A few unanswered questions

[caylex 9/279]

Hi there, 

 

I have been searching and reading a lot over the last two weeks since my son left.  But there are a few things I have not been able to find, as I'm still trying to get used to N4Ms.

 

1.  I found info on when to expect mail to start arriving home, but has my son been getting my letters yet?  When we first met with our recruiter, we were told that the recruits get mail every day but can only write on Sundays.

 

2.  The day my son left for MEPS and the hotel, we had to go to the recruiter's office first. At that time, he said my son was getting 5 days off after PIR and could come home. Nowhere, not once, have I read a post from someone on here that has mentioned that??

 

3.  My 91 year old grandmother mailed my son a card the day after we received his address.  I found out later the card's envelope was blue and even had clouds on it!  YIKES  I read somewhere (possibly not this site) that if a recruit receives mail in anything other than a white envelope, they will be punished. My grandma overheard me say this (YIKES again!) and now is extremely upset, crying and stressed out because she thinks she is getting her great grandson in trouble!  HELP

 

thanks, Stacey

[TN Navy Mom (Stennis Nuke Mom)]

Welcome aboard!!!! 

Your son probably has NOT received any mail yet if he's only been gone 2 weeks.  The first several days are "processing days".  They go through alot those first days before arriving on their "ship".  If you got his form letter, you know what his ship and div are BUT when he sent that letter, he had not arrived on his ship yet.  Once the division gets to their ship, a mail recruit petty officer will be assigned.  This SR must got through the regular training that they are all going through PLUS be trained in the proper mail handling.  They usually start received their mail the second or third week.  They receive mail daily, except Sundays.  Sunday is their day to write, later they earn letter writing time on Tuesdays and Thursdays too.

 

They do NOT get to come home after PIR.  Typically they head out the next morning to their A school destination.  If they are staying in Grat Lakes for A schoool, they report to A school the same day as PIR.  They earn leave at a rate of 2.5 days per month.  At the end of their time at RTC, they will have only earned 5 days of leave.  Usually (stress usually) get to take some leave after A school, but it depends on the school.

 

I sent colored envelopes to my SR and he never got in trouble.  The biggest problem would be talking or singing cards OR heavily perfumed cards from a spouse/fiancee/girlfriend.  TROUBLE.  Anything that could make even a tiny mess (glitter, confetti, etc) are a big NO NO and could result in being "beat" (IT).  The RDCs will sometimes make the recruit open "questionable" envelopes in front of everybody.  No need to panic Grandma over a blue envelope with clouds on it.  BUT in a letter to your SR, just ask if his/her RDCs are real particular about mail, some are and some are not.  Mine actually got IT for a letter I sent because I told him a funny story about something that had happened to his best friend, he was laughing so hard that he got in trouble (said it was definitely worth the funny story though! LOL)

 

This is the best place for support and answers and remember, there are NO stupid questions.  My son arrived in Great Lakes on February 10, 2010, yep 2010 so he's been in for a year and half now.  I'm still asking lots of questions.

 

[caylex 9/279]

Thank you for your help!  But now I'm in tears because of what the recruiter said.  WHY would he say my son would be coming home for five days before leaving for A school in San Antonio??  That is just cruel to tell us that!!

[TN Navy Mom (Stennis Nuke Mom)]

Sometimes, I think, recruiters say just about anything!  Then again, maybe when he went through bootcamp however many years ago, they could come home for a few days before A school. 

 

I know that it's an emotional time for you right now, I remember how it felt.  You will find that the more we want to plan things, the more they change.  Just a few months ago, SRs who were staying in Great Lakes for A school could get overnight liberty PIR weekend, but no more!  Rules change all the time.  I think that it's just training for us family members too.  We have to learn how to let them go and cherish the time we DO get to spend with them.  I think that my son has been home a total of 19 days in the last 18 months and I count myself very lucky.  It's hard to get used to, but if they can survive bootcamp, we can survive this too.

 

Keep your chin up, write him encouraging letters every day and good luck.

[Jo1]

Caylex,

I think they used to do this.  We had a group of new recruiters when my son went in and the Chief stated my son might be able to come home after BC and actually work in the recruiting office while he was home an then wouldn't have to use his leave time.  That wasn't true though but maybe when he went in that's what they were allowed to do and rules change.

[caylex 9/279]

I talked to the recruiter yesterday, and it seems this is what he was referring to and we must have misunderstood. It's easy to misunderstand them, they speak a "foreign language"!

[BunkerQB]

The recruiter may be confused. My son went through Officer Candidate School. He had about 10 days after graduation before start of Nuke Power School (A school is for enlisted guys). He flew home w us from Pensacola, FL , then drove to Charleston SC. Take some deep breaths. You'll see him at PIR (graduation). Be sure to order an extra set of photos and cd for grandma. Even if he gets "punished" for getting non white envelope, it won't be bad - maybe extra few pushups. So relax. Enjoy watching him grew.

[Craig]

caylex - Per your question #2, only twice a year do they allow recruits to come home after boot camp.  They are the PIR group that are graduating the week of Thanksgiving, and the one that graduates the week of Christmas.  All other times they go straight to "A" school.

They use to allow recruits to come home after boot camp, but they stop that in the 1990's.  The reason is the sailors were coming home on leave and were losing all the knowledge they gained in boot camp.  They were getting into trouble, and were getting back into the gang activities, it just wasn't good for the Navy, or the sailor.   Thus, why you don't get leave after boot camp.   

[Craig]

lemon - Ya got me... Thanksgiving is only a long weekend.  Christmas is like 2 weeks (full leave).  I knew about the Christmas leave when my son joined.  I made sure he was in the Christmas PIR group (the benefits of being retired Navy).  What's sad is just after Battle Stations, and only 2 days before graduation, their division were skylarking (in civilian terms, goofing around), and got caught.  Only about 1/2 of his division graduated, the rest were ASMO'd.  .

[Angie]

The USN has booked tickets out that far already, they just put names on them latter.  So there is still a chance they will fly out.

[caylex 9/279]

The first time we ever met my son's recruiter, he told us that most of the time the A Schools shut down for Christmas and he'd be able to come home.  Do you know if that is true??

[BR549]

My son got to come home on Labor day weekend in the middle of A school and we live 1000 miles away and he did come home for Christmas but he was on hold AFTER A School. But he definately came home during A School I know everyone on here says it doesn't happen, but it does.  This was last year.

 

[Angie]

No base shuts down, they do normally allow leave (which counts againts the Sailors leave time) if they wish to take it.