This site is for mothers of kids in the U.S. Navy and for Moms who have questions about Navy life for their kids.
FIRST TIME HERE?
FOLLOW THESE STEPS TO GET STARTED:
Choose your Username. For the privacy and safety of you and/or your sailor, NO LAST NAMES ARE ALLOWED, even if your last name differs from that of your sailor (please make sure your URL address does not include your last name either). Also, please do not include your email address in your user name. Go to "Settings" above to set your Username. While there, complete your Profile so you can post and share photos and videos of your Sailor and share stories with other moms!
Make sure to read our Community Guidelines and this Navy Operations Security (OPSEC) checklist - loose lips sink ships!
Join groups! Browse for groups for your PIR date, your sailor's occupational specialty, "A" school, assigned ship, homeport city, your own city or state, and a myriad of other interests. Jump in and introduce yourself! Start making friends that can last a lifetime.
Link to Navy Speak - Navy Terms & Acronyms: Navy Speak
All Hands Magazine's full length documentary "Making a Sailor": This video follows four recruits through Boot Camp in the spring of 2018 who were assigned to DIV 229, an integrated division, which had PIR on 05/25/2018.
Boot Camp: Making a Sailor (Full Length Documentary - 2018)
Boot Camp: Behind the Scenes at RTC
...and visit Navy.com - America's Navy and Navy.mil also Navy Live - The Official Blog of the Navy to learn more.
OPSEC - Navy Operations Security
Always keep Navy Operations Security in mind. In the Navy, it's essential to remember that "loose lips sink ships." OPSEC is everyone's responsibility.
DON'T post critical information including future destinations or ports of call; future operations, exercises or missions; deployment or homecoming dates.
DO be smart, use your head, always think OPSEC when using texts, email, phone, and social media, and watch this video: "Importance of Navy OPSEC."
Follow this link for OPSEC Guidelines:
Events
**UPDATE 4/26/2022** Effective with the May 6, 2022 PIR 4 guests will be allowed. Still must be fully vaccinated to attend.
**UPDATE as of 11/10/2022 PIR vaccination is no longer required.
**UPDATE 7/29/2021** You now must be fully vaccinated in order to attend PIR:
In light of observed changes and impact of the Coronavirus Delta Variant and out of an abundance of caution for our recruits, Sailors, staff, and guests, Recruit Training Command is restricting Pass-in-Review (recruit graduation) to ONLY fully immunized guests (14-days post final COVID vaccination dose).
FOLLOW THIS LINK FOR UP TO DATE INFO:
**UPDATE 8/25/2022 - MASK MANDATE IS LIFTED. Vaccinations still required.
**UPDATE 11/10/22 PIR - Vaccinations no longer required.
RESUMING LIVE PIR - 8/13/2021
Please note! Changes to this guide happened in October 2017. Tickets are now issued for all guests, and all guests must have a ticket to enter base. A separate parking pass is no longer needed to drive on to base for parking.
Please see changes to attending PIR in the PAGES column. The PAGES are located under the member icons on the right side.
Format Downloads:
- Graduation Info
- PDF – 2.7 MB
- PNG – 2.3 MB
- JPG – 3.4 MB
- Printable PDF – 2.0 MB
Navy Speak
Click here to learn common Navy terms and acronyms! (Hint: When you can speak an entire sentence using only acronyms and one verb, you're truly a Navy mom.)
N4M Merchandise
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Please note: Profits generated in the production of this merchandise are not being awarded to the Navy or any of its suppliers. Any profit made is retained by CafePress.
Navy.com Para Familias
Visite esta página para explorar en su idioma las oportunidades de educación y carreras para sus hijos en el Navy. Navy.com
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OCS Graduate Moms
Information
For those who have graduated from Officer Candidate School in Newport, RI or who are currently attending there.
Members: 667
Latest Activity: Aug 29
Please, if you no longer want to be a part of N4M's consider NOT deleting your profile as everything you have ever posted will disappear when you delete it . You can leave a group but don't permanently delete your profile!
Discussion Forum
OCS in November
Started by J71792. Last reply by barbrag Oct 12, 2023. 4 Replies 0 Likes
OCS Class 13-22 Obtaining Tickets to the Graduation Ceremony
Started by karin4son. Last reply by karin4son Jun 29, 2022. 12 Replies 0 Likes
Comment Wall
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Comment by Anna on April 16, 2018 at 6:41pm
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Andy'sMom,
I'm so happy you found the info on the Blue Candle!! It got me through my daughter's OCS time and several deployments my son had, including on the ground in Afghanistan!! And I got such a chuckle from you comment about your boring life when writing letters to your son!!! I felt the same way - what can I possibly write about next????? So glad your son is almost finished!!! Hope you enjoy commissioning day!!!!
