Questions from a the mom of a CTI DEP

[mygirlsrock]

Hello everybody:

 

I have lots of questions since this is all new to me.  But a couple to start with.  My DEP (daughter) just signed her contract for CTI and has a ship date of 6/18/14.  How do they determine whether she goes to FL or CA?  When will this be decided?  She is hearing that they can take the CTI away from her yet for various reasons.  Anybody have any input on that?  Thanks for your help!

 

[Dee (CTI3 Spencer&Erin)]

Hello from another WA CTI mom!

[sibehuskyfan PIR 9/26/2014]

Hi Washington! When does your daughter ship out? Mine goes 7/28

[mygirlsrock]

Hi Clelumom.  My oldest daughter is also the one going to CTI and my younger daughter is a sophomore.  I have the same philosophy about not being outnumbered and we too are trying to make the most of these last months with our daughter at home.  I am so thankful we are going thru this in the technological age, rather than back in the day where it would have been much harder to stay in contact! 

[mygirlsrock]

To Those on here who are more advanced than me....we plan to go to my daughter's graduation from boot camp sometime in August, and we plan to meet her at the airport (the next day or whenever) to spend some last minute time with her and to give her a suitcase full of "stuff" which she will pack before she goes to BC.  My question is, would you suggest we pack her laptop, ipod, cell phone, etc. in that suitcase to avoid shipping it later?  I realize they can't have those items yet when they get there, but is it possible for the officials there to just take it away and lock it up somewhere and give it back when earned, or will the Navy require that it be shipped back home? 

[ctvadim]

Hi, mygirlsrock! 

I passed through Monterey from 2008-2009 while I was learning Chinese for the navy, and things might very well have changed radically since then, but... It shouldn't be too much of a problem if she shows up to Monterey with a suitcase full of stuff. They almost certainly wouldn't have her mail it back; for the first month or so that she's there she'll be going through a series of phases that are geared toward transitioning new sailors from the "boot camp" mentality slowly back into an "I'm an individual with certain human rights but still a brand new sailor and have much more expected of me now" mentality (if that makes sense).

My personal opinion is that it would be better to just give her her cell phone at the airport before she flies to Monterey and then mail her the rest of her stuff once she's settled in. Having everything else might be a nice bonus, but it would be better if she got used to not having all of that around her so that she can spend her time working on what needs to be worked on. There's a computer lab in the barracks to help her with internet access, and she (probably) won't be able to access the internet from her laptop anyways for those first few weeks because it's on individuals to buy internet access. 

[mygirlsrock]

Thanks a bunch ctvadim!  To clarify....should we not bother to have her pack a suitcase full of clothing to pass off to her either, or are you saying just give her the phone and clothes and not the other electronics? 

I think I do understand what you are saying about the difference between bootcamp and A school mentality and that there is still tons expected of them but different...this goes along with what she has heard.  It is wonderful to hear from someone who has been there and I really appreciate it.

 

[ctvadim]

I think a cell phone and clothes would be fine. :) I mean, there's something to be said about getting the same experience as everyone else -- I remember when I was first allowed off-base, one of my friends was like, "Peter, yay! You're a human being again, let's go shopping!" and since he had his car out here he took me out to the mall and we had a shopping day and I walked around the mall in my uniform buying stuff because I literally had no other clothes to wear :P 

A few weeks later I got permission to drive home during the weekend (I grew up about 3.5 hours away from Monterey) and so picked up a bunch of stuff from home, but that was that. One part of the "phases" at DLI is that you stay in one uniform or another the entire time -- just like bootcamp. If you aren't wearing your black and tans (what I'm in in my icon) during normal working hours, then you can stay in your PT (workout) gear after like 4pm as long as you're staying within the barracks. So there wasn't too much pressure to have civilian clothes for those first few weeks. 

Oh, and also, that's not to say that there wasn't a place to get civilian clothes on base -- there's a mini-mall called a PX (Post eXchange) on the presidio. But yeah, not much of an impetus to get civilian clothes; and so when I finally did it was almost like a rite of passage (and a really fun time out in town).

[mygirlsrock]

Ha!  All good information and definitely something to consider.  I really do want to step back and let her experience it all.  Thanks so much for the info!

[Dee (CTI3 Spencer&Erin)]

We handed off the cell phone to our son at O'Hare.  It worked out well to visit with him there even though it was only 1.5 hours.....so worth it!  We booked a hotel near the airport for that night and used their shuttle to get back and forth to the airport.

[Nerdlette's Mom]

My daughter graduated boot camp last July. We spent the time with her at the airport before she left for California. We brought her laptop and cell phone and a few other personal items. I waited a while before shipping her clothes and she had plenty of opportunities to shop for clothes when she got to the phase where she could wear civilian clothes and was better that she didnt take a lot with her to begin with because she dropped a few sizes anyway. When I do ship her stuff I find that the flat rate boxes at the post office work great. She also brought a duffell bag full if stuff back with her after her visit home for Christmas.