Boot Camp Moms (and loved ones)

DiannaB - I hope you and your son get to make special memories during his last few weeks at home.  I remember those days - trying hard not to cry when he was around, and trying to treasure every moment.  Please feel free to come here to share, vent, whatever.  We are here for you!

 DiannaB  I so feel you.. teared up reading because you are where I was two years ago. Soak up those hugs. My sailor was 21 though. Don't know if getting those extra years made it easier or worse lol..  Welcome.. 

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Mom2Boss – I’d Sandboxx the Names and DOB’s for those who would be attending but Snail Mail another copy of the form.  Just remember Sandboxx letters cost more than regular letters and they are NOT OPSEC or PERSEC and NEVER Ever use them in the Fleet for ANY reason!!  SandBoxx was NOT a thing when my Sailor went through BC 10 years ago.

DiannaB – Just keep breathing.  There will be plenty of time to be sad after he’s shipped out, so make all the memories and have all the Fun NOW.  We are here for you and happy to answer any and all questions, to celebrate the highs and commiserate with you on the lows!  Easier said than done I know but you have raised an amazing human and you are not alone!

DiannaB - Your son is a very self aware guy! My son told my husband a few months ago that he is disappointed in himself that he didn't join up sooner! My son needs the regiment instead of free form.  He needs structure and this has been sooooo good for him!

Sending prayers to you, your family and son.

DiannaB- Why don't you take pictures of him while you and he are sharing a time together. For example, take a picture of him eating his icecream, or better yet, have someone take a picture of both of you! Make meories that way. Print out the pictures and then laminate them. Then when you send him a letter, you can pop a picture of you two sharing a moment!

Good Morning Everyone!! - I am still spending time with grandbabies and my family but I wanted us to welcome our newest member - Olivia -- She is here in support of her significant other that has left for BC. Please join me in welcoming her. 

How do we find out that the form our recruit has been submitted for the graduation guest has been approved?

Bernenis, I am pretty sure it's like everything else, "No News is God News". They never sent a message saying it was approved.

Northwoodsmom  thank you

Berenis - I would have to agree with Northwoodsmom. I do not recall any "approval" being given to my son. Our PIR was before the "tickets" but we still had to provide names and such and they compared and checked them off the list with our IDs when we went in for PIR. So, make sure your IDs match all information given to your SR. 

Olivia - This is the best place to post your questions about BC!

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Okay, so I have a possibly "dumb" series of questions, with a tiny back story: my son leaves today for BC. He does well with running and the plank, and is decent at swimming, but push-ups are his downfall. At last check, he was only able to get 40 in 2 minutes, and that's been after two months of work... I've read the standards they have to meet at the end, but what standards do they have to meet in the beginning? When is the first PFA? Has anyone's SR been held back because of push-ups? I've heard of not passing the run, but I haven't seen anyone not pass the push-ups and just wondered if mine will be the first, and trying to prepare myself. 

I believe the standards are lower for the first go around. I too have heard about runs (which actually they do a pacer run instead of a full go) but not pushups.. I think pushups are a favorite of PT and RDCs so they will get him up to speed.. do you have his age or what he needs.. I bet that info is lurking around somewhere

PHYSICAL TRAINING

Your physical training will be both rigorous and challenging and includes one-hour daily workouts, six days a week. Training alternates between strength and conditioning exercises that focus on building your body's major muscle groups and cardiovascular endurance. B.A.S.E.S (or Balance Agility Strength Explosion and Stamina) is a weekly exercise routine which incorporates shipboard required skills with aerobic and strength training.

In order to graduate from RTC, you must pass a Navy Physical Fitness Assessment. The minimum requirements are in the table below. You also must be within approved body composition measurements for your height and weight.

Before new recruits are allowed to commence basic training, they must participate in a PFA, and meet the following standards, in the table below. You also must be within approved body composition measurements for your height and weight.

Recruits who fail to meet this standard will be afforded additional opportunities to pass, however, there will be a delayed start to training, and continuous failures will be processed for separation.

The demanding exercise program will continue rain or shine, in extreme heat or bone-chilling cold. Freedom Hall is your gateway to physical fitness in the U.S. Navy. It provides a clean, climate-controlled environment for strength and cardio training and physical fitness assessment testing for all recruits and staff members every day of the year, no matter what the conditions are like outside.

While you will receive ample physical training at RTC, to maximize success, you should start preparing yourself physically NOW!

The standards listed are for passing to graduate boot camp. But in the initial assessment and subsequent mock PFAs, they are giving you a score in each category, so one category could bring up your others. My son isn't doing as well as yours at pushups but he has the other categories. It's a work in progress. It explains it a bit better here: https://www.military.com/military-fitness/navy-fitness-requirements...

My son graduated in May this year. He passed his initial assessment on pushups and plank, but missed the run time by 6 seconds. By the end of BC, he surpassed the pushups by almost 50% more, surpassed the plank long enough that he just stopped at about 90 seconds and made his run time by taking almost 30 seconds off his initial pace. If your recruit is close to the standards, I don't think they'll have any trouble meeting them by the end of BC.

