Andy'sMom, since over 99% of us don't live there, knowledge of the construction and traffic there is limited to the few days we were each there. But as M's mom mentioned, you will probably be on and off the base several times. I don't know for which class M's mom attended OCS graduation, but her events were very similar to ours with 01-15 (October 2014).
jsefamily: My son graduated OCS in Class 16-12 (September 2012.) Many things have changed at OCS since then, so I have to defer to Moms of more recent grads as to how things are done now. My son's class could receive Candio boxes at week ten with food and homemade cookies, etc., but I hear that food items are prohibited now. Just as well. ---After 10 weeks of sugar deprivation, (no desserts, no sweet snacks allowed) my son said he and his classmates gorged on the goodies and made themselves sick! He said it was worth it though. haha
As for those indulgent Candio boxes, our son requested two—one with chocolate and one with not chocolate items. One of his friends ate so much sugar he had to have his blood sugar re-tested in a physical. Yikes! I think in the end most of it was shared and much was left for the staff.
Hi. Our son graduated OCS in September 2017 and is currently in Pensacola, awaiting IFS. (He's been there since end of November, and anxious to start!) As far as traffic in Newport, depending on the season (summer is full of tourist traffic), it can be it or miss. We found the worst traffic at the gate when ALL of us family members were coming through the gate at around the same time. Be sure to allow lots of extra time for that and for parking. If you go out to lunch after graduation, be sure to make a reservation, and again allow extra time to find the needle-in-the-haystack parking spots. Best of luck to you and your LO, its an incredible journey. Be sure to bring tissues to graduation, its so emotional to see all that your LO has accomplished!
Just another comment about candio boxes. My daughter graduated 17-12, one class behind M's mom, and since she's always watching her weight she asked for small microwave foods, healthy snack bars, single serving coffee packets that just needed mixed with water, and stuff like that. When her class was in charge, her duties were transporting the indocs back and forth to medical and whatever else they had going on. She missed many meals at the chow hall so was very thankful that she had something to eat in her candio box!!!!
Hello Mom’s! My son just started OCS on the18th. Any suggestions as to what I can include in my care packages? Also any suggestions of hotels for graduation?
For now, just write letters to your son. "Care packages" have to be opened in front of everyone, and it singles out your son. He will eventually be able to go to the NEX for items he needs that he did not pack. However, that changes in week 9 with the Candio box! My son is 3 weeks in front of yours. The first 2 weeks were pretty tough not hearing from him, but when that first letter arrives, it's like a lifeline!
As Andy'sMom wrote, do not send "care packages" at all until week ten, when they become Candio's (Candidate Officers.) Then you may send a box, but even then, it is NOT supposed to contain any food items. It used to be, they could get cookies and such, but not anymore. Just send letters only now, and make sure everyone to whom you give his address to knows this.
Anything besides letters sent the first few weeks will be confiscated as contraband, and the recipient will likely have to do a large amount of extra pushups as punishment even if they didn't ask for it to be sent!
Just send lots of encouraging letters, telling him to hang in there no matter what happens. Eyes on the Prize!
travel101, (P.S.) About hotels, search for hotels in "Middletown, RI" which is actually closer to the base gates than Newport. There are lots of reasonably-priced chain hotels in Middletown. We stayed at the Holiday inn Express in Middletown, and it was pretty close to the base.
Hotels in Newport are more resort-type and therefore more expensive, especially after Memorial Day, when Newport will be crawling with tourists. Make reservations early for summer graduation! You can always cancel if your son gets "rolled" back three weeks because of injury or failing something.
Read back on our posts here as far back as you have time, and we may have answered many of your questions already.
Our LO has been in OCS one week and we are all still adjusting. I am very proud but wish I "knew more" about what to expect and what comes next. We have made reservations for graduation weekend and that felt productive. Does anyone have strategies for this adjustment into a whole new world?
