Boot Camp Moms (and loved ones)

Northwoodsmom, right?!? lol!

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

PIR FEBRUARY 2023

PIR JANUARY 2023

PIR DECEMBER 2022

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

Good Evening Everyone!! I have been a bit under the weather and not able to be on here as much. We have a couple of new members - 

ChampsSWCCMom &mathrocks - Please join me in welcoming them to our group. Feel free to share your questions, concerns, ups & downs of BC. 

Chipmunk - I'm sorry you have not been well - I hope you are feeling better soon!

Welcome to ChampsSWCCMom & mathrocks!  This is a wonderful group of encouragement.  Let us know where you are on your journey and hopefully someone here can answer your questions. 

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Happy Wednesday!  Chipmunk - I hope you are feeling better soon.  Don't overdo it!

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

PIR FEBRUARY 2023

PIR JANUARY 2023

PIR DECEMBER 2022

Per Sarge, no Meet N Greet on 2/2/2023 as he has surgery appointments that week.

Welcome ChampsSWCCMom &mathrocks!

Chipmunk hope you are feeling better every day.

Hi to our newest moms on this journey.. feel free to ask anything or just vent.. 

Hi everyone!

It's Hump Day. It feels like such a long week!

Welcome in ChampsSWCCMom &mathrocks!

Thank you everyone!! I am doing my best to just rest, and drink lots of fluids!  I am grateful for everyone that helps out on this group / site and all the posting that B'sNukeMom does - she is one awesome Admin!! 

BelovedbyHim has been around longer than I have and she is so helpful with all of her timelines and information as well. 

Welcome CandiceK - to this group! We had a couple of other members join recently. We encourage all of you to come here to the comment area and post a hello, share with us where you are at on your BC journey. This is where we do all of our chatter.

Good Morning Everyone!! 

I am feeling a little better, but still resting a lot and taking it easy. 

I just wanted to remind you that if you changed your profile name after you joined the group, please come share here. I don't have any way of reaching out to you personally if I can't search for you in the group. 

One day closer to PIR!!

Chipmunk - I'm glad you are feeling better.  Tomorrow's PIR would have been my son's graduation had he not been injured.  I'll be watching and cheering on his DIV 952!  I have not heard from my son in almost three weeks but if my calculations are correct next week will be his last week in RCU so hopefully I'll be getting that call from him that he is moving to a new Division.  I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Oh and welcome to CandiceK!

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

PIR FEBRUARY 2023

PIR JANUARY 2023

PIR DECEMBER 2022

Thanks for the warm welcome. The community aspect of this site is encouraging and helps me to feel less isolated during the process. Hope everyone has a good Thursday!

Tootie - I am glad that you are still looking forward to watching PIR tomorrow, even if your son is not finishing. Wow, 3 weeks, that is a while to not hear from him. We are all hoping that he is mending well and will finish strong!!!

mathrocks - You are welcome!! Community and encouragement are definitely the things we try to focus on here.  Feel free to ask any questions. Be sure to read through the pages in the information in the upper right. There are videos listed in the upper left of this page and directly above in the discussions are some we keep in the queue but always feel free to view all and see what has been shared in the past. 

I view this site on my computer, but some that view it on their mobile devices have a harder time, so we generally recommend that you put it into desktop mode, if you are having difficulty seeing everything. 

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,).

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).

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®

Here is my discussion on the Sandboxx App - click on the link:

Sandboxx app while in BC

**Only to be used while in boot camp.

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

Some of this info has changed a bit over time but it's still a fairly good look at what happens from Recruit to Sailor (A Guide to PIR):

From Recruit to Sailor

Happy Thursday everyone.

-Welcome in CandiceK! 

-Chipmunk, I hope you continue to feel better each day ☺

-Tootie, hang in there.  Three weeks is a long time, but I am sure he will be calling you really soon.  Keep your phone near. He will pull through!

