This site is for mothers of kids in the U.S. Navy and for Moms who have questions about Navy life for their kids.

FIRST TIME HERE?

FOLLOW THESE STEPS TO GET STARTED:

Choose your Username.  For the privacy and safety of you and/or your sailor, NO LAST NAMES ARE ALLOWED, even if your last name differs from that of your sailor (please make sure your URL address does not include your last name either).  Also, please do not include your email address in your user name. Go to "Settings" above to set your Username.  While there, complete your Profile so you can post and share photos and videos of your Sailor and share stories with other moms!

Make sure to read our Community Guidelines and this Navy Operations Security (OPSEC) checklist - loose lips sink ships!

Join groups!  Browse for groups for your PIR date, your sailor's occupational specialty, "A" school, assigned ship, homeport city, your own city or state, and a myriad of other interests. Jump in and introduce yourself!  Start making friends that can last a lifetime.

Link to Navy Speak - Navy Terms & Acronyms: Navy Speak

All Hands Magazine's full length documentary "Making a Sailor": This video follows four recruits through Boot Camp in the spring of 2018 who were assigned to DIV 229, an integrated division, which had PIR on 05/25/2018. 

Boot Camp: Making a Sailor (Full Length Documentary - 2018)

Boot Camp: Behind the Scenes at RTC

...and visit Navy.com - America's Navy and Navy.mil also Navy Live - The Official Blog of the Navy to learn more.

OPSEC - Navy Operations Security

Always keep Navy Operations Security in mind.  In the Navy, it's essential to remember that "loose lips sink ships."  OPSEC is everyone's responsibility. 

DON'T post critical information including future destinations or ports of call; future operations, exercises or missions; deployment or homecoming dates.  

DO be smart, use your head, always think OPSEC when using texts, email, phone, and social media, and watch this video: "Importance of Navy OPSEC."

Follow this link for OPSEC Guidelines:

OPSEC GUIDELINES

Events

**UPDATE 4/26/2022** Effective with the May 6, 2022 PIR 4 guests will be allowed.  Still must be fully vaccinated to attend.

**UPDATE as of 11/10/2022 PIR vaccination is no longer required.

**UPDATE 7/29/2021** You now must be fully vaccinated in order to attend PIR:

In light of observed changes and impact of the Coronavirus Delta Variant and out of an abundance of caution for our recruits, Sailors, staff, and guests, Recruit Training Command is restricting Pass-in-Review (recruit graduation) to ONLY fully immunized guests (14-days post final COVID vaccination dose).  

FOLLOW THIS LINK FOR UP TO DATE INFO:

RTC Graduation

**UPDATE 8/25/2022 - MASK MANDATE IS LIFTED.  Vaccinations still required.

**UPDATE 11/10/22 PIR - Vaccinations no longer required.

RESUMING LIVE PIR - 8/13/2021

Please note! Changes to this guide happened in October 2017. Tickets are now issued for all guests, and all guests must have a ticket to enter base. A separate parking pass is no longer needed to drive on to base for parking.

Please see changes to attending PIR in the PAGES column. The PAGES are located under the member icons on the right side.

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Navy Speak

Click here to learn common Navy terms and acronyms!  (Hint:  When you can speak an entire sentence using only acronyms and one verb, you're truly a Navy mom.)

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Navy.com Para Familias

Visite esta página para explorar en su idioma las oportunidades de educación y carreras para sus hijos en el Navy. Navy.com

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So proud but finding it very difficult...

Hello everyone...
I'm a new Navy mom and my son left for boot camp today! I know it's still very knew and only the first day however he is my first one to leave home and I'm having an extremely tough time emotionally. Does anyone have any suggestions for me? I have read many of the comments and it looks like letter time varies. Any help is appreciated...

Views: 285

Comment by RJNavyMom on August 21, 2017 at 9:56pm

Hello Timsmom97 Welcome to the page! I understand how you feel. My only Son left five weeks ago. It's hard but it gets a little better. I started to write letters for my Son on the day that he left. As soon as I got his address I started to mail them. Just try to keep yourself busy and stay positive.  Best Wishes to you Guys ! This page is a great support system I check it daily, it has helped me to take it one day at a time.

