Boot Camp Moms (and loved ones)

Be sure to join your PIR group.  Here are the links:

 PIR DECEMBER 2022

PIR NOVEMBER 2022

PIR OCTOBER 2022

Good Morning everyone!!! May you all have a wonderful day today. In the past, I don't think the SRs made calls on Sunday, but if they still have the Chapel services divided up for distancing, there might be calls in the afternoon. When my sailor was at BC, Sunday was the only time they were allowed to write from what he said. 

They may attend chapel and they also spend their day catching up on things like folding laundry, polishing ?, studying. My son's letters generally started with, "I only have 10 minutes to write."   The one week I did not receive a letter on my normal Thursday delivery, I found out in a phone call that following Saturday that he had gone to medical for a persistent cough, and he wanted to make sure to have it checked out because he did not want to get set back because he knew I was expecting him to graduate on such and such date. 

PIR Review for 9/30:ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC!!! Driving back right now from Great Lakes and will be on the road until midnight. Wow what a weekend. It’s mostly a blur though on specifics but graduation was amazing. They are so serious wow! He passed right by me right and front and did not see me cause he was doing his job being di used on marching. He’s sooo skinny now I was worried. I had a birds eye view of him luckily throughout three graduation which was wonderful. I enjoyed the graduation especially the part with the gun throwing and twirling but honestly by 10am it was all I could do to not jump off the bleachers and run up to give him a hug! Tammyrunbikelovefaith- that was the BEST HUG EVER!!! We both completely broke down. It was crazy after that. He had to run to go check in and grab his phone and then met us at the photo lab which was complete CRAZY CENTRAL. He hadn’t listened to me about mailing home his photos and had ordered a ton of them but hadn’t paid so I paid for them having no idea if they were right or not or what was going on with other things being mailed out later. I think he got the division yearbook or something? Package C? But package C was not on the list they gave. We got back to the hotel and he was able to then see his little sis, girlfriend, aunt and grandparents. It was very emotional especially with his sister. He then talked non-stop for several hours about all his times and experiences he was permitted to talk about.  We then got a clothes folding lesson and then got to give him a bday cake then which was nice since we couldn’t celebrate his birthday last week. We ordered food and hung out till he had to go back. He went back really early -730. I thought this was crazy till we pulled up and there were tons of other Sailors checking in at gate 8. The main gate that you could driveway through had like a 2 mile back up so I’m glad we dropped him off. Then he told us his flight was leaving in the afternoon but he didn’t know when he would take the bus to thr airport. He texted me from the bus around 400 and we all hurried to get up and head over to O’Hare. We found the USO office very easily since I was rereading Chipmunk’s directions above the Delta airlines station. Let me tell you that USO office was the best! They put us all in a family room and we got to spend several hours of pretty good quality time with him-he’d had no sleep so was a little zombie like- and they have us food and drinks and it was wonderful! And they are all volunteers. Shout out to Mike whose daughter is going in the Air Force soon- he was incredibly helpful and patient with my family. His daughter is not even in military yet but as soon as she signed up he decided to start volunteering! We have a donation on our way out to his terminal. We were able to all get gate passes. It was very emotional when he left and when everyone saw all the Sailors on that flight everyone started clapping for them so the crying restarted lol. My daughter completely lost it and I was taking care of her trying to calm her down when we realized just after leaving the secures area that she forgot her phone. It took me 45 min to go back through security. Another passenger saw a Good Samaritan hand it in to one of the ohare staff but apparently there are like 4 different businesses that work there and they all have different processing for lost and found - it was crazy. Do not misplace anything there - I don’t know that we will get it back even though someone found it right away. I met someone else who also left a phone and they even told her it was recorded to be in lost and found but the desk was closed and she was unable to obtain it. So that whole mess just made things even more emotional but I finally left the airport and found my family. We got some rest and food and then left this am. 