Tootie-- {{{{BNMH}}}} I know that while you are going to be cheering them on, it's also bitter sweet in that you have to wait that much longer to see your son!  It's not easy to accept the delay and you are doing so with grace! (Although we'd understand if you wanted to just lay down and kick and scream too!!)  I hope that you hear from him soon and that he's on the road to complete recovery!!

mathrocks -- Welcome.  You didn't say when your SR left but I have created a timeline that is on this page if you scroll up that should let you figure out where in the process your SR (Seaman Recruit) is.  If they signed up for Sandboxx you should have gotten a message with their Div, Address and PIR date.  You DO NOT have to use Sandboxx to communicate.  You can send letters via "Snail Mail" for much less but it also takes a little longer.  Your SR cannot access the internet so remember that anything you say in a Sandboxx letter is akin to a postcard.  Anyone at Sandboxx can read what you wrote.  IF there is anything we can do to help you through this time just let us know.  There is a great group of Moms here who are super helpful and encouraging and while no one of us knows everything, collectively we know most things!


Hey Ladies (And Gents).... Pardon the short commercial interruption but I just learned this and think it's cool!!  If you tell Alexa to "Thank My Driver" the last delivery person will get $5 at NO COST to you!! This is a promotion by Amazon but it applies to UPS and USPS as well.  Not sure if FedEx is on that list.  Even if you don't have an Alexa device you can download the App and use that (Then after the holidays just delete it!)  Since I know many of us are still doing a lot of our shopping online, I thought I'd share.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled evening!!

Today's PIR happening now:

LIVE PIR 12/9/2022

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

PIR FEBRUARY 2023

PIR JANUARY 2023

PIR DECEMBER 2022

Go Navy!  Beat Army!

Thank you @belovedbyHim for the info. My SR left at the end of October and his PIR is 01-06-23. I didn't immediately find this and other online support but wow, what a wonderful community that exists. 

Go Navy Beat Army!!!

mathrocks-- You are welcome.  You should be looking the "I'm a Sailor" call to come right before Christmas!! That will be an awesome Christmas Gift to receive!!

REMINDER - This week's PIR is Wednesday, 12/14/2022.

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

PIR FEBRUARY 2023

PIR JANUARY 2023

PIR DECEMBER 2022

Reminder - for PIR 12/14/2022 Sarge's Meet N Greet is on Tuesday, 12/13/2022.

Happy Monday!  I finally got a call from my son yesterday.  He's in Phase 3 of rehab and has three weeks left at RCU.  He should return to a new division at the end of the month - Yay!  It was so great just to hear his voice and find out he's doing good - I'm so proud of how he's handling it all - I sure do wish I could snap my fingers and make it go by quicker for him!

Tootie - glad you got an update on your son!  The 3 weeks will fly by and then the countdown to his PIR - woohoo. 

Glad he's doing better.  Hang in there!

Tootie  - That is GREAT news!!  I know you have been waiting for that phone call.  We are all rooting for him.

This is a short week, at least for PIR!! I don't know if we have anyone that is to be in the ceremony this week or not, but congratulations to all of our new sailors!

Tootie - Great news!! So happy to hear that!

B's -- That game was PAINFUL!!! There is NO reason that Navy should have gone for it on 3rd down! (Unless it's some obscure college rule for double overtime!)

Tootie -- That's great news.  I know it will be bittersweet that he's spending Christmas and New Years in RCU but this is just a small speed bump on his future!  He'll come out the other side stronger and more resilient.  I'm so glad you finally heard from him and that he's doing so well.  We are here for you through this whole adventure!

Gingergirl74 -- Welcome.  This is your place to share, vent or comment on Navy life in general.  The PIR pages are Private for just your small group so not everyone who helps out on this page will see what is posted there. 
Please introduce yourself and let us know where in the Navy Bootcamp process you are.  There is a BUNCH of information if you scroll up and read the files.  There is a timeline that will help you determine where in the BC Process your SR may be and on the left side is a "Navy Speak" page that will explain some of the lingo we use (Like SR = Seaman Recruit). 
If there is any way we can support you, just feel free to share.  We haven't lost a mom to Boot Camp yet, We won't start with you!