Boot Camp Moms (and loved ones)

Good Morning Everyone!! 

I am just checking in to say hi and to also let you know that my time on this group is likely going to need to be in the evenings more. School starts up, I know Partyofseven will be doing school. I have a full day and week before me. And I have already been on this morning behind the scenes and so I need to get busy. 

For our new members, please come share and post your questions. We all volunteer our time on this site, so do check back often for responses. Or feel free to post again. 

Good Morning, Ladies. Even though I don't comment much anymore because my sailor is out of BC and A School and now doing C School, I still love to see what's going on and almost always learn something new or that's changed. Semper Gumby!

I'm trying to help a young man who will be shipping to BC in a few weeks. He's looking for guidance as to what he needs to do to get his affairs in order prior to leaving. What are your recommendations? I can think of: power of attorney, simple will, auto insurance adjustment, filing federal/state taxes in his absence, add authorized signature to bank account for expenses, set-up Navy Federal bank account...

Thank you for your help. I certainly missed out on several of these things when my son enlisted!

Good Morning Everyone and welcome to all of our new moms and the ones that just joined!!

Don't hesitate to ask any questions as someone will answer you. I know you guys have received a lot of information and it is ok.

Katharine- I am so glad that you and your family are ok. What a night you guys had!! Praise God that you and your family are safe!!!

Good Morning to all our regular ladies. May you have a blessed day today.

Luci- Let me check for you. Good Morning. Hope you and your Sailor are doing well!!!

Luci,

Here's a link for you!!

 Things to Do in the Last Month Before Your Future Sailor Leaves for....)

Phoenixmom- Good Morning, Hope you holiday was a good one and that everything is ok. 

Phoenixmom,

I hear you. That's how I feel every time my other son gets exposed at work. Glad you are taking the little one in and hopefully he just has the flu.

It takes 3 to 7 days for the symptoms to show. Prayers that you will be ok and not show any. Even symptoms of allergies/sinus had me wanting to get tested since they are so like the virus. 

I will keep you guys in my prayers. 

PartyofSeven I was really nervous when he began to have Fever. But he seems ok today, but just to be on the safe side.

Phoenixmom- This is good. I would do the same and take him in any way. It's always better to be safe and just to make sure. 

Big hugs!!

Prayer of the Morning:

Holy Lord, I know I’m weak, but I also know that you use my weakness to show your strength. God give me the understanding that your grace is all I need, and that I can’t earn it on my works alone. Help me be proud of my weaknesses, because they show your strength and protection. In Your Name I Pray, Amen.

mom2blondies!  Woohoo!  A phone call!  Isn't it wonderful!?!?!

Shanny and mom2blondies!  I love the winter pictures.  I struggle with winter because I don't do well, at all, in the cold.  And I get nervous with the drives that I and the kids have to take.  But I love the beauty of it and don't think I could really live somewhere where there isn't the snow like in Michigan.  My sailor actually said it didn't seem like Christmas or his birthday because it seems like spring down there.  Shanny, your picture reminds me of a place here that I like to drive when the snow sticks in the trees.  It's a dirt road that the kids used to run on in cross country.  And they had their senior pictures taken on that road. It is through a woods and at the end, there is a river, like your picture, Shanny.  It's gotten to be a tradition for my DH (I now know what that means) and I to drive down that road and take pictures at one of the first snow falls.

Shanny, our sons went to the same MEPS here in Michigan.  I didn't know they videoed the swearing in.  We missed it when he went earlier in the spring for the initial part, and again, of course, when he shipped out.  We also just dropped him off at the recruiter's office.  Do you think I would be able to go back and find it?   

