Camp Pendleton Corpsmen Moms

Thanks Ruth.  He is going to have the time of his life and I'm excited for him.  My Italy fund is started already.  I'm goin to give him a year to learn his way around so that when we come he will our tour guide!

Judy - safe travels to you to.  I guess Chief is on her way since I haven't seen any posts.  Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!

J sent me a text earlier and said they were spending the evening cleaning the barracks and packing it up.  On to the next phase Sailors!

P-Bear's Mom, Yes, They don't want you there before 9am. My T was on watch too tonight his ended at 9pm.

OH, I know that person very well (ME)!!  I have to write things down because I heard from T tonight not to be wanting to get in the gate before 9am, so I'm sure that the ceremony doesn't start until 10am...but I want a good seat on the last bleachers on the left for platoon #1 and high up on the bleachers cause T will be on the last line in formation due to his hight and I'm bringing binoculars so I could zero in on T and take pics. lol  T says there 260 FMF Corpsman graduating!!

You're funny lol  Yeah, T is 6'3" and he to was one of the tallest who formed the end line in all 3 bc, A school and FMTB.  I will be wearing black and gray and black UGG boots and sitting at the very top of the bleachers, if you see me say hey!  Are you going to be wearing a blue ribbon?!

Congratulations to class 2011010 - All Platoons!  You can now call them "Doc!"

P.S. - My J is only 5'11" so he may be in the front of Platoon 2!!  However, my younger son is 6'5" so we have the tall gene also.

Wanted to come on and say, CONGRATS to all the new gradutes from FMTB! It is a long time coming!! I am so happy for all of you that get to go! For thoes of you that can't, I know that your Sailors know how proud you are of them and how much you wish you could be there! I am anxious to start the next, and complete for that matter, the cycle of FMTB for that is when my Sailor has his.

I haven't been on in a while. I moved to CA and got here on the 1st. I am all settled in now. I work crazy hours and drive a nice long way to and from it. Of course it is all worth it just to be here and be with him! I get to see him just about every day and I am loving it! I can't wait to be able to explpore with him and start our new adventures toghether! I will be checking in when I can but I don't have my own internet set up yet, so I will have to soon. I will want to have it handy when he goes into FMTB. I am sure there will be plently of questions during that time! So I will hope to be on more soon.

Once again Congrats to all the new FMTB grads!!

Just got a call from my son.  Graduation is over!!  He said they had to stand at parade rest the whole time and his nose was running and he needed to cough!  LOL - not a good description! 

Congratulations to all the FMTB grads and best wishes at your next duty station.

Did you get any pictures Carol?  J sent us one of a hill/mountain called Cardiac Hill.  I asked him if he had to hike it.  His reply was "Hike It?  Noooooo we ran it."  Brutal.  I joked that I would have passed out after the first five feet!!

Jesspoo - welcome back!  Glad to hear you have the living arrangements and job situation all settled.  That's got to be a load off your mind!

Thanks vettespace!  So glad this phase is over!  And can't wait to see him tonight!

Congrats to all the FMTB graduates and a big Navy hug to you moms for enduring it all with them!!  Tell your Sailors that we are all so proud of them and hope in a few months to have one of my own when he finishes up in March. Hey Jesspoo guess our Sailors will be in training together. Think mine can't wait as says the PT he is doing right now isn't as much as in FMTB, don't know if that is true but if so then he should be prepared lol.

Carol - I hadn't planned on sharing the picture either.  I just wanted to know if anyone else had heard about this "hill."  From all the pictures we've seen and the conversations we've had with J, the physical part of FMTB was no joke. 

Good luck to all starting the next class of FMTB.

Y'all are going to love watching the DVD of their training...:-)

my J is on his way home!  It's only until Monday evening, but I'll take what I can get.  We drove 1408 miles and never made it to California!!  I wish I could have been at graduation though- bet it was awesome!  BTW, there isn't much to see driving thru Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico.....not in December anyway!  It all looked the same!  4 days later, we're back home and J will be here in the morning.  I just hope he spends time with family and not just friends.

So proud of all the guys who graduated today!!  Good luck to all, and to you Moms!

O.k. - I have a proud Mom moment.  On the plane ride last night, J said they came over the speaker and asked if there was a doctor or nurse on board.  Apparently someone passed out and they needed assistance.  Well, lo and behold, only J and another older ex-EMT (is that possible to be an EX?) were able to assist.  The gentlemen was on blood thinner and blood pressure medicine and had an unsafe drop in BP due to the combination of meds and high altitude.  J spent time with him checking his vitals and making sure he was stable.  He had to laugh though because he said he couldn't get his respirations because the guy had come to and was a chatty cathy!!  (scared in other words).  J was beaming when he told us.  He just got "that" look and said that he has definitely picked the right Rate.