Comment by Timsmom97 on August 21, 2017 at 10:03pm
Thank you so much for your response. I thought of starting to write him right away so it would feel like I still had that communication with him each day. It's hard when we've told them every day for 20 years that we love them and now we can't! Thank you again for the ideas.
Comment by BL on August 22, 2017 at 5:41pm
As fast as time usually flies, these next 7 weeks will be painfully slow. That 8th week flies by. I'm in that 8th week right now. Looking back I would have 1. written letters as soon as he left, everyday, and just hold them till you get that address. 2
Photocopy family photos on the back of the letter. They love getting photos. Also, check out the Sandboxx Military App, It works well. You can send a photo and they include an addressed envelope for your SR to write you back. My son Ioved it. 3. Read ALL of the OPSED rules, cause I broke a few accidentally. 4. Read all about the activities for each week of boot camp (so you know what he's doing every week)and watch a graduation ceremony (with tissues in hand) and finally 5. Trust God that he is right where he needs to be, and trust the Navy to watch him like a hawk, because they do.
Best wishes on this wonderful journey!
Comment by pkiwi70 on August 22, 2017 at 9:10pm
Hello question to Whitwoo you said you sent stamps? We were told that is provided. We wrote 6 letters have not got one. The sandbox military app how does it work. This is all so new to me and my husband. Both of our dads were in the military but way before our time.
Comment by Billington01 on August 23, 2017 at 7:39am

It is hard. My son left on July 24th and I cried so much but writing him everyday helps. I also send him an encouragement card everyday too. I copy and paste pictures in the letters to remind him of home. When I did get his first letter he let me know how much he appreciated the letters and it is helping him so much. He asked to please continue to write to him everyday.  He also requested that I send him envelopes and stamps. I think they give them a certain amount when they get to boot camp but you should probably send him more. I am counting down the days till his graduation in mid-Sept.

Good luck - it does get a little easier.

Comment by Mattsmomma on August 23, 2017 at 12:16pm

I sent my son with a book of 20 stamps in his wallet.  He's not really much of a writer, so I'm pretty certain that he will have most of them left when boot camp is over, like 17 or 18 - lol.  Do the Sandboxx app return envelopes get sent postage pre-paid or do they need stamps for those?

Comment by Mattsmomma on August 23, 2017 at 12:24pm

As far as how to deal with all the emotions, I basically just cry anytime I feel the urge (which I am happy to say has dropped from every 5 minutes to maybe being able to go a couple of hours. No sense holding it in, and it actually makes me feel better.  I'm just trying to stay busy - cleaned his room, re-folded all of his already folded clothes, organized his closet, decided to re-arrange the whole room, then decided to paint it, then decided he might like new bedding and pillows, then decided it merits a full re-decoration as a surprise when he decides to come home...  I've been writing every night when I go to bed and find its a great way to feel connected to him because I know he is likely sleeping at that point, and I draw some of his favorite tv and cartoon characters to slip inside his letters in the hopes that they will make him smile when he finally gets mail. Going through the week-by-week activities on the internet and getting some insight into what he's doing and learning has been good for me too.  I have been doing a lot of running to stay busy and it helps to clear my head. This web site has been a godsend - its so nice to connect with people who have been in the same boat, so to speak.

Comment by Counting Fridays on August 23, 2017 at 6:30pm

Good for you for reaching out. This site has been a huge, huge help for emotional support, insight, and knowledge. Honestly, I'm shocked by how emotional these weeks have been - it's definitely intense. Definitely write. I found as I try to be positive for my son's sake, I feel more positive myself. This whole experience has definitely enhanced my prayer life! I learned on this site about the blue candle tradition, and I use that kind of like a meditation tool. As others have shared, it does get easier as you become more acclimated to the "new normal" of Navy mom :)

Comment by Timsmom97 on August 23, 2017 at 8:04pm
Mattsmomma... I have to say we are doing the exact same things. Since he's been gone I have been doing all his laundry left behind, reorganizing his drawers, cleaning up his room, ordering new bedding. I want to make everything perfect for his return, even though it's short lived, until he gets stationed somewhere.
All the support and advice I have been receiving is priceless on here! Thank you EVERYONE! This is a very difficult time to get through and just knowing I'm not alone helps.❤️❤️❤️
Comment by Timsmom97 on August 24, 2017 at 12:27pm
Whitwoo... I am having an EXTREMELY difficult time with the same thought of him probably not living at home again. All these thoughts are what makes us feel the way we do and only we understand. Thank you fir sharing that! I thought I was going crazy.

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