When will/ how will I have contact with my son?

[Darlynn Tracy-Oberg]

My son Kurtis left our house with his recruiting officer on December 15th. I saw him off at his swearing in on December 16th, in Boston MA~ MEPS building...thought we were going to go to Logan and have a 'last burger' together but was informed that was not OK....so we all said our goodbyes there. He has been gone for 5 days now. Shipped out to Illinois/Great Lakes for Boot Camp...How will I know how to contact him? Will there be some sort of contact made by him? Is there a place I can find an address to send him letters?
This is my first visit to this site and I am trying to load it up and read what I can, but frankly...am computer 'challenged'...LOL
Thanks for any advice...Darlynn out in Princeton MA.

[Vee, Michael's Proud Grandmother]

Welcome, Darlynn...I think Anne R did a good job of answering your questions (see her reply). If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact me and I will help you all I can. I am hopeful he left his recruiter's business card with you as he/she should be able to help you a lot. Hang in there with all of us; it does get easier once you start hearing from your son. MERRY CHRISTMAS!! Vee, grandmother of Michael

[Viki]

A customer of mine just told me that the kids in boot camp for Christmas can have the day off. A relative only can take them off base from 8 am to 8 pm but have to sign in and out of the base. If no relative is to pick up, they still have the day off.

[Ronda]

I got Joshua's box today. Its like the Christmas present you have been waiting on. His boxers were still in his pants, and he had a white shoelace in one shoe and a black shoelace in the other. Smelling his clothes to see if I could smell him. Its hard, but knowing this is what he wanted for his future makes it easier. It will be his first Christmas away from home, I know it is going to be harder on me than it is on him. Hang in there, we just need to remember how we felt when we were their age, filled with excitement of the unknown but yet diving head first into our new journey.

[Nancy]

This is the most difficutlt time you will endure. You will not hear from your son. Maybe twice he will be able to call for his stint in boot camp. The best thing you can do is to write him a letter everyday! Do not send any singing cards or anything that will bring attention to him. You will not hear from him. You must hang in there.......I do not think I ever went thru a more emotionally difficult time in my life ---raising 4 kids.

[Nancy]

He will contact you. It will seem like forever before you hear from him. You will get an address from him, or you can contact the recruiter and if they know the address they will give it to you. May you have a wonderful holiday season.

[Micki1465]

good advice. a little knowledge sometimes helps soothe the mind.

[Storymom]

Your Boot Camp sailor will be so tired, and may get discouraged, and complain in letters, but keep encouraging them and send them lots of love and support. They will get thru Boot Camp....Boot Camp IS NOT the Navy, as my Navy Vet husband says. Just encourage your son/daughter and assure them they CAN tolerate this. It gets better, and better and better, believe me.
Lots of letters, cartoons from newspapers, local news, (make sure everything is tasteful) and keep a cell phone handy. They may call at anytime, and will have limited time to talk. My son got 3 phone calls home, but LOVED the letters and funny cards. When we visited him at PIR, we bought him a massage at a nearby mall, and handed him over to the pretty massage lady....boy...He LOVED it!
THink positive and be confident your sailor will do well and make you proud!
Bless 'em all!

[Candy]

The first few days after they arrive at GLakes are extremely busy. In fact they probably didn't get much sleep in the first two days. They are inprocessing, getting shots, issued gear, stenciling their clothes, etc. I'm a retired Navy Chief after 24 years active and retired for six and now working civil service, my husband is a retired Navy Lieutenant, and I have two sons that are presently active duty, so I have been on both sides of the fence. Its all a learning experience and even though some of the lessons don't seem to make much sense, they all serve a purpose. The little boy you left in the recruiter's hands will be a man at his PIR; you will be amazed at the change and will burst with pride at his ceremony. Keep writing to him; they crave news, what the crazy celebrities are doing, who's marrying who, etc. Don't send him any cards with colored envelopes - he may get razzed if he gets a cutesy card with pink or purple envelopes. :o) They don't get to write much, you will probably only get a couple letters. And they need to earn their calls. If the group isn't doing well, they may not get to call very often. Just pray your son is in a really good company. I missed my son's first call; I got it on the answering machine; about ten seconds "Hi, I'm fine, I love you. Bye". I kept it on my phone and replayed when I needed to hear his voice! But hang in there; graduation day will be here before you and your son know it. Happy Holidays and Congratulations! Sincerely, Candy