Wow! I filled it up! Anyways - so good to be getting calls from him now- I LOVE IT! And to hear him asking for my advice again. He says A school is “cool.” Poignant mom moment though- I brought his chapsticks because he has trouble once it gets cooler and even sometimes when it’s warm and he told me he didn’t need them- because he already had some!! He’s taking care of himself now like an adult. Amazing! Just knocked me over. Super painful to say goodbye and I was sick to my stomach again but better today now that he’s re-settled and sounds much better/got some rest. He’s actually excited about the new place. Thanks to all of you here! You got me through the past few months and especially this weekend. I was talking to some of the moms and many of them are just on fb and didn’t know about this group- so they may be joining soon! Best moms live here though;) Happy week to all!

Roseanne- Congrats on section leader!!! Wow!! 

JNMNavymomOH- Hang in there! BNMHs - it will all soon be worth it! Hoping 10/14 is the final date- keep us posted. We are all rooting and praying for you and your Sailor. 

CBMom, it sounded like you had a amazing time. So happy for your son and your family. Prayers for a safe trip back home. Congratulations again!

Thanks Northwoodsmom!

CB Mom - Congratulations to your son! Sounds like an awesome trip!! (except for the lost phone). And it bet it WAS the best hug ever!! It's amazing watching them grow into young adults!  Safe travels home!

Got to talk to my girl today for 50 minutes. Best phone call ever! She sounds great!

Roseanne- 50 minutes?! Fantastic!! How’s she doing?

CBMom -- WOW!!! Sounds like you had a wonderful time!! (Lost phone not withstanding! I Hope you get it back soon!) Yes, They do grow up so much and so suddenly.  Have a Safe trip home!  Welcome to the Hive!!

Rosanne -- Congratulations on the 50 minute phone call!!!

CBMom - I am getting teary eyed just reading your post!  What amazing memories to cherish!  Congratulations again!

Roseanne - a 50 minute call is awesome!  Still waiting for my first letter and my first phone call - I'll be so glad to hear his voice!

JNMNavyMomOH - Hang in there - praying that 10/14 will be the day!

LMNCinTN - did that letter do the trick for your insurance company? I'm now running into trouble and they are pushing on this whole thing of "you have to notify us within 30 days of the new coverage taking effect" or you have to wait till the next open enrollment to drop him (which isn't until January 1st). Waiting to hear back from my son to get the letter -but I think they are going to be sticklers about this. So annoying. It doesn't change the premiums AT ALL so I don't get why they care that I want to drop him. I even told them he will get in BIG TROUBLE if he uses my insurance. After working with our HR rep, my next step is to make sure it's at least secondary insurance. Ugh. 

JNMNavyMom-  Glad it was just a week he got pushed back. Prayers he gains the speed on his run that he needs. Big hugs to you on this emotional rollercoaster of the great unknown! 

CBMom - Wow - sounds like an incredible time! So glad you enjoyed that hug! I remember sitting there right around 10 thinking... enough already - let me get to my sailor! LOL! Welcome to the other side of bootcamp! It is pretty wonderful. My son also is really taking charge of himself and his own needs. It blows my mind time and time again. And he ordered all his photos and paid for them. I saw the receipt. I can't believe how much money he spent! Crazy - but so thoughtful because he knew how much I would want pics and to be able to share with others.  Hope you get that phone back soon!

Roseanne - what a lovely call! Congrats to your SR! 

My son's GF also had her PIR this weekend - though the whole thing had a ton of challenges - including zero sleep between Friday and getting to Aschool Saturday. And now that she's there - she said she might not actually start classes until January!! Poor thing. Wish they could've at least allowed her more time for the weekend with her family and my son before she had to ship off to just now wait around for school to start (of course she'll have work/duties till then but.... I really wish they would give all the new sailors at least all of Saturday with family befor sending off to A school. Welcome to military life!)

CBMom - sounds like an amazing time!  

Rosanne - a 50 minute phone call - wow!  That does the heart good <3

Be sure to join your PIR group.  Here are the links:

 PIR DECEMBER 2022

PIR NOVEMBER 2022

PIR OCTOBER 2022

JNMNavymomOH - prayers & fingers crossed that's the final date for PIR for your son and he makes his run!!

Tootie - My daughter left 9/12 - it took almost 3 weeks to get our first letter.  Hope you get one soon!  

