Contacting your recruit (really helpful from the navy.mil site)

CONTACTING YOUR RECRUIT

Because of the structured nature of recruit training, your
recruit will not be able to contact you regularly. Here are a
few things that might help ease the anxiety of being out of
contact:

This information is standard and gets sent as part of a very routine package the S.R. sends at about week 2 of their boot camp training.

Mail:
 Recruits will mail home a letter with their address in
the first week of training. Unfortunately, neither RTC
nor your local recruiter can give you their address any
sooner because of the Privacy Act; only your recruit
can give you their address. But once you have it, start
sending those letters!

 Once a recruit arrives onboard their ship (barracks),
they will begin receiving their mail, usually around
week 2-3. Please don‟t be alarmed if your recruit
writes home asking why they haven‟t received any
mail when you‟ve been mailing them consistently
since you received their address. Because the recruits
move around in their first couple of weeks at Boot
Camp, it takes a couple of weeks for the mail to catch
up to them. Don‟t be alarmed; they will get their mail!

 While you can write to your recruit every day, they can
only write to you a few evenings each week and while
they are on “holiday routine,” meaning Sundays and
holidays. We know it‟s hard, but please don‟t sit near
your mailbox waiting for the mail each day. Just keep
writing to your recruit, and they will write back when
they are able.

 And now that you have that address, why not include
family photos; a funny snapshot of their pet; or
newspaper clippings of their favorite sports team or
comics? Recruits can receive anything that can fit into
a standard-sized envelope, and pictures and news
from home might help ease some of their
homesickness as well.

 Resist the urge to send a care package or write on the
outside of the envelope. We know you want to send
your recruit their favorite homemade chocolate chip
cookies, but recruits cannot receive these (they‟ll be
thrown away). Also, remember that the envelope will
be seen by their RDC, so putting stickers or writing all
over their envelopes might make them uncomfortable.
Phone calls:

 The most important piece of advice here is to
make sure that your recruit has a phone card!
Many cell phone companies no longer allow collect
calls, so if you want to hear from your recruit, make
sure they have one with sufficient credit.

 Recruits are given a very short phone call
(approximately 15-30 seconds) when they arrive to let
you know they‟re safe. This will help alleviate some of
the anxiety as you‟ll hear from them immediately and
know they are safe and sound.

 Recruits are given phone calls from time to time
throughout training as a reward for outstanding
performance. There is no set schedule and no way to
know when or if these calls will come. The best thing
to do is go about your normal daily routine and keep
writing to your recruit.

 Recruits are also given a phone call when they fail a
training requirement, or become injured or ill, which
could delay their graduation. Unless you receive this
phone call (not in a letter, but in a phone call), you can
assume that everything is fine and going as planned.

 The final call you‟ll receive from your recruit is the call
letting you know they are no longer a recruit, but a
Sailor in the World‟s Finest Navy! This call comes their
final week of training the morning after they pass
Battle Stations-21. This is an emotional call for the
Sailors and their families. If you‟d like a heads-up on
when the call may come (so you can make sure not to
miss the moment), please ask your recruit when they
will run Battle Stations-21. Unfortunately, again,
neither RTC nor your local recruiter will be able to give
you this information, only your recruit.
Sometimes, there are emergency situations when you
need to contact your recruit. If an emergency should arise,
you will need to contact the American Red Cross on
877-272-7337 or Chaplain Care at 877-418-6824. They
will be able to assist you in getting an official message to
your recruit.