Even though you will not get much response back from your LO, keep sending encouraging letters to them. When my daughter went through OCS, she said she loved getting my letters and would read them at night in bed just before falling asleep. I would copy and paste cute pictures from clip art and then write my letter around them. When she was going through room inspections she commented on how they came in with rulers to measure everything. So I found a cute picture of a ruler "figure" and other similar funny pics just to make her smile. Once they get email privileges, we could communicate easier that way but she still liked the letters from home. Make sure your loved one knows your email address from memory and not just from their email contacts list. They will be using a military assigned email address and will not have any of their personal contact lists. If you're unsure, send them the addresses in your next letter of anyone he or she may want to contact. Phone numbers also, they won't have their cell phones until the very end. Other than that, just keep encouraging them, and if you believe in prayer - - pray!!!! There is also an "event" on this website called A Blue Candle Event. Members will light a blue candle of any kind, to keep positive thoughts for their sailor. I did this every time my daughter had a big test, inspection, or any other event, and every time I'd see the candle burning I'd say a prayer for her. Just something to make me feel like I was helping her in some small way!!! Good luck to your LO!!!
My son is one month away from graduation/commissioning. The first 3-4 weeks are the worst! I scoured every web site I could find to help me get thru it. The facebook friends and family page really helped. I wrote 2-3 letters a week. (I realized how boring my life was after a while!) All I wanted was to know he was doing ok! That old saying became my mantra: No news is good news! The first time I heard his voice, I couldn't talk I was crying so hard. Once he made it thru the 3rd week, I knew he was going to be ok. It got much better. We made a secret facebook page for his friends to join and posted updates on there. It was so wonderful seeing his friends "like" and comment on posts. This really becomes an extended family, and we are all in this together. Lean on us, as one day we might have to lean on you. Start to think about your LOs CandiO box. Decorate it and start collecting items for it. There is a youtube video by NavyDave that is helpful to get a glimpse of what is going on.
I love the Blue Candle Event! This is the first I have heard of it. From now on,I will always say a prayer for our sailors when I see a blue candle! I think I will have to find a couple for myself!
I'm so happy you found the info on the Blue Candle!! It got me through my daughter's OCS time and several deployments my son had, including on the ground in Afghanistan!! And I got such a chuckle from you comment about your boring life when writing letters to your son!!! I felt the same way - what can I possibly write about next????? So glad your son is almost finished!!! Hope you enjoy commissioning day!!!!
Our graduation was at 10:00 am on a Friday. There is the Hi Moms event on the Thursday evening before. This is a celebration where you get to see your LO for the first time. Their class plans the event so it may vary but ours was at the Officer's Club on base at 5:00 p.m. There were appetizers and drinks available and then a presentation. We were able to take beautiful pictures outside. It lasts about 1.5 hours and we were able to take our LO out to dinner afterward. Depending if they receive their orders depends if they get to leave after graduation. My son had his and was able to fly back with us. Oh and were also invited to attend their last run and PT on the morning of graduation. This was about 6:30 am and a definately something you will want to attend. Hope this helps!
They will also have to "move out" even if they do not have their orders yet as officers are not allowed to live in the same hall as the candidates. We spent part of Thursday afternoon moving stuff to our hotel and got the rest after the run on Friday morning.
Travel101
I wore a suit to my daughters Hi Mom my husband was also in a suit. Most were suited nice. For graduation I wore dress pants and a nice shirt. My daughters was in-door on Halloween. We left right after to come home.
We did the same for our son's graduation 5 years ago. My son still uses his today. They certainly can't fit all of their gear and uniforms into the seabag they are issued.
The class number is 14-18, and there may be an actual friends and family page for the class but you may have to do some research. One of the family members created one for my LO's class but I'm not sure what the name of your groups would be.
Hello and CONGRATULATIONS to anyone whose son/daughter graduated from OCS. My son just graduated and became an Officer, class 10-18. It is a proud moment and the Hi Moms dinner and Graduation Ceremony was wonderful. To see your child in uniform for the first time is something you never forget. Somethings I learned throughout this experience are: Write as many letters as you want. Do Not expect to receive as many as you write. Make a Cando Box and send for week nine. Plan an taking your Newly commissioned officer out to a dinner after the ceremony. Plan on picking up and having room for his belongings before the ceremony starts. Do take as many pictures as you like. Do attend/watch the final run at 6:30 am on graduation day. Know that they will survive OCS. Know that you have a new family-The Navy. Good Luck to eveyone who has a loved one attending OCS.
