Camp Pendleton Corpsmen Moms

My daughter flies back today. I can't wait to see her pictures!
Wade, I'm glad to hear your son made it safe. Laurence has settled in New Orleans. Now for their new adventure. I hope all goes well with all our boys!

I just added a photo album of the CP FMTB Graduation on June 18, 2010
I've got higher resolution photos if anyone's interested.

Thanks vettespace! I enjoyed your pictures. I tried to see if I could see Laurence, but I guess when everyone is dressed the same, even when you're 6'4", you blend in with the crowd.

Hi Margaret, he's probably in the back row, they were lined up with the shortest in front. I can send a higher resolution pic of 2nd platoon if you like, as well as some of them marching in. Send me your email.

Vettespace, where did your son go? It just seems so strange that the guys who have been together for so long have now scattered! Laurence was excited to know that a buddy he met in corps school and also went to fmtb with him will also be in New Orleans with him. I look forward to this evening when I can call to see how his first day went.

My son's first duty station is the clinic at Great Lakes!!!!!! Not his first choice! It sounds like he'll be able to be assigned to sick call for the clinic at the Recruit Training Command (Tranquility Clinic) which he'll enjoy. He checked in today, so I'll have to see how it went, and if he got the spot at Tranquility that he wanted.

Laurence had his first day in New Orleans. He said it was filled with paperwork. He said that he signed up to stay behind in the event of a disaster. I just hope the base has a safe and secure structure so when the next hurricane blows through, he has a place to stay safe! He has been assigned to work in the physical therapy dept.

Hi Jacqueline, my son went to the USO and got a shuttle to CP (he still had to pay for it, but it was much less expensive than going by taxi). My son traveled in his civies, but official check in is with seasonal dress uniform. I'll check with my son and see when he changed and did the official check in.

My boyfriend will be here in a few weeks! Im excited for him, although i would love to keep him here with me lol...

My son contacted me today. He moved into his barracks. He starts FMTB classes on monday. Anybody else have a sailor starting FMTB monday?

i got a pic too of the sleeping quarters... WOW.. my son is on the very top.. lol.. he will be stationed on Guam after training. he is very excited about that. I was born there. it will give me an excuse to go home.

Ruth VH- thanks for the sock tips.. i will relay that one... my kid is a running fool. he is really enjoying PTing with the Marines.

Jacqueline- Yes I have a lot of family still there. My parents still have a home there. My entire family is planning on going to the fmtb graduation. We are so close. Its only a few hours away from us. We might make it a little family vacation too. I have to soak up as much time as I can with mine. After this training he will be gone for so long.

Hello, i'm new to this group, my son is in Great Lakes at the moment, but is going to FMTB at Camp Pendelton like in October, I'm nervous about it, how long is FMTB and what happens when he done?

Good Evening All. My name is Judy aka Tristan's mom. T is 4 weeks into A school in GL. He is a "reservists" and hopes to finish school at Camp Pendleton. Are there any Reservists in this group and if so could you explain how they fit in the scheme of things?!

Have you seen any other interested parties with a reservists?! So Tristan tells me that he has or will be given orders to FMTB ar Camp Pendleton and it will be 21/2 months in length, is this correct?!

Oh okay Jacqueline.I stand corrected. Thank You!! I guess there just aren't enough reservists to warrant a group, Oh well, I will keep trying

RuthVH, Thank You!! Maybe I will find another mom who lives close by, or anyone who shares!!

Jacqueline- My son got Platoon 2, but the top sailor from his A-school got Platoon 3. He is liking fmtb so far. And like your sailor... lol.. mine is REALLY stoked about the new uniforms. so are you planning on going to the graduation? do you know when yours graduates?

Hi Jacqueline, there are 4 phases of liberty at FMTB West. Go to this website:
http://www.tecom.usmc.mil/fmtbwest/FMSTCourse.htm
There you can download the course manual and it explains everything.

Ruth VH, Hi would you be able to tell me why I can't receive any emails of posting on any of my N4MS sites. Please email me @ kolinlucky@yahoo.com...I don't know what to do?!

i just heard from my sailor and his day just ended a little while ago... apparently it was a 20hr day. he texted me and let me know he did well on his test, but is REALLY tired. He said his PT today was a little like the G.I. Jane movie...

