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Comment by IDCmom#1 on December 5, 2011 at 1:25pm

This morning started the last field exercise for this FMTB class.  On Thursday morning, they will do their 8 mile hike and PRT is Monday, I believe.  I, and my son, will be so relieved when we know his old body has made it through! 

Son passed inspection without losing his pants!  I wish I could say my pants are as loose as his but I seem to have developed the opposite problem since he started IDC school last year.  I eat when I am a nervous wreck and I worried the whole year long and FMTB hasn't helped, either.  January 1, my diet starts! 

D-i-l's ship is out this week and son won't come home until Thursday evening so my granddaughter and I will have a very quiet week holding down the fort. 

Comment by IDCmom#1 on December 5, 2011 at 1:27am

Yenni, I think you have made a wise but difficult decision.  I know how difficult it was for my son and d-i-l to leave their daughter with Oma and Poppa while they attended IDC school but now that it is over, they agtee it was the best thing to do.

Comment by Yenni24 (Ship11div196) on December 5, 2011 at 12:51am

thank you everyone for the advice! After much thought, we decided it would be best for me to stay back in Kansas where we're from..until he is completely done with traning..I hate that its that much longer before we're together again but it just makes sense for him to focus on his training and for me to continue working! Hope the next 3 1/2 months go by quickly!

Comment by IDCmom#1 on December 2, 2011 at 2:33pm

Asked my son about brown baggers last night.  Says it only applies to married students and doesn't take effect until 2 1/2 weeks into the course. 

My son looked totally wiped out last night but still managed to press his dress blues and polish his shoes for inspection today.  One problem, he has lost so much weight that he could pull up his pants without unbuttoning or unlacing them.  Wonder if they will give him a rope belt (like the high schools do now) if he "sags?"  He'll have to buy new pants before reporting to his new job.

Wish these last 13 days would go by more quickly! 

 

Comment by IDCmom#1 on November 30, 2011 at 7:27pm

Before I forget, tell them to buy the "optional" mouth guard on list of things to buy.  I wouldn't want to be sharing.

Ruth, you are correct about buddy being with you.  Depends on rank and what your platoon has accomplished, I think.  I believe you have to apply to be a "brown bagger" and I don't know if singles can apply or not.

Good thing my son doesn't have to bring home a buddy.  There are enough people in this house with wife, mother, and little girl. 

The brown baggers, except HM1s, got a free turkey for Thanksgiving. 

Comment by IDCmom#1 on November 29, 2011 at 3:55pm

Oh, about that exciting meal on my d-i-l's ship...didn't happen.  As I just mentioned in my post below, expect the unexpected when expecting your sailor to be home.  My son ended up with 24 hour duty on Thanksgiving and I am too chicken to drive to San Diego on my own and my d-i-l was also on duty in San Diego.  Lucky my granddaughter really doesn't understand that turkey comes Thanksgiving, not the day after. 

Comment by IDCmom#1 on November 29, 2011 at 3:49pm

Yenni, the fellows who have family at home in the San Diego/Camp Pendleton area can become "brown baggers."  It doesn't start right away and privileges can get yanked for your sailor because of what someone else has done which means you might have dinner ready and he is not coming home that night.

There are mandatory study nights when they don't get home until very late and they have to be back at 0430 (or earlier) for muster during the week days or around 1700 on Sundays to prepare for Mondays.  They go for three days at a time to the "field" camping (4 times) and are filthy dirty when then come home.   Also, Fridays are "field day" which means barracks cleaning and they don't get relieved until after they pass inspection.  This past Friday my son got home around 2100.  Your husband's commute would probably be about 45 minutes in little traffic and a lot longer in traffic if you were living in San Diego.    

My d-i-l is assigned to a ship in San Diego and my son is attending FMTB right now and will be assigned to a clinic on Camp P upon completion.  They live in base housing on Camp Pendleton.  The further away you live from the base, the more difficult "brown bagging" becomes.   

Consider the extra pressure your husband will be under while attending this physically and mentally demanding course.  He will be exhausted from PT when you are ready to go shopping.  But, if you are flexible, you can do it. 

As I have told a couple of other loved ones on this list, my husband and I had our granddaughter with us for over a year while her parents were in school in San Diego.  They realized that with both of them in school, it would have been virtually impossible for them to complete an extremely demanding course and be the great parents they are.  It was hard but, between visits and Skype, we all survived.  Right now, because my d-i-l's ship is in and out, I am staying with them and taking care of my granddaughter so they can be a family again.  Just couldn't hold out another two months. 

I envy you your assignment here.  There is just so much to do and see.  When I drive down the hill my son's family lives on, I see the Pacific one minute and the mountains the next. 

When my son comes home tomorrow evening (they are in the field now), I will ask him what his recommendation is since he is seeing it from both points

.

 

Comment by jesspoo05 on November 29, 2011 at 3:16pm

yenni- yes there is alot of possiblilites so i am not totally sure, but there is something called "brown baggers" (like bringing a bag lunch from home)  i think its called that. it means that they are people that have familes that live near the base and they can drive there and back. they have certain rules to follow but i think there is a chance that it could work for your situation. but he may have to stay on base for the first few weeks till the first restciction is lifted... you may be able to find more if you google FMTB at CP. i know you can download like the whole package your husband will get, rules and all.

docsmom- that sounds like soooo much fun!!! hope you had a good time! cant wait to hear about it!

Comment by Yenni24 (Ship11div196) on November 29, 2011 at 1:02am

hi everyone! I just found out yesterday that my husband will be going to CP for FMTB in January as well. Our permanent station orders are for San Diego. My husband's current officers (In C school down in Pensacola) think he may be able to live off base and commute to Camp Pendleton everyday so we (our kids and myself ) can get to San Diego and not wait until after FMTB..does anyone know if theres any truth to that? Or do they make them stay on base while in training? Any advice would be so helpful!

Comment by IDCmom#1 on November 23, 2011 at 12:56am

I visited her ship a couple of weeks ago and just walking through the galley made me drool.  Not anything like the food I expected to see.  Think Thanksgiving menu is turkey, prime rib, shrimp scampi, and all the fixings.  I will need to be going up and down those stairs to burn the calories! 

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