I'm not sure if I updated everyone on here about my sailor.  For those of you who are new, my son is now at A school in San Antonio.  He did very well in boot camp.  The only time he was discouraged was when he went into a second ROM because his bunkmate thought he was Covid positive just one week before graduating.  But after being in ROM less than a week, he had a better perspsective on everything and was positive again.  He got out of ROM and put into a new division that was right where he left off before ROM.  His Battlestation was the night of PIR so we never got the "I'm a Sailor" call.  But that doesn't always happen.  We finally knew he graduated because we saw his picture and saw him in the video of graduation.  He was then in THU after graduation for 5 weeks before shipping to San Antonio.  He is there now waiting to class up.  He said he will class up January 27 and graduate A school March 19, unless he gets bumped from the class because of too many students. 

I just wanted to tell a little of my story, because as others have said, it is different for everyone.  But we all make it!  No News is Good News.  I recently had a "freak-out" moment, I think it was Sunday.  And only because my sailor gave me incorrect information and I had to clarify.  After private messaging with another "veteran" mom on here, she came up with a variation of a phrase we all live by, and I really like it!  It is "No News is Better than Freak-Out News!"

C’sMom:  search for the city MEPS. On Facebook. I just checked and my son’s is still up. He swore in July 30.  So your son’s is probably still there. Go under the tab for videos!  Hope you find it!!!

C’sMom:  my sailor said what he misses the most is the stars. He said he hasn’t really seen the starry sky since he left here because it’s always too bright out. I guess that’s one thing we have in the middle of no where Michigan...  I told him to wait until they are out on the water with nothing around. Because the sky will be amazing!  

Shanny, thanks.  I'll look it up!  

partyofseven - thank you for the link. I will pass the information along to him - and maybe even try to figure out how to play catch-up with my sailor on things we neglected to do ;-)

c'smom - my sailor was in SanAntonio after bc and graduated in late October. He's moved on to start his next training phase. Best of luck to your sailor!

Good morning everyone!

Joy-I'm glad you found us here. I'm in your same boat, zero military experience of knowledge and these ladies have helped me so much to not feel alone and given me better understanding of the process. Were you able to see my reply to your original post? If not I can copy and past it here for you. I spent the last 4 weeks hoping and praying for NO phone call because it would mean he had to extend his ROM. He was able to call home yesterday to let me know he is moving through on schedule and starts actual bootcamp today. Normally it wouldn't take 4 weeks for ROM and P days but because of the holidays things were delayed.

Shanny-that is funny about the dogs. My SR has no social media at all, he deleted it all when he about 16 or 17 when he was getting serious about his pre-Navy career path. I told him I'd send him photos once I got his address. 

C'sMom-The snow is so beautiful but I have never had to live/drive in it. My oldest lives just 30 minutes away and gets snow a couple times a year so I wait until the roads are clear and go up there and enjoy it. 

Phoenixmom I hope your little one is ok. It is so nerve-wracking when you find out you were exposed after being so careful. 

I was able to connect with my SR girlfriends dad and I got her mailing address ship/div so I'll be able to forward my SR letters to her right away when I get them. I don't know why I didn't think to get his contact info before they left but I was able to do some detective work and found his email address and emailed me all of her info today! She has PIR the week before my SR. 

Shanny - to funny about A school in Pensacola & great food rumors...  But, unfortunately my sailor is A school in a different state. 

I think he will be fine just wish he'd not be eating all the junk fast food stuff (pizza & burgers) that he can at the fast food options on the base he is at.  It sure is not going to help him be in best physical shape that is for sure.  

PhoenixMom - praying & hoping for good news on your little one.  It is so hard normally when they don't feel well & now that Co-Vid is rampant the stress/worry goes up a zillion times.  

C'sMom - I love the "no news is better than freak-out news". Gonna have to add to my repertoire.

Our poor sailor is Not having a good 2021 so far...when he first got to A school he bought a laptop on the base...had for what 2 months now & as of yesterday it is deader than dead...black screen won't do anything!  he was more than a bit upset after dropping 1,300.00+ on it to only have 2 months & massive issue.... dang!!

Have a wonderful day everyone!  And prayers that 2021 is a good year for all of us.

NewMilMom- Oh no that is not good at all. Was the computer under warranty? I pray that he will be able to get it fixed. 

Have a great day as well!!

mom2blondies- That was fast that you were able to get the gf's information. 