Check out https://www.facebook.com/pg/OTCNewport to see pictures of you son/daughte's OCS class.You have to check often for pictures to be posted and updated.
PKM, Congrats to you and your new Ensign! Yes, the OCS graduation ceremony is so emotional for the families, because you know what your LO has endured for the last few weeks. Good advice in your post below to Dana and other newbie OCS Moms.
Now you can join the group "Moms of Officers" here on N4M's, and also look for a group for whatever you son's designator is, and those Moms can answer any questions you may have about his next school.
I hope you will also stick around here on OCS Graduate Moms and help us answer the newbies' questions. You're now a voice of experience!
PKM, that is where we stayed, too. It was much nicer than the Hampton Inn in which we stayed in Providence before leaving the day after the graduation. I agree!
As PKM posted, write lots of letters to your LO (Loved One) at OCS, but do NOT send anything else but letters until week 9-10 when they can receive a gift box, called a Candio box. Make sure everyone to whom you give your son's OCS mailing address knows this, ---not to send treats or anything else. Anything but letters will be confiscated as contraband, and the candidate will be punished with many extra pushups or other exercises as punishment, even if they didn't ask for it to be sent!!!! So make sure Grandma doesn't send him any goodies!
We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Middletown for OCS graduation, and it was nice also. Hotels in Middletown are actually closer to the base than Newport is, and way cheaper in the summer when Newport is crawling with tourists.
Hi: All advice is welcome and it helps us to not make any mistakes. I learned a lot this week and have so much to learn. It is true that we are now part of another family. The "Navy Family". You are correct. Be careful what you send. I only wrote letters on lined paper. I didn't want to add anymore push ups to his day. The OCS Candidates work very, very hard to graduate and deserve their rank.
Thank you for being so generous with your information. Thank you Sonnenschien for the class number!
I just went on Facebook and typed in, "navy ocs class 14-18 friends and family". Then it gave me, "Groups-US Navy ocs class 14-18 (commences 29-APR-18) Friends and Family page". Then it gave me a "Friend Request".
The administrator of the group should accept you soon. It's nice to know it's a closed group. You should also join a few groups before yours so you can see all the information being passed around:) it's very helpful.
Hey Everyone! My son graduated from OCS in 2010 (and is in the training pipeline for his department he'd tour aboard a surface ship) so my info about OCS itself is a bit dated. But I traveled to Newport 1-2 times per month for the last 5 years (up until last summer) when I worked for the Navy so I may have some info there. Even though I was an OCS graduate many, many years ago, this forum was very helpful when my son was in OCS and I'm still friends with some of the folks I met on this forum. Thanks for accepting me (again) in the group!
If your sending you Child (funny we use the word child, but they always are our children) to OCS, send a protractor with them. It will help with making the bed perfect.
My son graduated from OCS in 2012. So much has changed now from how it was done back then, but we can still offer support to the new OCS Moms. I just remember feeling very anxious while my son was at OCS, and fearful that he wouldn't make it, and I appreciated the support I found here from the veteran OCS Moms, so I try to pay it forward.
Welcome to any Mom future or past. It was quite an adventure having a son at OCS. Viewing the photos on the website was a great way to see what is going on. Worrying if they will get rolled and how to support them if they do. My son said the letters he received was the best support he could get.
Yes, those encouraging letters from home to OCS are so important, even if they don't admit it, because it is their only connection to the outside world for many weeks.
The candidates are deliberately kept isolated from TV, newspapers, internet, and smart phones at first to wean them off constant communication with their loved ones. When they are deployed on a ship or sub, there is infrequent communication, and it can be quite difficult if both parties are used to constantly texting. Letters and care packages are also so important when they are deployed!!
