmin Jim Gramza on November 23, 2016 at 10:07pm

Chris, 

We typed all of our letters to our son when in boot camp. Really typing or hand writing doesn't matter. As far as pictures of newspaper clippings, it is wise to photocopy them on the back of or into your letters. Just keep in mind that storage space is VERY limited to them. Less is more!

I also read somewhere that less pictures of girl friends, mom and dad help curb the home sickness a little bit. Seems like they all go through it some.

Jim

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Permalink Reply by Margaret Clayton on November 24, 2016 at 6:32am

You can even send cards, just no glitter, and no musical cards.  Envelopes do not need to be plain white, any color will do as long as they are not over-sized.  

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Permalink Reply by NavyDads Admin (Paul) on November 24, 2016 at 10:36am

1) the Navy does not censor mail 2) the Navy does not have time to watch over your sailors while they read their mail 3) the Navy does not care whether the contents are in cursive or are typed 4) glitter is out as it creates a mess that has to be cleaned up 5) no musical cards as they are a distraction and tend to be bulkier than regular mail 6) they have VERY LITTLE SPACE hence the flat envelope rule and the no over-sized envelopes

Chris Timme said:

With the information Paul had sent to me in a previous post, I was able to find this:
Q. What can I send my recruit in the mail?
A. Because space is limited in the barracks, recruits may receive letters and small photographs only. Please do not send your recruit packages of civilian clothing, toiletries, food items, etc. as they will not be permitted to keep them.

This answers half of my question and if anyone else has typed letters to their sailor, please let me know it that was acceptable.

Thank you in advance and I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving Holiday!!

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Permalink Reply by Timothy Harbin on December 2, 2016 at 1:05am

http://www.write2them.org/  this is a great way to send letters to recruits and stationed military   

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Permalink Reply by John Alan DeMarco on December 8, 2016 at 9:42pm

My son asked me to quit writing due to space, I was sending a couple of letters a week. But there were other family writing also. I sent a pre paid postage bulk mailer and he was able to put all them in it and mail it home to free up space. He said they have a space about the size of a shoebox for all personal and hygiene items.

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Permalink Reply by Margaret Clayton on December 9, 2016 at 7:00am

This is what a rack looks like at Great Lakes (and on ships).  That box looking area to the right is their personal drawer, and that is all the space they have to store letters and pictures.  Sending something for them to mail letters back home to keep is a great idea.  

That is a visiting officer (Tunisia I think) checking out how out boot camp is run, but it is indeed at Great Lakes.  

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Permalink Reply by John Alan DeMarco on December 9, 2016 at 7:49am

Thanks for sharing this Margaret. Picture is worth a thousand words.

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Permalink Reply by NavyDads Admin (Paul) on December 9, 2016 at 7:51am

Actual shipboard berthing area:

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Permalink Reply by NavyDads Admin (Paul) on December 9, 2016 at 7:55am

New berthing being installed in a carrier a few years ago:

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Permalink Reply by NavyDads Admin (Paul) on December 9, 2016 at 8:02am

Instructing new arrivals at RTC how to organize their rack: 

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Permalink Reply by John Alan DeMarco on December 9, 2016 at 8:43am

Yeah I had heard the space on a ship was smaller... wow.

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Permalink Reply by Margaret Clayton on December 9, 2016 at 1:13pm

They get a locker on the ship too, for hanging uniforms, but no, it is not much space at all.

John Alan DeMarco said:

Yeah I had heard the space on a ship was smaller... wow.

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