Have a great day!!

Luci- Hey, You are very welcome!!! I am glad that I was able to help you. If you can't do them now, at least now you know and can take care of it later on with your Sailor.

Have a great day!

I have a question that I'm not sure how to find the answer. Does anyone know if they can send mail between ships at bootcamp? My son is sending me letters to forward to his girlfriend (seems so funny they have to travel across the country and then travel right back to where he sent them from). Once they have each others address can they just put a stamp on it and put it in the mail? Even though it still probably has to leave to be sorted it would be a shorter distance than all the way across the country, haha!

Mom2blondies, no, they are not supposed to be in contact with other recruits.  it is big trouble for them, up to being separated from the service.  Sending mail to you to send to the other is an end run around the rules.  If caught, they're risking everything.  

Anti M-Yikes! Good to know now before anything was sent! I'm guessing they will be told that at some point so they know. If not I'll let them know as I know neither of them would want to risk that at all!! Their situation is pretty unique...or maybe not, I really don't know. 

Anti M-is this just during bootcamp? Is it against the rules for me to update each of them on what I've heard from the other? I certainly don't want to send anything that could cause trouble for either of them. I already have a sealed letter to her ready to send out updating her on the phone call I had with him so wondering if I should edit my letter?? Thanks for the info!

Anti M, 

Hey and Happy New Year. Hope your holiday was good. Thanks for sharing as always. I remembered about that. Thanks for the heads up.  :)

Phoenixmom, How did it go with the little on today? How was your day? Are you receiving any of my texts? Have a good evening.

Hey ladies, hope your day was good and your evening too.

How are we doing new moms and dad? :)

Luci -- Verify his DL-- Will it expire or will he turn 21 while at BC or A school? Have him check with his local DMV on Military Renewals. Even if he doesn’t need it now it’s still good to know for the future. Passport.  At least get it started.  My opinion is better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.  They can only travel international on Orders.  There are places and times they may want to travel for pleasure and not having a passport can be an issue.
He needs to leave instruction with folks back home about what/ who he wants to be notified and when. With COVID it is most likely that he would NOT be able to come home for parents/siblings and they are almost never allowed to come home for Grandparents/Aunts/Uncles/ Friends/pets... . With COVID, If they did come home they need to realize it will be short and they WILL have ROM after.  Do they want to know right away or after BC? Does his loved ones have the Red Cross info handy and know what information they need?  Again better to have it and not need it than need it and have to hunt for it.

mom2blondies-- It’s not uncommon for Females to have a slightly shorter BC experience. Usually because there are fewer of them they get processed through a little faster and may be more likely to end up in a Push Div.

 NewMilmom-- It should still be under warranty. HE likely will need to contact the Manufacturer however. Better that he do it sooner than later. For other Moms-- I suggest they NOT spend the big bucks on Laptops! They have a tendency to grow legs. (or get broken due to dropping) even for gaming they are often limited by Ships WiFi (when available) so they may not be getting all the speed they think they are paying for. An inexpensive ($200-600) Laptop will likely serve them well and hurt the wallet less. Just my $.02.

Here are the links to the current PIR groups.

PIR: January 2021

       January 07, 2021 No Graduation

       January 14, 2021 No Graduation

       January 21, 2021 TG 09 14 Divisions (065-078)

       January 28, 2021 TG 10 14 Divisions (079-092)

PIR: February 2021

       February 04, 2021 TG 11 6 Divisions (095-102)

       February 11, 2021 TG 12 13 Divisions (105-116, 807)

       February 18, 2021 TG 13 14 Divisions (117-130)

       February 25, 2021 TG 14 12 Divisions (131- 144)

Please note: Your recruits original graduation date may change due to additional quarantine during training. Your recruit will let you know if this happens.

Good Morning Ladies and welcome to all of our new moms,

Hope you new moms and dad had a good day yesterday. We are here for you if you wanna ask questions or post or just to talk.

