So, here are a couple of news bits I got from my son in the first "real" letter from him. He wrote it on Wednesday, it was postmarked Thursday, and arrived today. Not bad for the USPS.

He claims that the first 48 hours after arrival at BC was rough, since they weren't allowed to sleep for 40 hours. Yep, 40--not a typo! He said they had to stand almost the entire time, except while they were eating, so his feet were pretty tired (his exact words were "my dogs were barking for a couple of days.) After that, it hasn't been bad at all, he said.

He said that they "were in HOLD from Tuesday through Sunday" the first week--waiting for the DIV to fill up, I assume--, then did all of their medical last week and got cleared for "full duty" on Friday.

He likes being in a 900 DIV, and said his selection for it was connected with his ASVAB scores, Rating, run time, etc, though he did not know that in advance. (He certainly is NOT a musician, nor has he ever marched or carried a flag or been in ROTC or anything like that.)

He had a chance to write to us on Wednesday because he had all 4 wisdom teeth removed on Tuesday, which meant he was able to stay in his rack (bed) and rest, study, and sleep all day Wednesday.

At 24, my SR is the second to oldest in the DIV. He said that counting him, there are about 10 Nukes in the DIV. (I don't know if any of the Nukes are females--will have to ask. Just curious.)

Apparently, they all have jobs in their compartment, and his is "Forward Hold P.O." which involves passing out supplies from the cleaning closet. Not exactly a grueling task! But he's practically a grandpa there, you know. LOL

He passed both his initial written test and PFA workout. Yay!

He said there are "about 47 guys and 40 females" in DIV 947. They will be performing State Flags in 3 graduations starting September 13 and ending with their own. My SR is currently assigned the CA flag, but that could change. Nothing is guaranteed in the military!

He said as of Wednesday they had not been given any hint as to when they might be able to call home, but he said if they find out when long enough in advance, he'll try to write and give us a heads up.

He mentioned Sandboxx, which I have read about on this website, and said it really expedites mail, so I may figure it out and give it a try.

Has anyone else connected with DIV 947 heard from their sailor yet? I hope they are all having a positive experience!

I don't know about anyone else, but I was alarmed to hear recruits mention getting "beat!" Would RDC's really physically beat up a recruit, I wondered? Well, luckily I found out that BEAT is just another acronym they like to use. This description is from elsewhere on this site:

"Beat: don't worry; this is not a physical beating; it is intensive training (IT) given as a corrective measure to a recruit or the division. Some use BEAT; Better Education and Training."

So in my son's letter, when he said they got "beat" a couple of times when somebody did something stupid, he wasn't referring to fisticuffs or flogging! Lol! Thank goodness I had already done my homework and knew what it meant, or I would have lost it! (Which makes me think...since he had no way of knowing that I was familiar with the term, was it a play for my sympathy? That sneaky Sailor wannabe! It's like he doesn't even know how savvy we Navy moms are!)

Anyway, I found the list of terms at the link below very helpful. Maybe you will, too, if this is your first experience with Navy talk. 

https://navyformoms.ning.com/group/bootcampmoms/page/what-does-mean...