I am revising my earlier suggestion of sending a protractor with your child heading off to OCS. I just had an afternoon with my OCS Graduate and he said, "Do Not send anything that is not on the approved list." His advice was to just take what is on the list and a change of civilian clothes. He said have friends and family send lots of letters. Also, Please tell friends and family that even if they think it might be funny; DO NOT, PLEASE DO NOT send No Contraband.
You are right about sending nothing but letters to OCS. In my son's class, someone's dear Auntie innocently sent their candidate COOKIES at week three. The Drill Instructor made the poor kid do 800 (that's Eight Hundred) pushups as punishment for contraband! OCS didn't really make it clear back then that they weren't to be sent anything, so you can imagine how bad his Aunt felt about that, not to mention how bad the candidate felt!!!!
jsefamily
Andy'sMom, since over 99% of us don't live there, knowledge of the construction and traffic there is limited to the few days we were each there. But as M's mom mentioned, you will probably be on and off the base several times. I don't know for which class M's mom attended OCS graduation, but her events were very similar to ours with 01-15 (October 2014).
Mar 13, 2018
M's mom
jsefamily: My son graduated OCS in Class 16-12 (September 2012.) Many things have changed at OCS since then, so I have to defer to Moms of more recent grads as to how things are done now. My son's class could receive Candio boxes at week ten with food and homemade cookies, etc., but I hear that food items are prohibited now. Just as well. ---After 10 weeks of sugar deprivation, (no desserts, no sweet snacks allowed) my son said he and his classmates gorged on the goodies and made themselves sick! He said it was worth it though. haha
Mar 13, 2018
jsefamily
Mar 14, 2018
jsefamily
Mar 14, 2018
CTNavyMom
Hi. Our son graduated OCS in September 2017 and is currently in Pensacola, awaiting IFS. (He's been there since end of November, and anxious to start!) As far as traffic in Newport, depending on the season (summer is full of tourist traffic), it can be it or miss. We found the worst traffic at the gate when ALL of us family members were coming through the gate at around the same time. Be sure to allow lots of extra time for that and for parking. If you go out to lunch after graduation, be sure to make a reservation, and again allow extra time to find the needle-in-the-haystack parking spots. Best of luck to you and your LO, its an incredible journey. Be sure to bring tissues to graduation, its so emotional to see all that your LO has accomplished!
Mar 14, 2018
Andy'sMom
Thanks for all the great advice! I think I will start looking a little closer to base!
Mar 14, 2018
Anna
Just another comment about candio boxes. My daughter graduated 17-12, one class behind M's mom, and since she's always watching her weight she asked for small microwave foods, healthy snack bars, single serving coffee packets that just needed mixed with water, and stuff like that. When her class was in charge, her duties were transporting the indocs back and forth to medical and whatever else they had going on. She missed many meals at the chow hall so was very thankful that she had something to eat in her candio box!!!!
Mar 16, 2018
travel101
Mar 22, 2018
Andy'sMom
Welcome, travel101!
For now, just write letters to your son. "Care packages" have to be opened in front of everyone, and it singles out your son. He will eventually be able to go to the NEX for items he needs that he did not pack. However, that changes in week 9 with the Candio box! My son is 3 weeks in front of yours. The first 2 weeks were pretty tough not hearing from him, but when that first letter arrives, it's like a lifeline!
Mar 22, 2018
M's mom
Welcome travel101,
As Andy'sMom wrote, do not send "care packages" at all until week ten, when they become Candio's (Candidate Officers.) Then you may send a box, but even then, it is NOT supposed to contain any food items. It used to be, they could get cookies and such, but not anymore. Just send letters only now, and make sure everyone to whom you give his address to knows this.
Anything besides letters sent the first few weeks will be confiscated as contraband, and the recipient will likely have to do a large amount of extra pushups as punishment even if they didn't ask for it to be sent!
Just send lots of encouraging letters, telling him to hang in there no matter what happens. Eyes on the Prize!
Mar 23, 2018
M's mom
travel101, (P.S.) About hotels, search for hotels in "Middletown, RI" which is actually closer to the base gates than Newport. There are lots of reasonably-priced chain hotels in Middletown. We stayed at the Holiday inn Express in Middletown, and it was pretty close to the base.
