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Comment by diannep on December 15, 2012 at 11:29am

imomx4:  You can tell how long an SR has been at bootcamp by the length of their hair!  Seriously!  The "newbies" are very evident!  :-)

Hmmmm....not sure the part about them just leaving if they want is true...although I'm sure they are told that.  Some may sabotage themselves to be discharged, but don't think they can just ask to leave.  Never heard of an SR being allowed to do that...they usually something (maybe on purpose) to get discharged if they don't want to stay.

Not always true on the minimum setback being two weeks, although that is the norm.  In my son's case, he was only asmoed (setback) for a week.  I believe they tell the SRs this to motivate them to do well.  It is all about motivation!

Their PT (actually PFAs) are given 3 times while there.  They HAVE to pass the final one or they cannot do BattleStations (last drill and they become sailors).  So keep encouraging them to work hard on that!

Yes, letters are normally mailed from RTC on Mondays.  Sunday is the day they normally have time to write...although others may write at different times...but can't mail out until Mondays.  Pretty soon, you will have "the day" of the week that you can expect letters!  Mine was Thursday.

The blue "digis" (camouflage) are quite handsome and they love them!  My son said they are so comfortable.  I got to see my son in his when I went to visit him at his duty station in VA....we were visiting in Williamsburg and he had to head to work after dropping me at the airport so I snapped a pik:The camouflage is actually called their NWUs (Navy Working Uniform). 

Comment by Alison(LS A school) on December 15, 2012 at 11:09am

@gatoothfairy, I'm glad to see you found your way here, I hope that your letter comes today.

@Momsfour, I read somewhere that any letters written by recruits are mailed out on Mondays, so hopefully we get a letter from our boys this week. I'm in Ca so mine would come probably at the end of the week. That's assuming he wrote me. He better not forget who gave him life! Ha,ha

Comment by Wynona on December 15, 2012 at 9:31am

@imomxfour, thanks for all the information. :) that's awesome!
I am hoping I will get the form letter today.

Comment by TJsMom on December 15, 2012 at 9:20am

@ imomxfour-Thank you for the all of the details! I'm so glad that your recruit seems to be doing well. It helps to remember they do have a choice. I know I often forget that.

@Rose-so glad that your letter arrived!

Comment by jillymom on December 15, 2012 at 6:30am

My son's recruiter had his future recruits learning marching orders and general orders of the sentry at their meetings; he said his recruiter didn't do that for him and it would have made the transition so much easier. He also called me right away with the address and he is just awesome. Still waiting for the letter, but got the boxes right away. (My damn kid put his ipod back into his backpack after I pulled it out and took some comp books along and books) Really praying for him; it's not a game!

Comment by imomxfour x 3 Sailors on December 15, 2012 at 2:28am

oh and the area code came up as 847 and said Waukegan, IL (I know it could vary, but this is what it was for us today!)

Comment by imomxfour x 3 Sailors on December 15, 2012 at 2:28am

LOL, I reached the max 4000 characters and had to stop & start a new reply!!

 

Ok, so yeah....the boy who got in trouble, that's who I meant was lucky he didn't get discharged. I love that my son is someone who would be encouraging and supportive of someone else who needs that boost - we actually talked to him about that before he left - you know the program that gives the calling cards, how they have that set up to help those who need extra support? Well i told Holden about that, and to keep an eye out and do waht he can to encourage anyone like that. I need to get the boys name and let them know, because they (that program) will also reach out to this boy as well.

 

He said there are a couple of kids in there who don't like to listen, and they get yelled at A LOT!! 

 

He also said he wants me to tell his recruiter that he did not prepare him enough - he didn't tell him enough about what to expect, because there was A LOT he didn't know about. Of course, had we known about this website sooner, and all teh videos out there to watch, he would have been more prepared. I'm sure his recruiter will love that - considering I already told him he needs to tell parents about their ability and choice to go to MEPS to watch them get sworn in - and how upset we ALL were, especially Holden, the day he realized that when he was all alone down in St. Louis. :(   He is a good guy though (the recruiter) and he was informative and easy going, never made me feel bad for all my mom questions & stuff, and always gave us the time we needed - but my son was adamant that he SHOULD have done more & explained more to prepare him and all the others a lot better.

 

I'm sure I'm forgetting something - oh, about PT today, being the first day and something about failing - but not really failing, because it wasn't a test yet - it was something about how they didn't know how to do a certain exercise right, something about their knees, lol... 

