Boot Camp Moms (and loved ones)

Ha!Ha! Never Again Volunteer Yourself! Now THAT'S funny! 

my sailor uses that one regularly lol.. one of the first acronyms he learned

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

PIR JUNE 2023

PIR MAY 2023

PIR APRIL 2023

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

Patti - Sorry to hear about your son's setback, but congrats on the new rank! Continued prayers for you both.

Diahn - Congrats to your sailor!

Good Morning Everyone!!

Patti - All the best to your SR as he keeps pushing forward. Our prayers for him and for you. 

I just want to remind everyone that if you have a new sailor, or have been to PIR, you may come join us in the Beyond BC group.

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

PIR JUNE 2023

PIR MAY 2023

PIR APRIL 2023

All June PIR dates have now been added to the PIR group. 

Please note that June 15th is a THURSDAY PIR.

Look how cute this is!  A fellow Navy mom crocheted this for baby Oliver!!!  I love it ;-D  Go Pack Go!  17 days until his due date!

Good Evening Everyone!

Please join me in welcoming Jennie to our group!!

If I have missed welcoming any new members, please come by the comment wall here and say a hello. This is the best place to post your questions, share your concerns or share updates.

B'sNukeMom - That is such a cute blanket!! 

belovedbyHim, My son says that you may volunteer when you join the Navy, but from then on, until you leave the Navy, you are voluntold. :)

ellen0502 -- Delightful to see you still around.  Yep... My Sailor has been Volentold many times.  Usually because I suggest that he do something when he's got me on speaker and his "Shipmates" overhear and they decide that Yep... He should do that thing and they'll let command know his Mom agrees!!  It took a time or two but now I ask if I'm on speaker!!

belovedbyHim - That is funny!!

ellen0502 - It is so good to hear from you!! I hope that things are going well for you and the family!! 

Jennie - Welcome to our BC moms group!  When you get a chance, will you let us know where you are in the process?  My son graduated BC Nov 2021.  But this group was SO HELPFUL to me that I decided to hang around and pay it forward whenever I can.

Jennie - Welcome to the Navy! I hope it's a great experience for your sailor and your family.

B'sNukeMom - Love the blanket! Go Pack indeed!

Good Morning Everyone!!

Hi MomofJoseph!! 

We have another member to welcome newkmomma! 

For our new members, yes, please come say hello. The more questions you ask, the more we chat and get to know everyone. My sailor has been in for almost 6 years now and is in the process of transitioning out of the Navy, but I will still be hanging around as well. 

Whether your loved one is still deciding on BC, in the DEP program, getting ready to leave very soon, or already at BC this is the place to come learning as much as you can and grow stronger yourself. I like to tell people, this is our training ground. 

If your loved one is still waiting to leave for BC, make sure they are exercising and working on their run every day. If they need swimming and floating experience, see about talking to their recruiter and find out if there is a way they can get some practice in at a local indoor pool, if there is one available. 

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

PIR JUNE 2023

PIR MAY 2023

PIR APRIL 2023

Welcome Jennie and newkmomma!  Glad to have you in the group!

ellen0502, gosh it's been a long time. Love the voluntold comment, I have to send it to my son. Nice hearing from you!

I must second what Chipmunk said. This is where it all started for me. At first I was very timid and quiet but read all the post. A little afraid to post anything mainly because I didn't want everyone to know what kind of a basket case I was. This became my lifeline to a grueling 3 years so far. Chipmunk, belovedbyHim, partofseven and a few others took me under their wing and made sure I made it. Like belovedbyHim would always say "we haven't lost a Mom to boot camp yet, and we aren't going to start with you". As you all learn to be more confident and trusting please fire away, remember no question is a stupid question. Believe me I asked some pretty goofy ones myself. 

You will build amazing friendships here that will carry you forward to the next group Beyond. I went through this journey during Covid when everything was turned upside down and I can honestly say that experience brought us closer as a group. We al understand what you all are going through but knowing your not alone is so comforting. My son has been in over 3 years now, I haven't experienced a deployment yet but I know when I do these compassionate knowledgeable Ladies will walk me through whatever is ahead. 

Prayers for all your recruits and fir you new Navy Moms, it is a incredible journey!!!

 B'sNukeMoM - love the blanket!  And I might be dating myself with this comment, but when I was in college, one of my closest friends was Sterling Sharpe.  (When he was being recruited, I asked him where he wanted to play, and he said, "I have no preference -- as long as it isn't cold!"  LOL)

That's awesome, MomofJoseph! We love Sterling Sharpe up here in Packerland. Still so sad that his career was cut short. Are you still in touch with him?

joe-mom - Sadly, no.  We graduated in '88, and the last time I talked to him was right before I got engaged in 1995.

It IS sad that his career got cut short.  I can't even imagine how good he would have been.  (I loved when Shannon got inducted into the Hall of Fame, he said, "I'm the only player in the Hall of Fame who is the second best player in my own family.")

MomofJoseph -- Well, For what it's worth we Loved having Shannon here in Denver!! Back when they had a team that actually PLAYED football.  (They seem to have forgotten that a game last 4 full Quarters!! not 10 minutes her or there....)  Maybe this year, they'll not stink up the west!!