That's wonderful Pam, you should be proud!

Thanks everyone! 

Becky - I'd go with what Jacqueline said.  Maybe let his friends come to him.  At least the noise of your son being home will put you at ease.

Jacqueline - Good thoughts are being sent all the way from the Peach State!!

Carol - Glad to hear C is settling in and getting ready for his next venture. 

J is actually going to Italy with another Corpsman that went through FMTB with him.  So wonderful to have a familiar face with you.  J's never even been out of the country before!!

Can't wait to here from Chief and Judy!!

Good Morning All,  Well the Graduation Ceremony was wonderful, it was indoors in the Gym due to rain!!  The main speaker a "woman"who is was highly decorated and she recalled stories of being an FMF Corpsman and that they were highly recognized for their talents and that there are only 3% corpsman enlisted!

I did not see any other moms at the ceremony, but I was able to see T get pinned, Corporal Walker,said to T as he was pinning him"You earned this pin because you worked hard for it, then he thumped him!! LOL.  I  Bought the dvd of their time in FMTB that was worth the 10.00 cause I saw T in the dvd I also picked up a couple of mugs and 2 "Doc-Bulldog" T-shirts!! Yes, the guys had to stand at attention the whole time before the ceremony and during...poor Guys!! But watching T get pinned was the greatest...happy tears!

Jacqueline, I'm praying that all goes well today, we have horrible rains and cold wind blowing here and were 5 hours north of CP!!

Pam how awesome to hear how his talents are being used already. Have to have them add Corpsman to the list of is there a Doc or nurse on board lol.

Jacqueline sending prayers your way that they make the cut.

Judy how wonderful to see him being pinned, the thumping sounds painful.

Yes it doesn't seem as they get much time off between phases in their jobs. M at least got the weekend off before starting at the hospital there then FMTB next month then starts his assignment after that. Hope he will have a few days off to see him after graduation.

Enjoying the day with J!!  He's been practicing his moves on his brothers, picking on his sister about her boyfriend, and the house is full of laughter!!  I wish it would last longer~

Becky, The same is going on over here lol T is so relaxed here at home, I made him his favorites like cookies, breakfast and now we just finished up BBQ steak dinner!  I'm so happy he's home!!  Sounds like big brother at your house too! lol  I hope your cup run over with good times with your Corpsman!!

Thanks, Judy!  and to think, I was upset that I didn't get to go to California!  This is WAY better!  Enjoy your time!

Same here.  Husband went to the neighbors, came home and the boys had sheepish looks and J told him that he just missed Mike being in a choke hold.  He just looked at them and said no holes in the walls.  Boys.

Ruth VH, California is freezing today and has been raining ALL day long, but I have been home and not even wanting to fight traffic, the crowds everywhere...nasty stuff. lol  I bet you're feeling like all is right with the world now that your cub is home...enjoy his presence and get him to help you hang those precious awards on your wall. lol

Pam, You have yourself a GI Joe on you're hands...lol  I hope you are having a great time with your cub!!

Glad to hear you made it back ok Chief!! 

Jacqueline - My daughter, who is four, has missed her big brother so much.  She snuggled with him on the couch all day Saturday and everytime I looked over at her, she was rubbing his head,  I guess she liked the feel of his short hair? LOL.  I have slept so good the last couple of nights just knowing that all three of my kids are safe and under one roof!  We have one week left with J before he heads to his duty station in Italy.  Going to go way too fast.

Well, Moms, I guess this is it for us.  I'll be moving over to the Italy group next week and I'll pop in at the Corpsman Moms group when I can.  I wish everyone the best of luck and I'll keep all of our Service Members and their families in my thoughts and prayers. Have a Very Merry Christmas and a Wonderful New Year!!

Ha, ha, Carol - you took my line!!  But your right, they are ALL handsome!  Loved the video and thank you for sharing.

Jamie is officially in Italy.  He was able to send me an e-mail early this morning to let me know he's there and is getting settled.  We had a nice visit while he was home on leave and only managed to get into one argument.  Some things never change.  LOL!  My husband tells me that it's because we're too much alike!  What does he know.

Take care everyone and good luck to all our Sailors!!

