Comment

Comment by Jill (ATO Mom) on June 27, 2009 at 6:07pm

OK, now I have a strange question... maybe not strange, but very specific. Can one of you ladies ask your sons about the "pullups in flight suit and boots" requirement? In order to pass swim school you have to do 4 pullups in flight suit and boots. Is this the entire flight gear (which can weight 40 lbs.) or just the suit and boots? How much weight does this add to the body weight for a pullup? Being the mother of a daughter we are trying to make sure she is fully prepared. So if she has to do pullups with 40 lbs additional weight on her, we better start preparing for that now! Thanks!

Comment by TexasMomof2 on June 27, 2009 at 5:22pm

Debbie, I'm sure I'll be coming to you for "empty nester" laments.....and like your son, even though mine isn't verbal with his affections, at least he is a hugger and a hand-holder. But I always want to hear things. Whenever he does something or goes somewhere, I'll ask him about it and he says "it was fine" "It was fun" "I liked it." I discovered if I didn't press him, that he would then, on his own, offer info over a several day period so it would take about a week to get info. o)

Comment by TexasMomof2 on June 27, 2009 at 5:17pm

Beth, I love it! I had the fill in the blank and the multiple choice but I love the true/false and rating system! My son did say "be sure and leave at the bottom, a blank spot for "additional comments." LOL! I'm sure though he will never expand on anything - he most likely will put "I love you and miss you." And to be on the safe side, I'm going to enclose a self-addressed and stamped envelope for him. We love our children and accept them as they are, right? :o)
I had read on here that someone posted examples of this - but I can't find them. I'll keep looking but I do like your suggestions - perfect and thanks!

Comment by TexasMomof2 on June 27, 2009 at 2:44pm

Jill, thank you.......and yes, anything is possible in the Navy, I agree! I appreciate everyone's comments. Last night, my son said "Mom, what am I going to do in boot camp about writing? Remember when I would always go to summer camp and I'd never write?," so I told him about the fill in the blank letter idea and he loved it!

Comment by Jill (ATO Mom) on June 27, 2009 at 1:56pm

For those in the discussion about the timed swim, according to the paperwork my daugher got from the recruiter, in order to qualify for aviation school you have to swim 500M in 13:00, but in order to commence training at swim school you have to swim 400M with fins in 11:00. I didn't see anything about shaving time off except that you have to be quicker to move from aviation school to swim school. I would think that if your son can do it in 6:00 there would be no problem, but of course we are talking about the Navy... anything is possible, right?

Comment by TexasMomof2 on June 26, 2009 at 12:08pm

LOL! I can guarantee that when my son goes to Chicago, I will be lucky to get a letter out of him - he is a man (young) of few words -spoken or written. I think what I'll do is send him letters with my questions on a sheet of paper with a blank to fill in the answer AND include an envelope with a stamp and return address. He's an exceptional young man (aren't they all :o) ) but doesn't share too much. Now, my oldest son, who is already in, he was a prolific writer and I always enjoyed his letters.

My son is SOOO excited and, Kari, yes, very concerned about retaining his physical condition so he's been glad to hear all this. Only thing about keeping in shape is his WEIGHT.........he's 6' 2 1/2" and weighs 200. And since he started kicking up the gear on working out - which was in January - he has gained 15 pounds as he was weighing 185. I told him it's all muscle though, he looks great - I think.

Talking about the 1 minute time to shave off the swim - I'm not sure I should have told him about this as he's stressing about it. He qualifies - here at home - in 6 min. 45 seconds so when he heard this he thought a minute and said "Uh oh, I think I need to go slower here at home so I can knock off a minute at boot camp." And he was the one asking out where to shave off a minute - at the max qualifying time of 12 minutes or off their individual time.......

I'm so glad you guys are here.....I'm really having a difficult time with my youngest leaving. I will be an empty nester after he leaves........

Comment by TexasMomof2 on June 25, 2009 at 10:37pm

Yikes, mdumas, when you say at boot camp your son had to qualify in 1 minute LESS than what he had to qualify for PST's at home------do you mean, for instance, 1 minute less than the 12 minutes maximum for them to be able to qualify? I mean, in order to qualify they have to swim the mandatory distance in 12 minutes or less. So, if one qualified at home in 10 minutes, then in boot camp they have to knock one minute off and qualify at 9 minutes? So, to simplify, it's 1 minutes off of their individual time? I'm really not sure I simplified my question at all.............does this make sense?

Comment by TexasMomof2 on June 25, 2009 at 6:00pm

Hey guys! Well, today my son signed his new contract for rescue swimmer and also received a new leave date. It was July 29 (for SWCC) and it is now July 7th with his new contract. I've been robbed of 22 days.........however, truthfully, I expected this.

At the last qualifier, I asked the recruiter if my son would be able to continue swim training at boot camp so his times wouldn't go down and also asked if he would be grouped in divisions with other recruits in a similar situation.

Was told, yes, all of the special operations recruits (Seal, SWCC, EOD, Rescue Swimmer, am I missing anything?) are grouped in one division. This division, on top of the regular physical activities the other divisions experience, get up at 4:30 and swim for an hour, every day. Then they do the daily activities with the other divisions. At the end of the day, when all other divisions are finished, they go to the track and run.

Mdumas, good luck with your son and I'm sure I'll be in touch with you to compare notes. I'm already familiar with boot camp being that my oldest son had his PIR in January 2008. However, this boot camp will be different in the sense of additional physical challenges. Also, my heart goes out to you in the loss of your oldest....... Blessings, Kerry

Comment by Jill (ATO Mom) on June 25, 2009 at 12:13pm

Thanks for the comment Beth. We got the physical requirements from the recruiter and we're doing some heavy duty swim training, I just know there is also a lot of psychological play they do with you. It would be cool to connect with a female who has gone through it that might have some pointers for Kelsey. She wants fun and excitement and refuses to sit behind a desk... so I think rescue swimmer and helo is perfect for her, I just hope she can make it through the training, I know it's some of the toughest in the Navy.

Comment by Jill (ATO Mom) on June 25, 2009 at 1:33am

Does anyone here have a daughter that is a rescue swimmer, or know any girls who are rescue swimmers? This is my daughers goal and I just want to make sure she is doubly prepared as we both know this is a huge undertaking.

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• …
• 562
• 563
• 564
• 565
• 566
• 567
• Next ›
• Page