OCS Letter Regulations

[Alex's Girl]

Hi everyone! My boyfriend leaves for Navy OCS this upcoming Sunday and I was curious as to the letter regulations (white letters/envelopes, sizes, etc.)?

Thanks all!

[Guacamole]

White envelopes of regular size with no contraband.   Start writing the day he leaves.   You don't want an envelope that is out of the ordinary that might cause them to be called out.  (No pink, no perfume, no flowers)   Write them with tons of encouragement, keep your notes up beat.   My LO enjoyed getting sports clippings, pictures of the dogs, 10 day weather forecasts and any other news tidbit.  He was there during football season so I would send the NFL and College scores and rankings.  You will be able to send them a Candy-O box close to the end.   Do not send gum, candy or anything except letters until then.   If they get contraband they will have to do extra PT.  I addressed cards and gave them to friends and family to sign, too. 

Sign on to the FB page and watch for their pictures on the Command website.   They will start showing up after about 2 to 3 weeks.  You will not hear from your LO for some time.  

I think my LO was able to write to us and read our letters around week 4.  It depends on their class. 

Hang in there.  It is really a great experience.   The OCS commencement is amazing!

[Lindanyc]

Hi! I also wanted to know what I can send with him to OCS for letter writing? Can he bring paper and addressed envelopes? How many? Stamps? how many? how many phone cards will he need and what value?
Thanks!

[Alex's Girl]

Where can I find the FB link or the Command website?

Thanks so much for your help!

[M's mom]

Search Facebook for "Officer Training Command Newport" and "like" this page.  They post updates and pictures of the current training classes, usually weekly.  Keep your comments on this page very positive and don't write anything that might embarrass your candidate.     Search FB for "OCS Class XX-XX Friends and Family" --fill in whatever your loved one's class # is.  The families have to start these groups themselves, so if your class does not yet have a FB group, you may have to start one.  Also ask to join the FB groups of the class or two AHEAD of yours, so you can read and ask questions about what those classes are doing ahead of your class.

[Anna]

AJO's Girl and LindayNYC,

Your loved ones will get paper and envelopes.  You can send a book of stamps along with him to OCS.  Also a phone card.  Later on in OCS you can send additional stamps and phone cards.  These things are acceptable, but yes, don't try to send any other kind of contraband.  Also don't make your letters too thick with pictures and such because they may have to open them up in front of the DIs and read them out loud!!  Not fun for them!!!  I would copy and save cute pictures and comics on my computer and them copy them into a word document which I would write my letter around the pictures!!  My daughter would appreciate any little thing that made her smile.  She said there is no joy in anything else in their day so she really lived for mail.

Oh, about phone cards -  some advertize that they can be reloaded.  Read carefully before you buy because some of these have to be taken back to the store where you bought them to get them reloaded.  Your loved ones will not be able to do that!!!  Look for something that can be reloaded online or just buy him a new card. 

[Alex's Girl]

Are you able to send more than one envelope in a day (say one with a letter and one with some photos) ? 

[Anna]

Yes, you can send multiple envelopes, just don't get too carried away and send 5 in one day!!  Remember you don't want to do anything to bring attention to your candidate.  If you send an actual photo you have to make sure it can't be felt through the envelope. So the best bet is to  print it out on regular typing paper.

[M's mom]

I agree with the others here.  We were told letters ONLY in plain white business or letter -sized envelopes.  My son's class 2 yrs ago could not have any LOOSE enclosures like pictures or cartoons, but we could photocopy newspaper clippings and cartoons onto letter paper, and/or print pics into a word-processed letter, and that was OK.  It is less conspicuous to send several thin letters than sending one big fat letter.  You don't want their mail to attract any attention from the Drill Instructor.  NO MUSICAL CARDS!    They will be given Navy stationery to write home on, but don't expect many letters from them as the only time they have to write is when they should be sleeping.  Send a book of stamps with them and a pre-paid phone card with national coverage and LOTS of minutes.  The pay phones my son had to use, charged the card about 15 minutes just to connect the call!!!   I got our phone cards at Walmart, I think.  Make sure everyone to whom you give your loved ones' address knows these rules.  Somebody in my son's class got sent cookies at week three, and he had to do 800 pushups!!!!   You will be able to send them Candio boxes with goodies after week nine.

[Lindanyc]

thank you so much! we are getting so nervous the last few days before he leaves. Also-when he graduates will the graduation date be on the friday at the end of his 12 weeks? Should we plan to be there the day before and day after? I wanted to reserve hotel rooms. And how many people can he invite to the ceremony?
thanks again!

[M's mom]

Yes graduation date is usually the Friday of week 12, BUT you might want to hold off on making reservations, buying planes tickets etc. until after about week four, to make sure he doesn't get "rolled" back.  If they don't pass the first Physical Fitness test, they will be rolled back to Holding Company to try to get up to speed, and then join the following class three weeks later.  They have a huge RLP (room, locker, personnel) inspection at week four, and several out of each class roll back for not passing that.  So we waited to buy plane tickets until he passed RLP. My son graduated two years ago and the timeline may have changed since then, but back then, most people arrived for graduation week on Wednesday, because there are things going on Thursday morning you won't want to miss, such as Pass-in-Review where they march in formation and do their rifle drill. Thursday evening was the "Hi Moms" reception for families which is paid for by the candidates themselves at a local hotel or at the officers club.  It can be anything from cocktails and snacks to a full dinner. There is no limit to the number attending, but your candidate will have to pay so much per head for his guests to Hi Moms. There is no limit to the number attending the graduation ceremony either, but he will have to submit a guest list of names that the gate guard will check.  Every adult will need a photo ID to get on Base. Everything is pretty much over by noon on Friday, and if they have their orders, they are free to go as soon as they check out of the barracks.  We flew home on Saturday, and our son was able to get a ticket on the same plane and fly home with us because he had 10 day's "travel time" to his next school.

[Lindanyc]

Thank you! I made a reservation for the hotel but its only a cc hold so no problem to cancel. We are lucky to be in NY so we can drive there-no plane rez. Hopefully he will graduate on time but yes we will be ready if he happens to get rolled back.
Fingers crossed that all goes well and he has a smooth 12 weeks!
Thanks so much for the info.

[Anna]

Good luck to him Lindanyc!!!