[Seabee Mom Wanda]

My son left from Savannah Georgia to Jax Fla and arrived in Great Lakes, Ill on the 17th of December; I have not heard anything either. I got the "I'm safe" call on the night he arrived. So I understand exactly what you are going thru. My son told me when he called it might be 30 days when I hear from him.... He told me they would send his stuff back and I would get a letter from the Navy with his address, so I am just waiting as you are. I have found a lot of helpful things on this site. Also, the Moms are so encouraging and helpful. Let's keep in touch since our sons left around the same time -who knows they might be on the same ship. Take Care and hang in there, Wanda

[PEGGY...PROUD MONTANA NAVY MOM]

I have two sons that just pir this year (10/17 and 12/5) all that you have read is true. The box comes about 2 days after he gets there. You may or may not get a phone call that says I am here. Out of two sons I got one I am here phone call as my youngest didn't know how to make a 10 second collect call.
You will receive mail (mine was always on Thursdays..I live in Montana) but it will take about 2 weeks for the first letter. Then you will bug the mailman every Thursday or whatever day your letter comes.
There is a website
http://www1.netc.navy.mil/nstc/rtcgl/family/upcominggrad.html
that you can look at that is updated weekly and will have your sons division listed on it as to when your sailor PIRs.
Once you know that date you should contact the Navy Lodge ( 1-800-628-9466) and get a room. It is the cheapest hotel ($62.00 a night with no tax) and you can have up to 4 people in that room for the same low price of $62.00.
As for phone calls from your recruit both of my boys called in about week 4. Just when I said I need to hear from them I got the call. My one son could talk for 1 hour and my other only for 30 minutes. I was fortunate as neither went to boot camp with a girlfriend.
As the division wins flags and does good they might be rewarded with another phone call. I believe I got 2 long phone calls from each son. The second one came right after Battle Stations in the last week.
DO NOT SEND FOOD!!!! If you do send food according to my son the RDC eats it in front of the recruit and puts 2 pieces in the middle of the room says dog fight and lets the recruits battle each other for the other pieces.
Other things you may want to do:
1. Look for groups on here about your PIR date. The ladies that belong to that group will be a wealth of info and support.
2. Light a blue candle on Christmas day in support of your son that will not be with you on Christmas day.
Hope this helps. Feel free to contact me if you want more info.

[PC]

Hi Tracy,

My son left/arrived Boot camp on 12/11. I received his Kid in Box on Tuesday 12/16. On Saturday 12/20 I had called the recruiter wanting his address. He said it wasn't posted yet and would let me know as soon as it was. Today 12/23 I received a call from his recruiter with his address. YEA! Hang in there you'll get your good news soon. I keep telling myself he's in great hands, he's fine. Everything will be alright. Take care.

[Jaime]

Wow! I just found this site, and wish it would have been in place, or I would have just found it when my sons enlisted!

I got a quick hurried phone call from my sons on the night they got to Great Lakes. If you don't receive that phone call it is because of one of THREE basic reasons....#1 is they didn't have a calling card...the pay phones only accept these. #2 they couldn't figure out how to use the calling card and get the numbers typed in fast enough with someone yelling at them to "Hurry UP!" There are over 100 people also waiting to make this call! #3 Emotions are running wild at this point, and some kids just don't want to call their parents and check in with a choked up voice.

Once "The Box" shows up with all of their belongings, start sending them letters everyday. LOTS of letters, with loads of encouragement, and pictures, pictures, pictures!! This is their lifeline to home, and they LOVE any and all mail. My youngest son also liked it when I'd send him a Sudoku or crossword puzzle from the paper. He'd do these in his frre time on Sundays.

Anyone NOT thinking of going to PIR....TRY to get there. It was AWESOME!! I cried BOTH times.

I'll hang out for a while in case there's any other questions I might be able to add to.

BTW...In case you didn't catch it...I'm a mom of two sons serving...one on a carrier, the other on a destroyer. In the past 4 years I've gone through 3 Persian Gulf deployments, and two more to go this coming year. Just to make it easier on all of you worrying about your kids in bootcamp....BOTH of my sons came out of Bootcamp saying it was FUN, and the deployments with the lack of communication, and hearing about my sons ships by way of CNN are harder than the bootcamp worries.