Keep those phones on you at all times and those ringers on loud as you never know when a call will come thru.

As you can see ellen0502 posted the links to the current PIR groups. 

Keep writing those letters so you can send them off right away when that form letter comes.

ladyblueFire- How is everything going? Is your Sailor still home? How did the pics turn out? How was your New Year's? Just checking in.  :) 

We started back to school yesterday. What a long day!!

Good Morning to all our regular ladies, may you have a great day today.

Happy Taco Tuesday!!!

Partyofseven, prayers your day flys by today, I know teaching can be rough especially when so many students are at much different levels after doing virtual for do long.  I truly don't know how you and others manage that. My heart breaks for them as they struggle to catch up to what is expected of them.  My day was just so wonderful but of course I was as giddy and excited as the kids. Feeding them is alot different than the frustration of teaching them. May God strengthen and provide direction to all of our teachers, they need our prayers as well as our support.

NewMilmom - I sent you a PM about your sailor's computer and also how to maybe help him.

Ellen0502 - Thanks for getting the PIR group set up for Feb!!

Anti M- Thanks for telling Mom2blondies about the mail between recruits. When I saw her posting about her son sending letters, I wondered if that would be okay or not. 

It is my understanding that even bunkmates were not allowed to share personal information (mailing addresses) with each other. My son's bunkmate was so adamant about following that rule that even after PIR, my son was never able to get his bunkmates address or contact information to be able to keep up with him. - That made me sad, because my son really bonded with his bunkmate and I think they would have been lifelong friends. 

Re: Computers - I agree with BelovedbyHim - My sailor found a small laptop when he went to A school at the BestBuy in Charleston. I think he also received a military discount with it as well. I am fairly certain that he paid less than $700 on it and it has served him well over the last 3+ years. I did buy him a larger size external hard for it for Christmas this year. He still keeps it stored in the original box (completely duck-taped) and packing and it fits in his BC issued backpack. 

Mom2blondies - I sent you a PM!

Mom2blondies, just during bootcamp.  They can both write to you, of course, but forwarding their letters will cause trouble.  There's so little privacy in boot camp, and word gets around fast.  It is not worth it.  They can wait, and if they cannot, then it is best to break it off. They need trust and fortitude to get them through.  Obviously they know, or they wouldn't have asked you to forward the letters.

The first two years I was married, as dual mil E-6, we saw each other for a grand total of 28 days.  No cellphones back then, and he was at sea.  Minimal communication, letters maybe once a month.  We lasted for 31 years even with a rough beginning.  That's extreme, but not all that unusual.  

I wish I could convey tone better, I don't intend to sound all doom and gloom and strident.  It's just such a minor thing to potentially lose everything over, I worry.  Sorry, I want them to succeed.  

AntiM, no I appreciate it. I have zero knowledge or experience in this world, nor does my SR so I do think it was totally innocent. I have not heard from her at all, this was not a plan they had ahead of time. When my SR called home he told me he had written her while in ROM and asked if I gotten any mail from her. I told him I had not but was trying to get in touch with her dad to see if he had. He had mailed off letters as soon as he got out of  ROM along with the form letter and said he sent the ones for her because he didn't have her address. I'm not sure when the 'talk' about this comes in the process but he hadn't yet started bootcamp when we spoke of it. Now I'm wondering if he knows and is freaking out with no way of telling me NOT to forward his letters to her??? UHG! 

Thank you all for the information. It has been very helpful!

Another question, at Boot Camp is there a chaplain or do they have any services on Sunday? I know they are very busy training, so I don’t know if that’s available at BC

Joy Yes there is a Chaplain and they use to be able to attend church but don't know how this is working with Being Quarantined.

Joy - Sunday morning use to be set aside for attending chapel as I understood, or also time for the SRs to get other tasks caught up on for the week. It is my understanding that with social distancing they are now holding chapel services on different days for each different "ship" that the SRs live in. 

Also, Joy, since letters can get lost going to BC, I would mention it in a few different writings to your son that you are waiting until after BC to share his letters with her. I would also make sure her father knows the proper protocol as well. 