Hotels in Newport are more resort-type and therefore more expensive, especially after Memorial Day, when Newport will be crawling with tourists. Make reservations early for summer graduation! You can always cancel if your son gets "rolled" back three weeks because of injury or failing something.
Read back on our posts here as far back as you have time, and we may have answered many of your questions already.
Mar 23, 2018
MBmom
Our LO has been in OCS one week and we are all still adjusting. I am very proud but wish I "knew more" about what to expect and what comes next. We have made reservations for graduation weekend and that felt productive. Does anyone have strategies for this adjustment into a whole new world?
Apr 15, 2018
Anna
MBmom,
Even though you will not get much response back from your LO, keep sending encouraging letters to them. When my daughter went through OCS, she said she loved getting my letters and would read them at night in bed just before falling asleep. I would copy and paste cute pictures from clip art and then write my letter around them. When she was going through room inspections she commented on how they came in with rulers to measure everything. So I found a cute picture of a ruler "figure" and other similar funny pics just to make her smile. Once they get email privileges, we could communicate easier that way but she still liked the letters from home. Make sure your loved one knows your email address from memory and not just from their email contacts list. They will be using a military assigned email address and will not have any of their personal contact lists. If you're unsure, send them the addresses in your next letter of anyone he or she may want to contact. Phone numbers also, they won't have their cell phones until the very end. Other than that, just keep encouraging them, and if you believe in prayer - - pray!!!! There is also an "event" on this website called A Blue Candle Event. Members will light a blue candle of any kind, to keep positive thoughts for their sailor. I did this every time my daughter had a big test, inspection, or any other event, and every time I'd see the candle burning I'd say a prayer for her. Just something to make me feel like I was helping her in some small way!!! Good luck to your LO!!!
Apr 15, 2018
Andy'sMom
MBmom,
My son is one month away from graduation/commissioning. The first 3-4 weeks are the worst! I scoured every web site I could find to help me get thru it. The facebook friends and family page really helped. I wrote 2-3 letters a week. (I realized how boring my life was after a while!) All I wanted was to know he was doing ok! That old saying became my mantra: No news is good news! The first time I heard his voice, I couldn't talk I was crying so hard. Once he made it thru the 3rd week, I knew he was going to be ok. It got much better. We made a secret facebook page for his friends to join and posted updates on there. It was so wonderful seeing his friends "like" and comment on posts. This really becomes an extended family, and we are all in this together. Lean on us, as one day we might have to lean on you. Start to think about your LOs CandiO box. Decorate it and start collecting items for it. There is a youtube video by NavyDave that is helpful to get a glimpse of what is going on.
Apr 16, 2018
Andy'sMom
Anna 8,
I love the Blue Candle Event! This is the first I have heard of it. From now on,I will always say a prayer for our sailors when I see a blue candle! I think I will have to find a couple for myself!
Apr 16, 2018
Anna
Andy'sMom,
I'm so happy you found the info on the Blue Candle!! It got me through my daughter's OCS time and several deployments my son had, including on the ground in Afghanistan!! And I got such a chuckle from you comment about your boring life when writing letters to your son!!! I felt the same way - what can I possibly write about next????? So glad your son is almost finished!!! Hope you enjoy commissioning day!!!!
Apr 16, 2018
travel101
Can someone give me an idea of a schedule for graduation? Are there events the day before? And are the candidates allowed to leave the same day?
Apr 17, 2018
CAmom
Our graduation was at 10:00 am on a Friday. There is the Hi Moms event on the Thursday evening before. This is a celebration where you get to see your LO for the first time. Their class plans the event so it may vary but ours was at the Officer's Club on base at 5:00 p.m. There were appetizers and drinks available and then a presentation. We were able to take beautiful pictures outside. It lasts about 1.5 hours and we were able to take our LO out to dinner afterward. Depending if they receive their orders depends if they get to leave after graduation. My son had his and was able to fly back with us. Oh and were also invited to attend their last run and PT on the morning of graduation. This was about 6:30 am and a definately something you will want to attend. Hope this helps!