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Comment by Andy'sMom on April 16, 2018 at 2:02am
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Anna 8,
I love the Blue Candle Event! This is the first I have heard of it. From now on,I will always say a prayer for our sailors when I see a blue candle! I think I will have to find a couple for myself!
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MBmom,
My son is one month away from graduation/commissioning. The first 3-4 weeks are the worst! I scoured every web site I could find to help me get thru it. The facebook friends and family page really helped. I wrote 2-3 letters a week. (I realized how boring my life was after a while!) All I wanted was to know he was doing ok! That old saying became my mantra: No news is good news! The first time I heard his voice, I couldn't talk I was crying so hard. Once he made it thru the 3rd week, I knew he was going to be ok. It got much better. We made a secret facebook page for his friends to join and posted updates on there. It was so wonderful seeing his friends "like" and comment on posts. This really becomes an extended family, and we are all in this together. Lean on us, as one day we might have to lean on you. Start to think about your LOs CandiO box. Decorate it and start collecting items for it. There is a youtube video by NavyDave that is helpful to get a glimpse of what is going on.
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MBmom,
Even though you will not get much response back from your LO, keep sending encouraging letters to them. When my daughter went through OCS, she said she loved getting my letters and would read them at night in bed just before falling asleep. I would copy and paste cute pictures from clip art and then write my letter around them. When she was going through room inspections she commented on how they came in with rulers to measure everything. So I found a cute picture of a ruler "figure" and other similar funny pics just to make her smile. Once they get email privileges, we could communicate easier that way but she still liked the letters from home. Make sure your loved one knows your email address from memory and not just from their email contacts list. They will be using a military assigned email address and will not have any of their personal contact lists. If you're unsure, send them the addresses in your next letter of anyone he or she may want to contact. Phone numbers also, they won't have their cell phones until the very end. Other than that, just keep encouraging them, and if you believe in prayer - - pray!!!! There is also an "event" on this website called A Blue Candle Event. Members will light a blue candle of any kind, to keep positive thoughts for their sailor. I did this every time my daughter had a big test, inspection, or any other event, and every time I'd see the candle burning I'd say a prayer for her. Just something to make me feel like I was helping her in some small way!!! Good luck to your LO!!!
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Comment by MBmom on April 15, 2018 at 7:59am
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Our LO has been in OCS one week and we are all still adjusting. I am very proud but wish I "knew more" about what to expect and what comes next. We have made reservations for graduation weekend and that felt productive. Does anyone have strategies for this adjustment into a whole new world?
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travel101, (P.S.) About hotels, search for hotels in "Middletown, RI" which is actually closer to the base gates than Newport. There are lots of reasonably-priced chain hotels in Middletown. We stayed at the Holiday inn Express in Middletown, and it was pretty close to the base.
Hotels in Newport are more resort-type and therefore more expensive, especially after Memorial Day, when Newport will be crawling with tourists. Make reservations early for summer graduation! You can always cancel if your son gets "rolled" back three weeks because of injury or failing something.
Read back on our posts here as far back as you have time, and we may have answered many of your questions already.
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Welcome travel101,
As Andy'sMom wrote, do not send "care packages" at all until week ten, when they become Candio's (Candidate Officers.) Then you may send a box, but even then, it is NOT supposed to contain any food items. It used to be, they could get cookies and such, but not anymore. Just send letters only now, and make sure everyone to whom you give his address to knows this.
Anything besides letters sent the first few weeks will be confiscated as contraband, and the recipient will likely have to do a large amount of extra pushups as punishment even if they didn't ask for it to be sent!
Just send lots of encouraging letters, telling him to hang in there no matter what happens. Eyes on the Prize!
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Welcome, travel101!
For now, just write letters to your son. "Care packages" have to be opened in front of everyone, and it singles out your son. He will eventually be able to go to the NEX for items he needs that he did not pack. However, that changes in week 9 with the Candio box! My son is 3 weeks in front of yours. The first 2 weeks were pretty tough not hearing from him, but when that first letter arrives, it's like a lifeline!
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Comment by travel101 on March 22, 2018 at 12:26am
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Hello Mom’s! My son just started OCS on the18th. Any suggestions as to what I can include in my care packages? Also any suggestions of hotels for graduation?
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Just another comment about candio boxes. My daughter graduated 17-12, one class behind M's mom, and since she's always watching her weight she asked for small microwave foods, healthy snack bars, single serving coffee packets that just needed mixed with water, and stuff like that. When her class was in charge, her duties were transporting the indocs back and forth to medical and whatever else they had going on. She missed many meals at the chow hall so was very thankful that she had something to eat in her candio box!!!!
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