When my son graduated in June, I think the graduation started around 9:30am if I remember correctly. I'll double check and post back if it's different.

Ruth- THANKS for the great info... I wish I was getting more phones calls/skyes but a lot less then during A school. :(.... maybe we can piece together our short texts creating a clearer picture of whats going on. :)... after grad mine will be off to Guam. Our family is really excited for him. That is where we are from originally. so he will be surrounded by family. less worrying for me.

In June my son got a picture of his platoon and a company picture, each in a cardboard tube. He also got his FMST certificate and Marine Corps Martial Arts Tan Belt certificate.

It's a component of the training with a few days dedicated to Marine martial arts training. They'll get their tan belts just before graduation. They'll also learn to drive the ambulance (diesel w/standard transmission) thru a rugged course that my son said was fun. Thought the gas house was much stronger than the bc one.

Hello, my son will be graduating Corspmen school this Tueday and will be at Camp Pendelton in a few weeks. I am sure I will be visiting this group a lot for support and answers.

Jacqueline... I've been sooooo busy with my little ones.. i heard from my son the other day. he passed his tests and apparently they have 2 more tests this week. right now he is trying to figure out if he is allergic to bee stings because he got stung 2 1/2 days ago and his hand is STILL swollan. I told him he needs to get checked out because he needs his hands in his studying and tests... He is doing ok. he wants to stay here and try and wait for an openning for what he wants. he put in for 3 different things so he could stay here but they were denied. so for now after graduation he is still on his way to Guam. we'll see. He is ok with it but he really wants to change his billet. when he left corps school they didn't have an openning for him to get in. so who knows. either way i support his choice. so he had a little scare the other day... i guess during one of their training/test situations. his partner didn't put his iv in right and he was spurting out blood. he had to sit out for over an hour till he was feeling better. apparently it happened twice. i was concerned but he said he was feeling fine. after he rested. I know that there are trained people there with them but hearing it made me nerveous. they gotta learn somehow. lol.. my son had a good attitude about it.... have you heard from you sailor?

Hello everyone! I am new to this group, so please bear with me. My son will be going to CP soon; starts training in Oct. I was wondering what graduation is like? Anything like the Navy's PIR? I am hoping to go to it, but I have no idea what to expect. Any information from those who have gone through this will be appreciated! Thanks in advance~

Hi Joe's Mom,
Here's a link to the pictures from my son's FMTB graduation at CP this past June:
http://www.navyformoms.com/photo/albums/cp-fmtb-graduation-june-18

thanks for sharing your pictures with me- they are awesome!

LoriLAB, the 8404 is the classification code a corpsman receives when they graduate from the FMST (Field Medical Service Technician) course at FMTB (Field Medical Training Battalion). After BC and A school the new corpsman are referred to as quad zeros "0000" until they complete FMTB or a C school

Hi Jacqueline, I'm only familiar with what it stands for and a little of what they do. My son's been in the navy a year now, so a lot of this is still new to me. As he moves on with each new phase I learn a little more. But, he hasn't pursued the SARC route yet!

Hi Jacqueline,
Here's a link with more info.
http://www.marines.mil/unit/marsoc/Pages/default.aspx

Jacqueline,
Here's the link to the marine discussion groups:
http://www.usmcparents.com/forum/default_group.asp

Jacqueline,
Just don't get too concerned yet with everything you read...your son's just starting this pipeline and it takes a while before he'd be in a position to get deployed and a lot of training between here and then. A lot can change in the meantime. Don't want you to get too nervous yet!

Jacqueline,
This link lists the phases of sarc at the bottom. Not sure if that's the actual training sequence though.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Navy_Amphibious_Reconnai...

My son is leaving for CP next week for FMTB, does anyone know what things he need to take? He said he could take his laptop, what about civilian clothes.
thanks

Jacqueline--Thanks for the info.