When you Ladies mention Sharpe, I got a sickening feeling because I remember my niece dating a Packer with a similar name. Thank the Lord my husband remembered it was Darren Sharper and not Sterling Sharpe. Two very different Packers. Sterling Sharpe was amazing and I remember they pass in the end zone from Farve. Them teaming up together brought a lot of special moments for us Packer fans.

Today's PIR happening live right now.  425 brand new Sailors!

Here's the link:

LIVE PIR APRIL 28, 2023

Chipmunk, Family is good! My son, a Navy "lifer," is now stationed on a Carrier and loving it, except for the constant noise coming from the flight deck, which can be 24/7. LOL

He is currently in the process of making the jump from enlisted to commissioned officer. One of his CO's told him he "has" to go commissioned not WO. Another voluntold moment. Lots of studying, etc on my son's horizon.

ellen0502 - I am glad that your son is enjoying his carrier. One benefit of Officer is the retirement pay is higher, so if you are going to be a "lifer" it is worth it. My DIL is looking into that option as well. 

Ellen.... what are the odds of getting someone to tell that to MY sailor?? He's more than able but he has a bit of a lazy streak!!

July PIR group is posted.  Here's the link:

JULY 2023 PIR

Good Morning Everyone!! Have a wonderful weekend!

Please join me in welcoming Rebecca to our group!

Welcome Rebecca, we are so happy to have you join us here. These Ladies are filled with knowledge and compassion. I know it will bring comfort to you knowing your feelings, worries and just the unknown was shared by many of us. 

Please come and share where your recruit is at in their journey!

Good morning!! I hope some of you got phone calls!! ?

Did you write letters? Did you receive any letters?  Is anyone currently in using the Sandboxx APP? How is it going with the new notifications?  If you are not familiar with Sandboxx here is some information.

Sandboxx App for BC

I am looking forward to chatting with more of our new members and updates from the rest of you. 

Morning! My sailor has been at gone for 2 weeks. I used Sanboxx once, just to send her a quick message that we had received her mailing address. I like it for the weekly updates! 3 days ago we received the graduation flyer but in my sailors handwritten envelope. No phone call yet. 

Mom2Boss - How are you holding up?  For me, the time before the first "real" letter was the most difficult.  It was nice seeing my son's handwriting on the envelope, but it just isn't the same as getting a real letter.  I hope you get a letter and phone call SOON!  (FYI, my first call came on a Saturday about 3 weeks in.  And the caller ID was "Waukegan, IL".  But other moms received phone calls from different IDs.)

Rebecca - Welcome to the Navy! 

Ellen0502 - Best of luck to your son! he sounds very motivated and driven. Kudos to him.

Mom2Boss - I think it was about 4 weeks in when we received our first letter. I agree with MomofJoseph - reading a full-page letter (especially from a kid who NEVER wrote letters!) in their handwriting was amazing. I probably read all of his letters at least 50 times. Our first phone call showed up as just the phone number with the "847" area code. Sandboxx was a very helpful tool for us.

welcome welcome.. my sailor was in boot camp late summer/fall of 2021. We dealt with few letters, 1 phone call because he got washed back two weeks and one other call plus the I'm a sailor call, which like most kids didn't start with that, kinda annoying as that was all we needed to hear..

Trey - Ha, that's so true! Our son never said "I'm a sailor" in that call, so I had to outright ask him. He sounded completely beat and ready for a good nap.

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

JULY 2023 PIR

PIR JUNE 2023

PIR MAY 2023

joe-mom - Ditto for us with the "I'm a Sailor" call.  We also had to ask him.  (Maybe us moms call it that, but they don't?)  We got our phone call just as we arrived in GL.  I guess now there's a two week delay between battlestations and graduation, but for him, it was only one day later.

MomofJoseph - Good thing he passed battlestations, right?? Yes, they added the extra two weeks in January of 2022, I think. 

Awesome.. There are several Nuke moms and I'm sure they are just full of helpful advice.. Maybe some of the newer moms could answer the graduation question as that started just a month or two after mine passed BC.

I think the blue candle is something us moms and family keep lit when our sailors are out at sea or a big test/achievement is going on.. and a light for them to find their way home. I have several LED candles on amazon that I am looking at. Mine is graduation C school in July, he is in San Diego and will be stationed there as well. 

Good Evening Rebecca - 

I am not exactly sure on the Asthma but your son is going to need to make sure there are medical waivers, etc. And be sure to investigate more. With being a Nuke, there were extra delays when my son was to leave PIR and head to Nuke school, because they were scrutinizing his medical records. 

You might ask in the Nuke Mom group, if anyone else had a sailor that dealt with Asthma. 

As for Blue Candles, can you see the discussion directly above this that is labeled Blue Candles? If you click on that and read through the examples, you should also see a note with the Blue Candle Poem / Prayer. As Trey mentioned some of the families leave their Blue Candles on all the time, ore when their sailor is out to sea, or getting ready for BST. 

Battle stations now take place prior to the final physical fitness test and so they may call and let you know they finished BST, but they won't necessarily say they are a sailor. And now, they actually can't complete PIR unless they pass their final PT test. You hopefully will know at least a couple of days prior to your son's PIR, but not necessarily, which is why we recommend buying refundable tickets. 

We drove 1.5 days so that we could have more flexibility than we would have had if we had flown.