DEP-Leavin' for bootcamp in December

I meant Jan 24th!

My daughter left yesterday from Jax She called me at 12:15 last night with her scripted phone call. She said I will get another call in about 3 weeks. It is going to be a long three weeks. Her little brother misses her so much already. He is 9 and she was like his best friend. Missing my girl:((

My son is Ship 03 Div 071 if anyone else's child is also, friend me!!

Sooo excited!  Just got a call from my son, totally unexpected!  Was so good to hear his voice and know that he is doing okay!  He has only been there since last Tuesday, so I was not expecting to get a call before then.  When I saw my cell phone called ID say "Waukegan, IL" at first I thought it might be bad news like he was sick or something!  But when I heard his voice and how good he sounded, it really lifted my spirits.  He is in Ship 02 Div 072 and he told me that today was the first day of real training.  He said his division is integrated (male and female) and it sounds like their division is doing well (which is probably why he got to call so soon).  He said it's really cold (he's a Florida boy, so I have been worrying about how he would do in the cold) but that they have good warm gear.  Also said the food is not that bad.  Hang in there moms, sounds like they are well taken care of and are in good hands!

SoCalMom - My son arrived on the 2nd and when I got the first call to say he was there safe I heard the same thing...I will call in about 3 weeks.  However, I received a 2nd call from him Sunday (6 days after he arrived).  I think it is different depending on the Ship/Division they are in, and if they "earn" a call earlier.  I've heard it can be very different by group.  However, 3 weeks it what they tell the recruit to tell parents.  Fingers crossed you may get a call sooner!!

Marksmom91, That great!! I got a call from my son too, I was so excited to hear his voice!! I agree sounds like our boys will be fine and well taken care of. It's was such a piece of mind to hear from him this morning. Missing him dearly. 

raineygirl, Our boys are in the same Division, so they must be doing quite well to have earned a call so soon!  I'll be glad when we are far enough along that I can feel comfortable making arrangements to travel up there for PIR in January!

lovemynavyson I have wondered those same things.  The week before he left I kept thinking "oh...I should have showed him this or that" "oh...I never taught him how to...."

 I finally told myself "whatever I did not teach him the Navy will make sure he knows!"  And I stopped worrying about it.  And all our nagging most certainly will help them get along better!!!

daughter left for bc on December 3rd so hard glad I found this sight to meet others that are going through this also Love and peace to all

gglove my daughter left for bc on the third as well. She was scheduled to go on Dec. 2, but they delayed overnight.

MdMom: no packages as far as I know. If the envelope you send a letter is thicker than usual, I read that he will have to open it in front of a group.....

are any of your bc ers in Great Lakes?

Marksmom91, yes they must be doing well!! I already made reservations for our hotel not airline tickets. Notice that a lot of hotels were being taken up already. I figured I can always change the date in case plans have been changed and the hotel doesn't charge for changing dates like the airline tickets do. Just a heads up for you.

MdMom, Letter Writing & Fun Stuff/Questionnaires to send to your Recruit will give you info on what you should and shouldn't send.

SoCalMom, that call at 3 weeks can be before or after that. See  Phone Cards and Phone Calls.

Wow it took awhile for me to get through all the activity!  What a difference a day makes.  Here's another little ditty...

Away at Great Lakes (Away in a Manger)

Away at Great Lakes

With their shaven heads.

The sailor recruits 

sleep on hard metal beds.

The moms here at home

All day we do pray,

Our sailor recruits

Will call home today.

The mailman is coming,

He brought one! Hurray!

The sailor recruit 

Just made someones day!

The letter is read

Without a dry eye.

The tension has lifted,

With a very big sigh.

The letter brings comfort

And wipes fears away,

This won't be forever,

I count down the days

Until graduation

(We bought our air fair)

We asked for vacation,

So we will be there!

Erin, love it (well, not the "Sailor recruits" there are "Sailors" and "Recruits", but there is no such thing as "Sailor Recruits." SR stands for Seaman Recruit.)

Write lots of letters. They are like gold.

lovemynavyson, he'll love them and probably share them too. There are some links to jokes in Letter Writing & Fun Stuff/Questionnaires to send to your Recruit 

For those with recruits arriving today, check out Arrival and What Happens at the RTC to know what is happening.

Well, my son had a problem with his airplane coming out of San Antonio. There was some electrical glitch.  The flight was canceled & he & 5 other SR's were returned to their hotel. They left this morning. We hope to get a call saying they've made it to Chicago in a few hours.  Fingers crossed!

The emotional roller coaster of this journey is making me so TIRED!  Anyone else? I'm not looking forward to the wall of non communication that will go up when he gets to the RTC.  I think that is one of the most stressful parts of this!!!

DANIGIRL695- I just did this on Tuesday.  Go to the counter where he checked in, go with him, and asked for a gate pass.  You will need photo id with you.  We had no problem with this, they were happy to help.  Me my husband and two daughters were able to go through security with my son have lunch and take a few more pictures.

That's correct the ticket counter not security. you will have to go through security so make sure you dont have to much stuff with you. We had plenty of time. He checked in came upstairs got us and then we all went back to the ticket counter. Just have your id with you or you will not be able to get a gate pass. 

My son checked in with his group and then we went after that.  He did come with us, not sure if he had to but he came anyway. And yes the airline ticket counter. You will have to go through security. More than happy to help you. We were the only family there at the airport, maybe so people dont know you are able to go .  I was so glad we did go. We saw him get sworn in the morning and we went off to the airport. Then i just waited alllllll day into the evening for the "call" which did not come till 12:40am. Good Luck!!!

It dould be all day depending on when his flight is. We got there around 11:30am and left around 1:30> his flight wasn't untill 5:40pm.  We did not wait around till then.  He was fine tho, he had his new Navy friends to hang with.  Hope all goes well, let us know!!! 

I've got a bunch of cards I've been collecting since my husband first signed up. I've seen some posts discouraging sending anything that isn't in a white envelope because it would draw unwanted attention. I don't want to cause more work for him because I send him a card with a yellow envelope but at the same time I don't want to go out and buy a large amount of white envelopes for no reason. Have any of you been told similar things?