I agree with Ruth.  As much as I wanted to burst into tears on Monday when I took J to the airport I was able to suck it up for his sake.  He was on edge enough having to go so far away from home for the first time.  However, the drive home from work, walking in and seeing his room emptied and yep, in the shower I let them tears fall!!  Everyone needs a good cry every now and then!!  I had such a knot in my stomach until I heard from him on Wed. that he made it ok.  We both teared up on Christmas day when we were getting ready to take a family shot so I knew then I had to be strong with a stiff upper lip at the airport.  Chief's right, it stinks.

Wishing everyone a Very Happy New Year!!

Thanks again Ladies!  I got an address from him today, so I'll be sending stuff shortly.  I can't imagine how people did it back when!  I talked to a friend of J's from school whose brother is in the service (army I think) and will be going back to Afganistan soon.  I thank God I don't have to deal with that!  I'm not as strong as you ladies, I cried hard at the airport :( 

Happy New Year to each and every one of you, and best wishes to all ~

Becky - my husband was in the Army over twenty years ago and he said way back then there was no communication except a land line.  My how times have changed for the good!!

Chief - we seen the video several times!  Loved it and Jamie said they had to stay in those clothes all day after playing in the mud.  Fun stuff!!

Hi ladies! My boyfriend just got to CP yesterday after being home for a 2 week leave. I hadn't seen him for 6 months prior to that because of boot camp and a school in Great Lakes so these 2 weeks were amazing to say the least.

Anyways, I am completely clueless as to what goes on now in CP but hope to learn from and with ya'll! :)

Looks like the next class is getting ready to start up.  Good luck to all that will be going through it.  Physically very demanding, but most of the Sailors seemed to enjoy that type of stuff.

Heard on the news this morning that more troops are being sent to the sandbox and even more this Spring.  My son is now in Italy, but still may be deployed since he has been through FMTB.  He will be going through yet three more months of training starting this month.  His specialty will be EMT and he'll be riding in the ambulance getting on the job training.

Linda - The last class was well over 200 so that is normal.  They separate them into Platoons based on last name.  There are definately some differences from A School to Camp P and open barracks and sleeping in a coffin is one of them!!  Not much privacy and we never got to skype while J was there because he didn't like broadcasting our conversations!!  Either that or the fact his Mother kept asking him if he's eating o.k.!!  Ha, ha.

Good luck!!

Jacqueline - He is loving it so far, but he's had free time and has done a lot of sightseeing.  The pictures that he is posting are just wonderful.  He can't quite get used to the utter choas of roads though.  No rules!  Even scooters drive on the sidewalk.  He may wait a while before he gets a car or bike!

Is your K still in San Diego?  I can't remember.

Does anybody have a sailor who is a reservist? My boyfriend is and I don't know how different it is for them as far as being deployed somewhere. I do know that after CP he gets to come home because it's in his contract BUT then again we all know things can change all of a sudden.

I look forward to talk with all of ya'll, you all seem like a helpful group!

The Italy fund has been started!  We plan on sometime in 2012.

dmc:  try this group:

http://www.navyformoms.com/group/navyreserves

They might be able to answer your questions.

Jacqueline, we are on the east coast so the trip to CP is unlikely at this point.

Ruth VH, after being in Great Lakes and then back home in WV during the winter, my son is surely loving the warmer CA weather.  I know I would love some 60 degree weather.  We are currently in the 20's or lower.

He has recently learned that his training start date has been delayed so he is trying to get in with the Naval Hospital and do some volunteer work.  Great way to work on your skills.

My son was working in the hospital after he got there, he was preop and got to start some IV's so that was some good training. We have him home for a little longer, has been so good to have him here.

Pam how exciting a trip to Italy, and you will have your own tour guide.

Dmc welcome to the group, we get to experience this together.

We have had a lot happen this week, my daughter has planned her wedding date, July 9. Now the planning is going on full blown, yikes.

I hope you all have a great week.

stopping in to say hello. still just really enjoying being here and getting to see my bofriend! waiting to get internet cause i am still trying to make sure i can afford things. money is tight cause of the increased cost of living. although my bf said he would help if i needed. said everything will work out once we are maried but he hasn't asked yet... so hoping he will ask soon.... just to be married to the one i love so much!! i can't wait!!! anyways. i am sure i will be on here more once FMTB starts. I just can't wait till it is over! anyways hope all is well with all of you!!

so sorry to hear about the marine! he will never be forgotten! prayers to his family and loved ones!!