Son to leave for Navy Boot Camp Oct 28th, what to expect?

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Permalink Reply by SCOTT MAHON on October 22, 2009 at 10:23pm

SCOTT MAHON said:

Thom.....Stand strong if you are a man of faith I would say allot of prayers. You will all survive !! How exciting your son has chosen to serve in the Unites States Navy. I bet you and your family are so proud as you should be. My son recently graduated from boot camp and is now in A school in Pensacola. It will be a difficult time if you are as close to your son as I was and your family is tight. We went through a flood of diffrent emotions. Try and go to meps when you send him off. It helped us to see the Army Captain swear him and 5 others in. He gave a great speech about what was to come and how they would be grilled and tested but like many thousands before them they will survive. Make no mistake your son will be tested big time but the reward is oh so great ! I have never been so emotional or proud as I was at our sons PIR last week. He had matured in 9 short weeks and was excited about his Navy future. Get ready to start writing letters and sending photo's. My son said when he was allowed to get his mail it was like Christmas and meant so much. Do not count on many calls we hardly heard from our son. Much has to do on how well his division does. If they do well and get good commanding officers he will be rewarded with phone time etc...If he is in shall we say a difficult division ( as my son was ) there will be little time given. The sadness you will feel at his departure will turn to incredible joy at graduation just remember that. The time at first will go slowly but the last month fly's by !! The best to you family and prayers for your son...Scott

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Permalink Reply by Thom Tipul on October 23, 2009 at 9:57pm

Thanks you very much, awesome advice. It is very hard as he leaves on Wednesday. I believe he will do well. Congrates to you and your son. Holidays will be very hard this year. Do you know about how long his basic lasted. Also did he have some free time after PIR or was he a grad n go? Thanks again for you support it really does mean a lot!!

SCOTT MAHON said:

SCOTT MAHON said:

Thom.....Stand strong if you are a man of faith I would say allot of prayers. You will all survive !! How exciting your son has chosen to serve in the Unites States Navy. I bet you and your family are so proud as you should be. My son recently graduated from boot camp and is now in A school in Pensacola. It will be a difficult time if you are as close to your son as I was and your family is tight. We went through a flood of diffrent emotions. Try and go to meps when you send him off. It helped us to see the Army Captain swear him and 5 others in. He gave a great speech about what was to come and how they would be grilled and tested but like many thousands before them they will survive. Make no mistake your son will be tested big time but the reward is oh so great ! I have never been so emotional or proud as I was at our sons PIR last week. He had matured in 9 short weeks and was excited about his Navy future. Get ready to start writing letters and sending photo's. My son said when he was allowed to get his mail it was like Christmas and meant so much. Do not count on many calls we hardly heard from our son. Much has to do on how well his division does. If they do well and get good commanding officers he will be rewarded with phone time etc...If he is in shall we say a difficult division ( as my son was ) there will be little time given. The sadness you will feel at his departure will turn to incredible joy at graduation just remember that. The time at first will go slowly but the last month fly's by !! The best to you family and prayers for your son...Scott

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Permalink Reply by David R on October 23, 2009 at 10:54pm

Thom.......first, welcome aboard and be sure to stop by the Ohio Dads group. You might have the wife sign on the "NavyForMoms.com" site. I know its a distance to travel and late notice but a group of the Ohio Moms and a couple of us Dads are getting together on 10/24 for meet and greet lunch at the Grand Fiesta Mexican Restaurant 18737 Royalton Rd. (Rt 82) Strongsville, OH. Its on the southside of the street across from PD. Its about a mile west of I71 on Rt. 82. It will be from 12 - 2 PM, if you want to stop by I am sure you would be welcomed and can get a lot of the answers you are looking for. What rate/job will your son be going in for.

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Permalink Reply by Eric Reams on October 23, 2009 at 11:03pm

Don't have much 'help' to offer, just a "here, here". My son ships on the 29th and I'd say we're probably in the same boat (or do I say 'ship' now?). Never thought about the myriad of emotions that would be affecting me. My pride is swell, but my heart hurts and I don't necessarily want him to know that part. Here's to us all having good luck and a successful graduation!

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Permalink Reply by peter smith on October 24, 2009 at 6:42am

My son graduated in june and is now inSan diego going to a school .I can only speak from my experience the emotions will always be there they dont go away.But once he is out of boot camp communication is pretty much on a regular basis via email or phone .I would encourage you to write often it will keep his sprits up and it really is the only way to talk,Phone calls are few.One thing i learned is if he does not write or call do not take personally he is going thru many changes every thing he does is going to be the navy way.He is learning a lot in a little time and his focus is getting thru bootcamp.I hope you can go to the PIR it is awesome and it will let you reconnect with your son and you will see the time away was worth it .I hope this helps keep your sprits up encourage him we are all proud of him as a navy dad my self i understand what you are going thru good luck.