 

He also mentioned that if anyone gets held back, the minimum set back is 2 weeks, so if anyone can't graduate on time, it will actually be more like a month because of no new recruits coming in over the holidays, and there won't be any PIR's for awhile after Feb 8th. ugh!! But he said he wasn't worried about that - he was just worried that his division may not earn as many calls home due to being *slow*. i assume he means slow as in - everything they do is too slow. I asked him how he was doing, and he said he was working on it - he is probably one of the SLOW ones for sure. He's always been that, even though he can be hyper and wild. He's just always been my *slow boy* - never in a hurry for showering or eating or doing chores, etc...  

 

If I think of anything else, I'll let you all know!!

 

I just know for sure - they all want LETTERS and stuff right away, and all the time!! And from the sounds of it (at least with this division) they are able to write home to us a lot more than we expected - he says he has written 5 letters to us so far, and he's written to his siblings and 2 friends as well - all separately!! I don't think he's sent them yet though - maybe that will be on Sunday???

 

Take care everyone & good night!!!

Comment by imomxfour x 3 Sailors on December 15, 2012 at 2:02am

Wynona, Alison, and Rose, I'm sorry for the delay in replying again - I had a ton of errands to run after I posted earlier, and I'm just now getting home after dinner with my hubby and a visit to my daughters house.

I haven't stopped smiling since I talked to Holden!!! Neither has my husband and he even called my daughter and they got to talk for about 15 minutes too!!

We live in Central, IL so we are close to GL/Chicago, only 2.5 hours away - so I'm sure that plays a role in how fast we got the box and form letter. 

Alison, it's funny because I mentioned an alex, but I was talking about Dr. Judi's son who is in another division - I will write and tell him that Alex (and whatever your last name is) belongs to Alison!! I'm sure there are no other kids named Holden up there, so that should be easy enough, but I can tell you our last name too in a message!

 

Rose, you are very welcome, i knew as much as i LOVE hearing DETAILS from veteran moms and watching videos and stuff, that you all would probably like to hear what he said too - I know I have been clinging to every piece fo info possible!!

 

Some other things he mentioned was that they all spent $700 the first day there, to pay for all their clothes and uniforms, and that as they stuffed their bags with stuff they were so full and said then they were told they better find some more room, because they had 12 more things to put in there, LOL!! He said there heads were shaved practically bald.

 

He said he was in his fatigues today - which I'm dying to see him in!! I absolutely LOVE the blue Navy fatigues better than any others - the colors are so vibrant & sharp - I can only imagine how handsome he looks!!! ;-)

 

He said they were getting their health insurance set up and naming a beneficiary, and will be setting up their bank accounts soon too, if they're using the Navy Federal credit union. he says studying is easier there and he is doing so much better than he ever did in H.S. because they really don't have anything else to do, lol.

 

He said they are also usually awake before the RDC's come in at 4am - not sure why - he said he's doing well with that, which is good to hear, because he was a night owl like me - 2 days before he left he was up until 4am - he liked to sleep until noon on days he wasn't working, and stay up all night - talk about a big change in routine, haha!!

 

He said the first letters he wrote to us really are discouraging - but even now, he can already see a difference - this early!!! And he said (just like his recruiter told us) not to let that bother us, because he said is doing good and he feels good!

 

He talked about how if they want, they can literally just say I don't want to do this and leave - so you know at this point if they are there, they are choosing/volunteering to be there. This is something my husband struggled with, even though this has always been our son's decision that he has talked about since jr. high. - that he never once heard him say he really did want this - but he said he never knew he had to say that, because this is the only thing he ever planned on doing and that was that, lol. He said either way - it IS hard, REALLY hard - it may only be the *navy* boot camp, but it's not easy, not by a long shot!

 

He said the only thing he is struggling with - is missing us. (it was HARD hearing him get chocked up - he has always been our homebody, and a very sensitive, sweet kid, and we've worried terribly about this - he was also bullied a lot and picked on while growing up, never had a lot of friends, etc..., we've always been on solid ground & support system) anyway he said he's made a couple of friends and as mentioned before, he is trying to help the a boy who is struggling after he got in trouble - not sure what it was for, but he said he's lucky he didn't get discharged

Comment by GA2thfairy(Ship 04 DIV 087) on December 15, 2012 at 1:43am

Hi Everyone, When I found out from my son's recruiter today that he was in DIV 087, I shared the info with a fellow navyformom friend and she directed me here. We haven't gotten the form letter, but I mailed him 5 letters this afternoon anyway! :)

Comment by MSgtRet DIV 912 on December 15, 2012 at 12:21am

Hooray!  Got a call from my SR's Mom today!  She received the form letter, and it confirmed what I had puzzled out  (and passed to her & Stepdad) from here, navydads.com, and rtc's website.  The question of number of guests isn't appropriately discussed in the letter, but that's to be expected.  I'm sure they will be using up stocks of existing letters for a while.  It's also doubtful that the new guest info has been 'sprung' on SR's yet. 

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