And thanks everyone.  My heart is so happy right now. 

tammybikerunfaithlove - the letter that my son got from the TriCare website worked perfectly to remove him from our family insurance. When we submitted it, we said that the letter was dated retroactive to the first of the month of the month he left for bootcamp, but that we could not request him to be removed from insurance until such time that he PASSED all of his tests and assessments and finished bootcamp (end of August). This seemed to satisfy them, and they went ahead and removed him effective 10/1 and sent us a confirmation letter today. FINALLY. WAHOOOOOOOOO!!!!! Best of luck on your end. I hope it goes somewhat smoothly, or as best as we can hope. 

tammybikerunfaithlove -- It's a bit of a catch 22 for GL.  They only have so much room and they expect that X number of SR's will leave each week and X number more will arrive each week. They do not have tons of extra space! (~1000 leave and arrive each and every week!). The A schools have fewer Sailors arriving and so they are better able to house them longer. (Think 100ish or less each week) The Good news is that she'll have some time to recover from BC and adjust to this new phase.  The waiting is a bit boring but it's not the end of the world and she should get to go home for Christmas!! In the Fleet it's Iffy but in A school it's 99% for sure!

LMNCinTN-- awesome info to know!!  We should make a Sticky with that info and your wording is PERFECT to use with these insurance bureaucrats!!  "The letter was dated retroactive to the first of the month of the month he left for bootcamp, but that we could not request him to be removed from insurance until such time that he PASSED all of his tests and assessments and finished bootcamp."

belovedbyHim - i think i misspoke... my son is at GL - and we are excited that he'll be home for Christmas. His GF is in Pensacola. Neither has a start date for school - but Pensacola is potentially not till January. She's a CTT. On an unrelated note - she just sent me a full picture of herself - she lost 20 lbs! I could see it in her face from some of the graduation pics - but holy smokes! She looks so fit and so strong. So proud of her.  And I think she gave that weight to my son - he's tall and thin but now he's tall and pretty buff! LOL 

LMNCinTN - thanks for the info. Hopefully this all works! 

Good Morning Everyone!!!

CBMom - Thank you for sharing your PIR experience! 

New Discussion above - PIR Weekend Experiences - Post Covid CBMom - PLEASE CONTRIBUTE!

I have been intending to put together a discussion for recent PIR information post Covid, and so after our recent comments from several of you about your experiences, I am asking if you would copy and paste those into the discussion above. I also am asking for other information to be shared there as well, such as motels, places you visited, shopped, including eating out. Whether you used a shuttle, taxi service, went to Meet n Greet. 

I love to read the posts here, in the comment wall area and more of the members see it, but in a week's time, it will be harder to locate. So, if you post here, then just copy and paste in the discussion above and add more details. 

The way the discussions work, as a new one is posted the older ones are bumped out of the queue, but when someone replies to an archived discussion it comes back into view. Once we have several comments posted on the discussion above, I will see about getting it linked to in our PIR weekend page that stays posted on the right side. 

Be sure to join your PIR group.  Here are the links:

 PIR DECEMBER 2022

PIR NOVEMBER 2022

PIR OCTOBER 2022

Final PIR group for December was added - 12/14/2022 - WEDNESDAY PIR.

No PIR 12/23 or 12/30/2022.

Chipmunk - Great idea. I added to your discussion. 

B'sNukeMom  - curiosity question.... just noticing no PIR for 12/23 and 12/30 .... so do they have a couple weeks (10ish weeks prior to those dates) that they stop taking recruits at RTC?  If someone gets ASMO'd then they get pushed out to January?  Never really thought about the impact of holidays and bootcamp I guess. Interesting.  :)     BTW... I just LOVE Dory!  