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Permalink Reply by Thom Tipul on October 24, 2009 at 9:05am

Thanks, for your support and advice. Sometime I hope to give the same advice and support to others who are about to go through this. Good luck to your son now and in the future. God Bless

peter smith said:

My son graduated in june and is now inSan diego going to a school .I can only speak from my experience the emotions will always be there they dont go away.But once he is out of boot camp communication is pretty much on a regular basis via email or phone .I would encourage you to write often it will keep his sprits up and it really is the only way to talk,Phone calls are few.One thing i learned is if he does not write or call do not take personally he is going thru many changes every thing he does is going to be the navy way.He is learning a lot in a little time and his focus is getting thru bootcamp.I hope you can go to the PIR it is awesome and it will let you reconnect with your son and you will see the time away was worth it .I hope this helps keep your sprits up encourage him we are all proud of him as a navy dad my self i understand what you are going thru good luck.

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Permalink Reply by peter smith on October 24, 2009 at 3:37pm

Thom you are welcome good luck to your son and family.I dont know if you saw it but there is a link on this site under boot camp that tells you week by week what they are doing in boot camp .This site is loaded with great people and lots of info .

Thom Tipul said:

Thanks, for your support and advice. Sometime I hope to give the same advice and support to others who are about to go through this. Good luck to your son now and in the future. God Bless

peter smith said:

My son graduated in june and is now inSan diego going to a school .I can only speak from my experience the emotions will always be there they dont go away.But once he is out of boot camp communication is pretty much on a regular basis via email or phone .I would encourage you to write often it will keep his sprits up and it really is the only way to talk,Phone calls are few.One thing i learned is if he does not write or call do not take personally he is going thru many changes every thing he does is going to be the navy way.He is learning a lot in a little time and his focus is getting thru bootcamp.I hope you can go to the PIR it is awesome and it will let you reconnect with your son and you will see the time away was worth it .I hope this helps keep your sprits up encourage him we are all proud of him as a navy dad my self i understand what you are going thru good luck.

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Permalink Reply by Thom Tipul on October 25, 2009 at 12:08am

Eric, I hope we can stay in touch. Good luck to you and your son. All will be fine and they will be US Navy sailors when their done!!

Eric Reams said:

Don't have much 'help' to offer, just a "here, here". My son ships on the 29th and I'd say we're probably in the same boat (or do I say 'ship' now?). Never thought about the myriad of emotions that would be affecting me. My pride is swell, but my heart hurts and I don't necessarily want him to know that part. Here's to us all having good luck and a successful graduation!

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Permalink Reply by Thom Tipul on October 25, 2009 at 6:37pm

Thank you for the invitation, I just got on the websight and saw it today. That sounds like something we would like to do sometime. My son will be a LS or logestics specialist. Thanks for your post.

David R said:

Thom.......first, welcome aboard and be sure to stop by the Ohio Dads group. You might have the wife sign on the "NavyForMoms.com" site. I know its a distance to travel and late notice but a group of the Ohio Moms and a couple of us Dads are getting together on 10/24 for meet and greet lunch at the Grand Fiesta Mexican Restaurant 18737 Royalton Rd. (Rt 82) Strongsville, OH. Its on the southside of the street across from PD. Its about a mile west of I71 on Rt. 82. It will be from 12 - 2 PM, if you want to stop by I am sure you would be welcomed and can get a lot of the answers you are looking for. What rate/job will your son be going in for.

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Permalink Reply by Shane Snyder on October 28, 2009 at 9:23pm

Our son left today also. as far as I know my ex wife nor his sister have heard anything from him as of yet. this last couple of days have been very emotional for us also. So I guess we will hear something we he gets a chance.

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Permalink Reply by Thom Tipul on October 29, 2009 at 6:18pm

Our son should just be getting to Great Lakes now. They had a 7-9 hour drive instead of flying. Good luck to your son and God Speed. Please stay in touch Thanks Thom Tipul

Shane Snyder said:

Our son left today also. as far as I know my ex wife nor his sister have heard anything from him as of yet. this last couple of days have been very emotional for us also. So I guess we will hear something we he gets a chance.

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Permalink Reply by NavyDads Admin (Paul) on October 29, 2009 at 6:34pm

A note to all....the more you stay on the site and the more active you are, the faster the weeks will go and the more you'll understand about what your sailor is doing. Soon it'll be PIR and all the worry will be worth it!!

Thom Tipul said:

Our son should just be getting to Great Lakes now. They had a 7-9 hour drive instead of flying. Good luck to your son and God Speed. Please stay in touch Thanks Thom Tipul

Shane Snyder said:

Our son left today also. as far as I know my ex wife nor his sister have heard anything from him as of yet. this last couple of days have been very emotional for us also. So I guess we will hear something we he gets a chance.

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