OOps that last part was for Mom2blondies - sorry, I am replying on the fly by ...!

There's many services, but not all of them are held on Sunday.  There's a meditation room too, for those who need alone time.  However, like Phoenixmom said, with Covid, no telling how it works.  

Good Morning All, Happy Tuesday, sorry I am on Late. But been in meetings already this morning. Hoping all is well with you all.

Thank You Ellen0502 for the Feb. PIR.

Thank You Party for scripture

Whew!  Hello Warrior Moms!  My family always turns off electronic devices on holidays so I have a lot to catch up on (did keep my phone on...not crazy!)

Got a call on Sunday night late (that's why you have to keep that phone on) from my recruit and talked a really long time.  He had to have his toe nail (big toe) removed after it got ripped on some metal on the bunk.  OUCH!  His only concern was that it would affect his performance on Marlinspike yesterday and his run time today.  Just told him to muscle through and tell his brain "I got this!"  He was really upbeat about it!

When my younger son went through BC we only had two 10 minute calls.  I feel so spoiled because we've had five 60 min calls. I know that's more than I've talked to him in the past 5 months when he was home!  He tends to be a quiet guy and he's so verbose now. 

The most wonderful thing are his letters, I read them every night.  He sent the most beautiful letter to his little sister and even drew a Christmas tree with animals all around.  

Joy: On one of my calls with my recruit he did mention that each division has a Religious Yeoman and he does devotions every day.  This works out great for my son since his job as Lead Yeoman means he misses the services (and they are on different days for each div, 086 is on Tues). Yikes about the letters, glad it was caught before they got in trouble! And was that also the case with Mom2blondes?  I think I got some things mixed up when I was reading.

Hope each of you are well!  Peace and Hugs!  Shout out to Chipmunk, DoriBry, Party, Phoenixmom, Blessed, Proud&Grateful and all you lovely ladies!  

Fighting those damn NavyMom allergies bad again today...reason??? just random want to totally break down... so far holding it together at work but, when going to pup sit my newest grandpup tonight I not sure I will be able to hold it back... So for all you newer Moms/Dads Yes! it is real & on-going for some of us those damn NavyMom allergies.

NewMilMom:  the Navy Allergies are real. Today has been a rough one for me too. I went to pick up something else I ordered for my sailor that he requested. I have a huge box waiting to be mailed. And he still doesn’t have an address. He has been on ship for over a week. How do I not have an address to mail to?!?  And he has gone silent in the last few days. 4 days since a real conversation. Got a quick message just saying he was exhausted. That’s it.   I am just waiting. I still send a Snapchat in the morning. So I at least reach out. But yeah. The emotions are running here today too

Good evening, 

I have a question. My Son got his report date for his PDS which is March 3 He wants to get married between the time that he graduates and when he has to report. does anyone know about that little limbo of time between graduation and reporting? Does he need to request that time is that free time? I just need to be able to tell the bride’s mother. Because right now my son doesn’t know because he only got his orders yesterday

He gets a couple travel days, but if he wants the rest off, he needs to request leave "en route".  Hopefully he has enough leave on the books, otherwise he has to borrow days from himself.  That's not good.  He needs to talk to his chain, and to the travel office.  He'll need to put in a special request chit, they should be able to guide him through it.  The Navy will arrange his flights, but he pays the travel office for the leg home.  

With Covid, not sure how this works, but that's the usual routine.  Tell the bride's mother to stand by, stay flexible, because the Navy ends up setting the date. No deposits which do not have a refundable military clause. I'm a fan of the courthouse wedding, with a nice backyard celebration.  Inexpensive but intimate.  Also, giftcards are perfect for the military couple. Never buy them stuff they have to move.

Question about sending packages...  the post master at the post office told me to not send his laptop by USPS. She said it was safer to use UPS or Fed Ex. But when I go to their website it says they can't deliver to Military bases. So the only way to ship anything to my son is USPS?  Is that correct?