Hi there!  I also noticed about the No PIR dates in December.  That's when my son's grad would typically be, so I'm VERY curious about any released info on this as soon as it comes down the line!  With it being the holidays until Jan 2 and standby, it sounds like he may get leave at the end of week 10, but with No PIRs scheduled, I'm just left wondering how in the world it will all work!  Any ideas? 

tammybikerunfaithlove -- No I understood. GL- RTC (Bootcamp Side) is the one that has the space issues.  GL A school side has a bit more space but they also take the THU Sailors so that fills them up.  That's why GL -RTC (Boot camp) wants to move the Sailors on to their A school location as quickly as they can.  The A school can take their time and house and feed the Sailors and that frees up more space at GL-RTC (Boot camp) for the next incoming batch of New SR's.  I am aware that your Sailor is in A school at GL and that his GF is in A school Elsewhere (I now know P-cola).  I was responding to your lament about why they could not just give all the new sailors the whole weekend.  I too wished we'd had more time.
Glad they are both looking fit and good and I hope they can make this work for them.

AIRCMom#1 & tammy -- yes those SR's who have Recently arrived will be there LONGER than the 10 weeks if they get ASMO'd or are there during the holiday Stand Down Period.  They DO NOT get to come home during that period and SR's who arrive at A school right before the Holiday Stand Down May not get to come home either.    AIRCMom#1 -- If you message me I can help you figure out when your SR may have PIR (Unless he has signed up for Sandboxx, in which case you may already know.)  They do reduce the SR's shipping to GL and No New SR's will arrive for those windows (I believe.)

I have looked and searched but cannot find the answer to this question. I just want to confirm that "Fully vaccinated" for purposes of PIR is at least 2 weeks past the the original dosing (ie. Pfizer is a 2-shot series, so after the 2nd shot) and not all the boosters, right? I'm afraid we'll get there and be told, "Nope, shoulda had the boosters, too!" Thanks so much for all the info! This has been so, so helpful!

Fawnface -- Yes. 2 weeks past not including boosters.  B's Usually posts this once a week (I found this back on the 28th) and I believe it's shared in the files.
From B'sNukeMomMMN ---

*** COVID PROTOCOLS ***

Thank you, belovedbyHim 3! I saw this post several times but it never specifically clarified that the boosters are not required. I appreciate that you did. 

belovedbyHim - thanks for all that info! So nice to have this group so we all can share our experiences and support each other through the journey!

Fawnface - Be sure to share with us when you receive the "I'm a sailor" call, so that we can rejoice with you. I see BelovedbyHim replied to your question. As I recall, B'sNukeMom clarified someplace else that it was just the initial immunization, not the booster that was required. 

For those of you that may not realize here is the RTC Bootcamp website - It was my go-to when my son was in BC because I did not find this site until a week before PIR. 

AIRCMom#1 - Welcome Aboard!! I am glad that you found our site, joined this group and found your way to the comment wall to post. This is the best place location to ask your questions and share your BC emotional roller coaster ride. More of the members see the posts here than even in the discussions above. This discussion of mine, Private Messages - Creating & Sending + OPSEC , might help you navigate this site a little. Also, be sure to read the information pages on the right that Lemonelephant put together for us and watch the videos that are posted in the upper left. I view N4M on my computer it is much easier to scroll around, if on your phone be sure to put it into desktop mode. Also, Blue Candle has some good ideas. 

Be sure to join your PIR group.  Here are the links:

 PIR DECEMBER 2022

PIR NOVEMBER 2022

PIR OCTOBER 2022

REMINDER FROM THE US NAVY RECRUIT TRAINING COMMAND FACEBOOK PAGE:

Everyone who is planning on attending a graduation ceremony MUST personally obtain a ticket, which will be distributed at the Recruit Family Welcome Center the week of your recruit's graduation. Tickets are free of charge, but you must have valid photo ID to obtain your ticket (driver's license, state ID, military ID, passport, or, for minors, a student ID, driver's permit, SSN card, birth certificate,) AND you MUST also have your COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card.

WELCOME CENTER ADDRESS/GPS: Navy Exchange (NEX) Burkey Mall, 2650 Green Bay Road North Chicago, IL 60088 (Do NOT use generic terms such as NEX, Recruit Training Command or Naval Station Great Lakes).