Hi everyone.. I have been soooo busy with the start up of school. i'm an office manager at an elementary school. school started wednesday and i have been working 12 days to get the school up and running. anyways my sailor called me 3 days ago. he just got back from his field experience. he liked it. he passed his test with a 96 and then got a 92 on this last test. He said that wasn't bad since out of 288 in his grad class 72 of them failed. their next test isn't for another few weeks. He has duty today so maybe I will hear from him later today. So catch me up. What's going on with everyone.

RuthVH2- that is sooo funny... I bet my son is living out of his car too but NOT saying anything to me because I can't imagine where ALL of his civial clothes are being stashed because their space is soooo small! He probably gets that from me too... lol... I was like that in my early 20s... Even now it isn't messy but if you need something I probably have it in my van. My hubby has learned to deal with it too. lol...

Sassygrl0227- good luck to your corpsman. i know that the testing is VERY difficult. I am here to support you as well. his time will come. he has come this far i know he can make it!

Just found this sight after following a trail from some other groups that I belong to. I want to extend my deepest condolences to the Swink family. My son is also a corpsman in Afghanistan and I can only imagine the sadness and sorrow that the family is feeling, but they should also know how very proud we all are of him and the work that he did. I wish I could do to ease their pain. My thoughts are with the family.

The Teitgen Family extends our thoughts and prayers to the Swink family.

Update: Just heard from DJ... They have an event Monday... long hike. they just got done with an event and his platoon did not win the event so they have to load and unload everyones gear and eat last... Their platoon is not happy so they are winning mondays event. Should be interesting.

Our family is only 6hrs away from CP so we are traveling Monday and we will stay til Friday. Our whole family is going. He has to report to his next duty station by Sunday and he needs 2 days to travel there, so we will try to be soaking up ALL of his time between Monday and Friday. hopefully he will have time for us. If the moms are meeting up I'd like to try and meet you all. Let me know.

Jaqueline- DJ is in platoon 3.... Congrats on K getting selected for SARCs... you must be VERY proud.

Gloria- I'm excited for your son. I love my island. If it wasn't SO expensive to travel there I would go more often. My parents still own a home there. DJ will be stationed at the Hospital there.

I'm still bursting at the seams! We also got an email from the Family Readiness Officer today with names of places to stay if we want to come to CP when our guys come home so it won't be long now.. Since I'm in N. CA, I'll definitely be heading down for the grand Homecoming which should just be a few weeks away.

I just have to comment that I think its great that there are so many other wonderful things going on. It's nice to hear some good news for a change.

Good morning everyone. I heard from you sailor yesterday evening. He has the weekend off so he was on his way to LA to see family. They 4 days were hard but they all got thru it. Unfortunately, one of his friends got injuried by barbed wire and won't be continuing with them. I feel bad for his family. He has worked so hard.

DJ said he got spoken to about a picture I posted on my wall. I'm his mom and I'm NOT taking it down. But I'm not going to post anymore pics until he graduates from FMTB.

So whats new with everyone else?

Jacquline-- small world I was chatting with DJ and he knows your sailor. they where roomates in illinois. lol.. small world. apparently K is always a minute ahead of DJ. I can't wait to meet you at graduation.

Jacequline- yes that's it... lol.. small world. My parents reserved rooms for us at the Marine lodge. I'm bringing all of my kids so they got us a room with a kitchenette. We are staying from monday until friday morning. I will private message you my cel number.

Jacqueline- I don't know when he leaves. I know he has to report by the 3rd and you loose a day when you travel that way so i expect he has to leave by friday???? not sure. i am hoping that he will have time to spend with us until he leaves. DJ was telling me that K starts right away. He is very proud of him. Maybe when you talk to K you can have him swap phone numbers with DJ so maybe after graduation we can get togther and have a meal coffee.

So guess we are ALL in the same boat that all we know is graduation is in the morning? Anybody else got any other details? i'm excited. it's coming so fast.

Just wanted to share that I heard from DJ today. I am sooooo proud. He passed his test and is so excited to be graduating. I'm just having a PROUD mamma moment. They have all worked so hard. Thanks for letting me share. Sorry still no details on graduation still.