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Comment by MrsMelanie on April 3, 2012 at 10:46pm

New here! My husband leaves for boot camp on may 7th and will be a Hospital Corpsman. I see a lot of Corpsmans going out this month I guess that is why some are on the 1st and some the 7th. Good luck to all Corpsmans!

Comment by Recruit Man - Ronny on March 29, 2012 at 2:39pm

Hi all...  Just wanted to let you all know about a great program for Recruits.  CallsforRecruits.org has FREE phone cards for recruits in bootcamp.  If you or someone you know is leaving soon for bootcamp, go to the website and get some phone cards for them to use while they are at BC.  They can use them at A school or anytime if they need them, although most people have cell phones these days LOL.  Just thought I would pass along the info.... 

Comment by Britt<3Corpsman Wife on March 26, 2012 at 1:16am

PIR is almost always on Friday. I believe if a holiday falls on the Friday then PIR is on Thursday instead. Count out 9 weeks from the day they ship and you should have a good estimate of when they will graduate. I'm not planning on buying any tickets until I get the form letter though. I don't want to spend all that money and buy for the wrong dates.

Comment by Shelly on March 26, 2012 at 12:17am

Big thanks to everyone.  My son is coming home this week to spend the last few week with us before he leaves.  It will be wonderful to have him home for a time but I wonder if everyday I will be looking at him and holding back the tears.  I appreciate all the advice I have read.  It will give me some direction to coach him before he leaves. 

Does anyone know if the PIR is on the same day of the week or does it rotate?  I know its a bit early to be thinking of this, but we are trying to make plans.  Airline & hotel for 4 people.  I just want to be prepared and do the research before we need to purchase.

Comment by MyLAS (My Lips are SEALed) on March 25, 2012 at 9:22pm

My son ships the 16th.  I wonder why your children are leaving the 15.th.  Do they fly up to GL?

Comment by channa1 on March 25, 2012 at 9:35am

Hello Moms and Dads...My Sarah leaves May 15th for Great Lakes...Thanks for letting me join!...

Comment by ReneeBC on March 24, 2012 at 2:15pm

It seems like there are so many groups at N4M that it is impossible to find a one-stop-go-to place for information.  I am so glad that everyone shares what they know, though!  I don't know about you, but I am trying to learn as fast as I can and feel like I still know very little.  :) 

In case you didn't see the following blog post, I'm sharing it here with my fellow MAY parents to, perhaps, prevent a bit of worry within the first few weeks of RTC.

We frequently experience complaints from loved ones in regards to the mail delivery at RTC. We would like to offer some insight into the mail process so everyone has a better understanding and respect for the process instead of posting derogatory comments and shouting in all uppercase letters at us. Everyone must understand that all mail must first go through the U.S. Post Office and then through the post office on base. The base post office is not a 24/7 operation, mind you. It is staffed by just a few civilians who must deal with the incoming mail for the 5,000-6,000 recruits currently in training and they must do so during normal working business hours. They are not working evenings, nights and weekends.

They also must deal incorrect addresses, misspelled or incomplete names, illegible handwriting, and most of all, those who send letters to their recruits before their recruits are even in their permanent ships. If you obtain an address from a recruiter within a day or days after a recruit first arrives to RTC, that address may not be correct as many recruits change buildings/ships during the first couple of weeks. The recruiter will give you the address that is currently in the system, but then if the recruit changes ships, you will not know unless you call the recruiter again and have them look up the information again.

Depending on when a recruit’s division gets filled depends on how long they will spend time for in-processing before moving to their permanent ships. This might be one to two weeks. Each division also has to train a recruit mail petty officer on the procedures for retrieving and handing out mail to their division. This is why it is normal for recruits to not begin receiving until their third week of training.

Mail cannot be delivered to a division until that division is done with in-processing and in their permanent ships. Thus, those letters sit in the base office until the division is in their ships. Plus, if that original address obtained from a recruiter is wrong, those letters then can be delayed by up to three weeks as staff has to look up each individual recruit for the correct address.

Staff constantly deals with letters that contained incomplete names/addresses for the recruits. It’s especially difficult if the recruit has a common surname. For example, if they have to look up a recruit and the recruit’s name is addressed to only SR Jones with no first name, or SR Jones, Michael with no middle name, staff cannot properly identify which SR Jones, Michael is correct.

Regarding sending letters via overnight mail: This does not guarantee your recruit will receive that letter the very next day. It’s best to save your money and send all letters via regular postage.

While we understand everyone is anxious to get letters to their recruits, we ask for your patience and respect for our staff. Please be sure you have the entire address correctly printed on your letters and use the address provided by your recruit in the official RTC form letter, not an address from the recruiting office.

Comment by ReneeBC on March 21, 2012 at 5:06pm

 Avaya0805> My son leaves May 2nd.  One of the things he was told at a DEP meeting was to take a checking account deposit slip to RTC.  One more thing to add to the wallet.

I'm not always aware of what he's been told, since he 20 years old.  The recruiter-parent relationship is nonexistent when the depper is out of high school.  Though I do occasionally corner the recruiters at the high school and ask questions since I teach there.  :)

 

Comment by Avaya0805 (Ship 9/ Division 201) on March 21, 2012 at 1:33pm

Anyone else's husband or son leaving this May?  I'm wondering if we have everything taken care of. I know we need the POA finished, a calling card, address book.... Anything else? I feel like I'm missing something. The insurance form and ID card form will come in the mail. Umm.. Let me know if you can think of anything else.

Comment by Lala Ribbon Queen PIR Ribbons on February 12, 2012 at 12:19pm

I don't know if Jessica mentioned it below but life for your recruit at boot camp will be so much easier if they are already in good physical shape before they go. You can look up the requirements for their gender and age. If they can pass the physical part before they leave for boot it will make it so much better for them and make it a lot easier to "fly under the radar". So stress the importance to them of working out and doing pushups, running, swimming etc :-) My daughter left in May 2010 I cannot believe it has been almost 2 years already. The time seems to just fly by once they are out of bootcamp.

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