Here's a video posted online (6/13/22) that shows the 10 weeks of boot camp:

What US Navy Recruits Go Through

And if you are interested in seeing what happens during the "Confidence Chamber" aka gas chamber here is a video link:

Boot Camp Gas Chamber

USPS Informed Delivery - Sign up and receive an email from the US Postal Service showing what mail you will be getting each day (if available in your area).  

Informed Delivery®

Be sure to RSVP for Sarge's Meet N Greet.  It's held on the Thursday night before PIR.  Here's the link:  

Sarge's Meet N Greet

The Meet N Greet for October 20th is cancelled, Sarge has to have surgery.

NOVEMBER 10, 2022 PIR IS A THURSDAY

MEET AND GREET WEDNESDAY 11-9-22

NOVEMBER 23, 2022 PIR IS A WEDNESDAY

MEET AND GREET TUESDAY 11-22-22

My SR arrived at Boot Camp at GL last night.  Got the call that he was there at around 11pm.  He sounded very rushed, and out of breath.  Lots of noise and yelling in the background.  He sounded a little scared.  We've tried our very best to prepare him for what's in store, and he kept saying that he wouldn't have any issues, but could tell from his voice last night, he was a little shell shocked.  I think that boot camp will be so good for him!  I'm excited to see the changes that happen over the next ten weeks.  But now I'm on the emotional ups and downs, worry and pride roller coaster.  I recorded his call last night so I could have it to listen to until I hear his voice again.  Can't wait to start the letter writing.  He said on the phone last night we should get his address in about two weeks.  Hopefully I don't have multiple anxiety attacks before then!! Here we go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

lapdja - Hang in there! My SR has been gone two weeks and the only communication I've had is the "I'm Here" call as well.  Good idea to record it - I didn't think of that!  Time seems to be creeping by but I'm sure it goes faster for them.  This group has been great and such a support!  Stay strong!

AIRCMom -Welcome aboard! Looking forward to getting to know you and hearing about your future sailor's journey through BC and beyond! This is a lovely group of supportive moms! 

Lapdja - BNMHs to you! The ups and downs can be hard! I'm learning it ebbs and flows through this journey. The changes will be amazing. I'm still in awe of how much my sailor has changed. That first call is a bit of a shock - I was so glad I was prepared for it.  I also recorded it !!  I think we recorded the second call too. Funny though - I never listened to either one again - but still have the recordings. I should play that "i'm here" call for my son when I see him again - could be funny now that he's on the other side of BC.  Hang in there - we will carry you through the rollercoaster ride! 

Tootie - I found that after the first 2 (painfully slow) weeks, time started to feel like it was moving a little faster. Hopefully your SR gets to call in another week or so. 

Hello Ladies, I know time is moving at a snail crawl for alot of you, how about a couple ideas to keep your minds and hands occupied? Let's see now there is the Blue Lantern or Candle ideas post just above the comment section.  We light/ burn them while they are going through BC, deployments or just because we miss them. I know it is a little early but you could start gathering ideas for your door anchors for PIR. Some motels don't allow them but some do. Another idea that was great is putting small flags up in your yard, you start with 10 of them and then remove one every Friday your recruit is at Boot Camp. By the time you remove number 10 you should be heading down to Great Lakes.  You could make wreaths for your front door to show your Navy pride. Read up on the donation baskets for the Sarge's Meet and Greet, that's up there somewhere to. Never too early to be looking for great ideas and buying supplies. Here is the wreath I made for my front door. The busier you stay the faster time will fly. Prayers for all your recruits and your aching hearts.

Northwoodsmom - thank you - great ideas!  And I love your wreath - so creative!

I made two wreaths already!! One for me and one for my parents! navy%20wreath%202.png

lapdja, they are beautiful. I guess you are way ahead of me. That would a great auction item at Sarge's if you were planning on going.

I got the "I'm a Sailor!" call! She sounded exhausted but is super excited and counting down the days to graduation. Can't wait to see her. She said her team did a great job and team work was awesome throughout. Yay!

Northwoodsmom & lapdja, those wreaths are super cute!

Fawnface, congratulations, so happy for your daughter and you. Prayers for a safe trip to Great Lakes. Give that Sailor a hug from all of us too.