Apr 17, 2018
Eaglemom01
They will also have to "move out" even if they do not have their orders yet as officers are not allowed to live in the same hall as the candidates. We spent part of Thursday afternoon moving stuff to our hotel and got the rest after the run on Friday morning.
Apr 17, 2018
PKM
Does anyone know if a garment bags comes with their uniforms?
Apr 17, 2018
Noni
Sorry to say it’s not. You would think it would with the 5 thousand they pay in uniforms.
Apr 17, 2018
CAmom
They do get a sea bag which fits a lot of their stuff but we bought a garment bag on Amazon and brought it to graduation.
Apr 17, 2018
travel101
Apr 17, 2018
Noni
I wore a suit to my daughters Hi Mom my husband was also in a suit. Most were suited nice. For graduation I wore dress pants and a nice shirt. My daughters was in-door on Halloween. We left right after to come home.
Apr 17, 2018
Andrea S
I had a garment bag monogrammed for a graduation gift. It was a really good suggestion on our class FB page
Apr 20, 2018
M's mom
Andrea S,
We did the same for our son's graduation 5 years ago. My son still uses his today. They certainly can't fit all of their gear and uniforms into the seabag they are issued.
Apr 20, 2018
Dana
Hi Everyone,
My son checked in to OCS Rhode Island this morning. Does anyone know what that class number is? And, how do I find his class on Facebook?
Apr 29, 2018
Sonnenschien
Apr 29, 2018
Dana
Easy enough. Thanks much!!
Apr 29, 2018
Sonnenschien
Apr 29, 2018
Andy'sMom
Welcome Dana!
As Sonnenschien said, search OSC class 14-18 friends and family.
Apr 29, 2018
PKM
Hello and CONGRATULATIONS to anyone whose son/daughter graduated from OCS. My son just graduated and became an Officer, class 10-18. It is a proud moment and the Hi Moms dinner and Graduation Ceremony was wonderful. To see your child in uniform for the first time is something you never forget. Somethings I learned throughout this experience are: Write as many letters as you want. Do Not expect to receive as many as you write. Make a Cando Box and send for week nine. Plan an taking your Newly commissioned officer out to a dinner after the ceremony. Plan on picking up and having room for his belongings before the ceremony starts. Do take as many pictures as you like. Do attend/watch the final run at 6:30 am on graduation day. Know that they will survive OCS. Know that you have a new family-The Navy. Good Luck to eveyone who has a loved one attending OCS.
Apr 29, 2018
PKM
Check out https://www.facebook.com/pg/OTCNewport to see pictures of you son/daughte's OCS class.You have to check often for pictures to be posted and updated.
Apr 29, 2018
PKM
Hotel Suggestion for OCS graduation:
Howard Johnson in Middletown, Newport Area. Close to the base and Very Very reasonably priced. Do not let the name or pictures turn you off.
Apr 29, 2018
M's mom
PKM, Congrats to you and your new Ensign! Yes, the OCS graduation ceremony is so emotional for the families, because you know what your LO has endured for the last few weeks. Good advice in your post below to Dana and other newbie OCS Moms.
Now you can join the group "Moms of Officers" here on N4M's, and also look for a group for whatever you son's designator is, and those Moms can answer any questions you may have about his next school.
I hope you will also stick around here on OCS Graduate Moms and help us answer the newbies' questions. You're now a voice of experience!
Apr 29, 2018
jsefamily
PKM, that is where we stayed, too. It was much nicer than the Hampton Inn in which we stayed in Providence before leaving the day after the graduation. I agree!
Apr 29, 2018
M's mom
Welcome, Dana !
As PKM posted, write lots of letters to your LO (Loved One) at OCS, but do NOT send anything else but letters until week 9-10 when they can receive a gift box, called a Candio box. Make sure everyone to whom you give your son's OCS mailing address knows this, ---not to send treats or anything else. Anything but letters will be confiscated as contraband, and the candidate will be punished with many extra pushups or other exercises as punishment, even if they didn't ask for it to be sent!!!! So make sure Grandma doesn't send him any goodies!
