Got Box Today Confused.

[Gail (Ship 11/ Div 141)]

My son left Sunday March 11th. I got a box with his clothes., shoes, cell phone, Manila envelope which I think had his orders. His copy of plane ticket. BUT no address to write him, when will I get that????


Gail

[ColoradoMom Nuke ET]

The form letter (with his address and graduation info) usually arrives in 1-2 weeks.  Hang in there.  

[Jenn (Proud AO Mom)]

Hi Gail.  You get his address in his form letter which you should be seeing in 1-2 weeks.  They put the boxes together when they are being processed on their first day at Great Lakes.  During those first days they aren't even in divisions yet so they don't have an address when they are being processed. 

[Jennifer G]

Gail - join this group.  They are a God send

http://www.navyformoms.com/group/bootcampmoms?commentId=1971797%3AC...

[Gail (Ship 11/ Div 141)]

Thanks this is getting easier for me to try and understand.

[Kim]

You should get a letter in 2 weeks and a phone call in 3 weeks. The first letter is very short. You will also get his address and other information about graduation.

[Gail (Ship 11/ Div 141)]

Thanks for the info.

[veteranmom]

I got the form letter just 2 days after the box, so you will probably get it mon or tuesday!

[Jessica]

Also something to try is calling his recruiter. I called the next morning after my husband arrived and he was already in a ship and division because the recruiter looked it up right then and gave me his address. I have sent him a letter and some pics every day since then. Good luck and hope this works. I am not sure if this is only a wives thing or not but hope it works for moms as well.

 

--- Jessica D.

 

[ColoradoMom Nuke ET]

The biggest thing is that the recruiter's info is not always correct.  Sometimes it may be correct at the time but change.  

SR's don't usually begin receiving mail for a little while.  So, there's usually time to wait to get the address in the form letter and then mail your letters.  By all means, be writing.  But mail everything once you get the form letter.  He'll get all your mail at the point where he starts receiving mail.  

For example, my son arrived at Great Lakes on Jan 5th.  We got his form letter about January 13th, I think.  He didn't actually receive mail until Jan. 22nd (or some similar time frame).  There was plenty of time to mail him letters I had been writing since the day he left.  Mailing them before that form letter arrived wouldn't have gotten them to him any earlier.  And, if the address from the recruiter had been wrong, it would have delayed their arrival.

I'm not saying that it's exactly like this for everyone.  But, in general, I think it's good to wait for that form letter.

[Mom of Marcus]

It will come in a separate envelope with his PIR date, etc. Mine came a couple days after his box.

[Jenn (Proud AO Mom)]

I have to agree with Colorado - it's better to wait to mail letters until after you get the form letter from your SR.  The recruiter can look up his division and ship number but that is subject to change the first few weeks that they are there.  I'm not saying it will - I had moms in my son's division who got the correct info from the recruiters - but I also know that there is a lot of movement from temporary ships while divisions form to their permanant ships.  SR's don't get mail until the 3rd or so week that they are in boot camp - it isn't a punishment or the Navy trying to break them.  Once the final divisions are formed they have to choose and train a Recruit Mail Petty Officer.  It just takes a little time.  By all means write your letters everyday now - but once you get his form letter you can ship them out and it will still be about another week before they get them.  I had sent out 2 batches of letters on 2 consecutive days after I got my son's form letter with his address and by the time he wrote me his first letter he still hadn't gotten mine.