Liberty.....

[Lori B]

My son graduated on January 09, 2009 from GL. He is now in Pensacola Florida and is on a 4 month hold? When do they normally get liberty to fly home? Why is he on a hold? Can we mail him his personal belongings yet? Thank you for any input I receive!....Lori

[Joyce Tucson Mom]

Hi Lori . . . 'liberty' and 'leave' are two different things . . . liberty is time off outside of regular duty, schooling, etc. and is in phases - Phase 1 (right after Boot Camp PIR) where they must be in full uniform while not in their room and staying within a certain number of miles - I believe 50 miles) . . . Phase 2 where they can wear civilian clothes while not on duty . . . and Phase 3 which I believe increases their miles to either 150 or 300 . . .

Leave must be requested (they have to put in a 'chit') and approved and then they have permission to travel . . .

Hold is for a variety of reasons, typically it's because they are waiting for a 'full' class or for the room to start a new class . . .

He should be able to give you an address where he can receive personal belonging (I've found that 2-day priority air is the best way to ship stuff - I expecially love the one-rate boxes!) Then, once he has a cell phone, communication is SOOOOOOO much better:)!

Hope some of this helps:)!

[Lori B]

He told me to mail him his cell phone, so I did that last week. So they can request time off for important events? We are waiting for him before we baptize his new brother, do you think that qualifies? I am looking forward to meeting you on Saturday as well :)

[Joyce Tucson Mom]

He should be able to talk to someone about requesting leave and once it's approved you can schedule the baptism . . . if he's unable to get approval, you may decide to go ahead and just 'include' him via phone call . . .

[Lori B]

Thank you for the input....I will ask him about it when he calls me again.

[Laura]

He will get liberty as he moves up in levels. Right now he is probably still not allowed to wear civillian clothes. The time on hold was harder for Kimmie than bootcamp. She is still at Pensacola. If your son wants or needs someone to talk to I am sure she would help

[Lori B]

Thank you. He called me last week and told me that it is much better than bootcamp. I think because the weather is warmer than GL. We are from AZ so he likes the heat:)