Apr 29, 2018
M's mom
We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Middletown for OCS graduation, and it was nice also. Hotels in Middletown are actually closer to the base than Newport is, and way cheaper in the summer when Newport is crawling with tourists.
Apr 29, 2018
Andy'sMom
PKM, Congrats! We are right behind you...May 18!
Go Navy!
Apr 30, 2018
PKM
Hi: All advice is welcome and it helps us to not make any mistakes. I learned a lot this week and have so much to learn. It is true that we are now part of another family. The "Navy Family". You are correct. Be careful what you send. I only wrote letters on lined paper. I didn't want to add anymore push ups to his day. The OCS Candidates work very, very hard to graduate and deserve their rank.
Apr 30, 2018
PKM
By the way, if you ask they will not iron their, or your socks after OCS is complete.
Apr 30, 2018
Dana
Hi Everyone,
Thank you for being so generous with your information. Thank you Sonnenschien for the class number!
I just went on Facebook and typed in, "navy ocs class 14-18 friends and family". Then it gave me, "Groups-US Navy ocs class 14-18 (commences 29-APR-18) Friends and Family page". Then it gave me a "Friend Request".
May 1, 2018
CAmom
The administrator of the group should accept you soon. It's nice to know it's a closed group. You should also join a few groups before yours so you can see all the information being passed around:) it's very helpful.
May 1, 2018
LEANNEJB
Hey Everyone! My son graduated from OCS in 2010 (and is in the training pipeline for his department he'd tour aboard a surface ship) so my info about OCS itself is a bit dated. But I traveled to Newport 1-2 times per month for the last 5 years (up until last summer) when I worked for the Navy so I may have some info there. Even though I was an OCS graduate many, many years ago, this forum was very helpful when my son was in OCS and I'm still friends with some of the folks I met on this forum. Thanks for accepting me (again) in the group!
May 4, 2018
PKM
Hello:
If your sending you Child (funny we use the word child, but they always are our children) to OCS, send a protractor with them. It will help with making the bed perfect.
May 4, 2018
M's mom
Welcome back, LEANNEJB!
My son graduated from OCS in 2012. So much has changed now from how it was done back then, but we can still offer support to the new OCS Moms. I just remember feeling very anxious while my son was at OCS, and fearful that he wouldn't make it, and I appreciated the support I found here from the veteran OCS Moms, so I try to pay it forward.
May 5, 2018
PKM
Welcome to any Mom future or past. It was quite an adventure having a son at OCS. Viewing the photos on the website was a great way to see what is going on. Worrying if they will get rolled and how to support them if they do. My son said the letters he received was the best support he could get.
May 5, 2018
M's mom
PKM,
Yes, those encouraging letters from home to OCS are so important, even if they don't admit it, because it is their only connection to the outside world for many weeks.
The candidates are deliberately kept isolated from TV, newspapers, internet, and smart phones at first to wean them off constant communication with their loved ones. When they are deployed on a ship or sub, there is infrequent communication, and it can be quite difficult if both parties are used to constantly texting. Letters and care packages are also so important when they are deployed!!
May 5, 2018
PKM
Good Evening:
I am revising my earlier suggestion of sending a protractor with your child heading off to OCS. I just had an afternoon with my OCS Graduate and he said, "Do Not send anything that is not on the approved list." His advice was to just take what is on the list and a change of civilian clothes. He said have friends and family send lots of letters. Also, Please tell friends and family that even if they think it might be funny; DO NOT, PLEASE DO NOT send No Contraband.
May 6, 2018
M's mom
PKM
You are right about sending nothing but letters to OCS. In my son's class, someone's dear Auntie innocently sent their candidate COOKIES at week three. The Drill Instructor made the poor kid do 800 (that's Eight Hundred) pushups as punishment for contraband! OCS didn't really make it clear back then that they weren't to be sent anything, so you can imagine how bad his Aunt felt about that, not to mention how bad the candidate felt!!!!
May 7, 2018