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Comment by librarianmom on October 26, 2017 at 12:11pm

Orders are coming in!  My son will be heading to Pearl Harbor after A school and Christmas break!

Comment by Phoenixmom on October 26, 2017 at 10:38am

Good Morning Ladies, hope all is well, Have a Great Day!

Comment by Anti M on October 26, 2017 at 10:00am

LOL about the underwear.  I went through long enough ago that women did not have issued underpants or bras.  We also did not have white pants quite yet.  I brought a bright red pair of silk panties, which always raised eyebrows at inspections. Hehehe.  Years later, when we did have whites, I used to wear body suit underneath (it was an 80s thing), and the leg bands had wide stretch lace around the leg openings to hold the suit down smooth.  I switched back to granny panties after being called "Lacey" a few times ... very undignified for a first class, yeah?

Comment by Allison on October 26, 2017 at 3:37am

Oh and if you buy your sailor new underwear, make sure to remind him to keep a set of his bootcamp undies or buy him white boxers. I did not think about this, and when they switched to dress whites, my husband went off without thinking, and while I was sleeping and couldn't warn him, to watch with blue underwear under his white uniform. It was awful…we will never make that mistake again haha.

Comment by Allison on October 26, 2017 at 3:21am

Oh I'll note that if your sailor asks you to replace any basic uniform items such as blue shirts, socks, underwear, etc., anything found in the uniform department, is exactly what he was issued in bootcamp, so if he wants something different, he needs to find it in a different part of the store or at another store entirely. Regulation is pretty much exactly what it looks like. Navy blue crew neck shirts, they do not HAVE to be cotton, but they can't be that like shiny material like athletic shirts, so you're pretty much limited to cotton or polyester anyway. Black crew socks with no visible logos (so no Nike swish on the ankle). Underwear can be any style or color, as long as it is not seen through the uniform.

If your sailor was not allowed a watch in bootcamp because he wasn't leadership, but he wants one, the tradition, though fading, is black or silver. Smart watches if your sailor has one and you bring it, like an Apple Watch, or fitbits, are allowed in uniform, but they are not usually allowed in the school house, and they should be black/silver for in uniform use, though I've seen some get away with other colors so long as they're not bright. Gold is fine, but it will anger the more traditional types…it is meant to be reserved for officers.

Comment by Allison on October 26, 2017 at 3:06am

Phone, laptop, any special/fancy headphones he had before, and if you must, one comfy set of clothes like pjs and one set of civilian clothes because he can't wear them until phase 2, but this way he won't have nothing when he does phase up. Since he'll probably phase up in winter, best to go with jeans/a long sleeve if you bring them. You may also consider a fleece and boots if he already has a nice one/pair at home, or you can mail those later, remember he has to stow everything in a small closet. You may also just gift him money for an outfit when the time comes, the NEX off base, target, and the malls all have good options. If he has any favorite local foods from home, you might consider bringing those for in the hotel with him. If your sailor did not bring his entire wallet to RTC, he'll probably want that now too. Whatever you bring, think about will this all fit in a jansport standard sized backpack, that's about what he'll have to bring it back to his barracks in, and you don't want to give him another bag.

Most things can be bought at the student NEX, and they're usually much more lenient about letting parents pay on the weekends knowing PIR has just happened, but if they give you a hard time and you really want to pay, you can transfer money to your sailor as a "graduation gift" and if he chooses to use it at the NEX, there's nothing wrong with that. There is also a Walmart and target very near by with comparable prices if you'd prefer to shop with him.

Anyway, some things not necessarily to pack because it's a lot, and you don't want to give your sailor a whole bag he has to figure out how to stow in the tiny closet, but consider putting on the shopping list when you arrive:

-Underwear/boxers (I liked my bootcamp underwear even though they come up to my boobs, still use it, but my husband was not as fond of the tighty whities lol)
-Black crew socks, the bootcamp socks are HORRIBLE and will stretch, fade, and rip faster than you can replace them.
-New athletic shoes (this can be a good one to pack if he already has a nice pair at home in good condition) If recruits have really big or really little feet, they usually get the worst shoes, and they all fall apart quickly. There's really no rules except no obnoxious coloring (such as neon orange) and they must be a running or training shoe, so no kleats, even plastic, or trail running shoes with the little plastic hairs.
-with winter coming, chapstick and if he's not opposed, lotion, the cold burns there
-reading light, there are desk lamps, but the racks are like an arms width from the desks, so it gets super obnoxious when one rackmate is trying to sleep and another is trying to study or, more often, "study" haha
-blanket, nothing fancy here, they have to be able to make their rack properly with it and pack and carry it on their backpack, my husband just got an extra long fleece blanket at Great Lakes, their blankets are super itchy and short there.
-lint rollers, good for uniform maintenance, but more importantly, they are so helpful for cleaning quickly before inspection, lint gets everywhere from the PT gear, so they can wipe their beds, dab the carpet, dust with it, it's surprisingly much more efficient when it comes to navy standards
-shirt stays, and not for what you think, they're actually very helpful in making and keeping a tight rack
-shoe inserts, not every sailor feels the need for these, I personally did not, but I got a different brand of boots because I (litterally) have toddler sized feet and they didn't make my size. Anyway, the inserts at the recruit NEX suck, you have to go to medical to get the good ones, so if your sailor needs them or has poorly cut ones from lack of time to do it, definitely add these to your list, the student nex has much more variety

I'm sure I'll think of more. For now, just remember, anything you bring needs to fit in a backpack, so unless it's special to him or expensive to replace, leave it at home and/or mail it.

Comment by TracyK on October 25, 2017 at 2:43pm

Thanks Allison! I will check the PIR group page from his graduation.

Comment by Anti M on October 25, 2017 at 12:03pm

Good morning to you, P-mom!  It is good to be home, although we had a lovely vacation.  Victoria BC, is a beautiful place.  

Comment by Phoenixmom on October 25, 2017 at 11:04am

Good Morning Ladies Happy Wednesday! hope you all are doing well. Nice to have you back Anti M!

Comment by Allison on October 24, 2017 at 10:50pm

AntiM I knew you were going to have a great resource! This is the most accurate representation of liberty rules I have ever seen, many times, in a google search, even on Navy sites, the rules are very generic and don't cover the special circumstances, so I was pleased to see they covered it in more detail on the Facebook page. I'll keep this one in my back pocket for future reference when people ask. Thanks again!

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