My son said they did Sooooooooooooo many pushups... 

Thank you for the info about the physical training! He is 18. His most recent run was about 11:07 for 1.5 miles, held a single plank for 2 minutes, and did the 40 push-ups in 2 minutes. Mind you, none of that was done in quick succession from one activity to another, so there's no telling how he'll perform when it counts, but I'm hoping the adrenaline kicks in when it comes to the push-ups. Guess I'm just a worried mom wondering if this will hold him back. Not that I can do anything except hope and pray. 

Happy 1st day of Summer!

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I'm in Texas, been under excessive heat .. bah summer sucks

Trey - my godson lives in League City, TX.  Husband told me yesterday the temp was 114!  That's crazy - I hope you are able to stay cool....be safe!

• Rebecca, no worries, my son struggled with meeting his pushup requirements and they assigned someone to work with him. Just tweaking a few little things here and there did the trick and he finished doing more than he needed. Remember their commanders do not want them to fail and will do everything possible to help them succeed. Attitude is everything, if they are willing to put everything they got into it the Navy will stick with them. I've met Mom's whose sons and daughters were in Boot camp for over 6 months because of their character and sheer will to succeed. Prayers for your son's success.

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The August 25th TG group is listed.  Please note that due to the size of the group only 3 guests allowed.

Here's the link for the security access form for 3 guests:

SECURITY ACCESS FORM - 3 guests

Good Afternoon everyone!! We have a couple new members that I haven't had a chance to welcome individually yet. Please be sure to come to this Comment Wall area and say hello. Also, this is the best place to post your questions or share your ups / downs, more of our members will see your comments here than above in the Discussion area. 

Trey -- Stay cool!!
Our first day of summer ended with a Boom!! Massive Thunderstorms with Twin tornadoes, Injuring hail storm at Red Rocks (About 15 minutes away from me) and a sky that was more strobe than anything and was a constant low growl from the thunder that was rumbling for over 5 hours last night!! it was wild!!

Rebecca -- I know you have heard from so many of our wonderful moms but I wanted to add one more voice of reassurance.  As long as your SR doesn't give up then the RDC's won't give up!  Your SR will be fine!  It mostly a head game.  We will be here to cheer for him and to encourage you!

Good Morning!! I had a new member ask me some questions about communicating with their SR (seaman recruit) , so I am going to share what information we have here. Several things have changed since my son left for BC six years ago, and the main one with communication is the Sandboxx App and notifications of SR mailing addresses. 

The form letter used to take about 2 weeks or more to arrive as I recall which had our SRs addresses in it. With Sandboxx App for BC - my understanding is that if your SR signs up for you to be notified via Sanboxx of their mailing address then you will not receive a paper copy of the form letter. I assume they still send that information out with the mailing address via Sandboxx. - B'sNukeMom posted the link for the Security Access form below. You may print that out and have ready to mail to your SR when you get their address. 

Also, read this information - Letter writing and fun stuff/questionnaire - You may start writing letters now to your SRs, and then when you have their address you may mail them. If you choose to pay for the Sandboxx App, keep in mind that what you write is going to be read by several people, as it is being transferred to your SR. DO NOT use Sandboxx after BC!! It is my understanding that regardless of whether you use postal mail or Sandboxx to send letters, it still takes time for them to train a recruit petty officer mailroom person for each division and so especially initial mail will take the same amount of time to be delivered to your SR. 

Be sure to read the information in the above hyperlinks that I shared as well. Also, read FAQ from BC - U.S. Navy Recruit Training Command > FAQ - be sure to scroll down, open each tab and then scroll through that information - I missed some one day because I did not see the slide bar on the side!

Anyone with thoughts to share on your recent experiences with BC & Sandboxx App, Form letter, or the security form is appreciated. 

The great silence used to be even longer, before the changes with the mailing address notifications. Our mantra around here is "No News is Good News!" and "Semper Gumby" - Always Flexible.  

As loved ones of SRs, we are all in training as well, Navy life is not easy, both for our sailors and for us. Even with new technology that allows faster communication from the ships and port visits, this is still the "silent" service. This is where we learn to grow stronger, find encouragement and understanding from among our fellow Navy Loved Ones. 

I wrote emails to my SR every night from the time he left. Once I had his mailing address then I printed those out and mailed them to him. It helped me to see his smiling face on his little avatar as I emailed him, and I mostly shared things we had done as a family. Be sure to keep your writing positive. If you are having major difficulties with your SR being gone, please don't hesitate to share. You are not the first person to be a "hot mess", and we have our own stories to share as well. 

Others of us are planners and learning to be flexible and bend to the Navy way - can be a challenge.  Ask questions, and share. 

PIR live streaming begins in just a few minutes!

Our graduation ceremony will be live streamed Friday at 0900 Central. Use either our Facebook or YouTube link to view.

If you have a new sailor, or you received your "I'm a sailor" call, be sure to reach out to me and ask for the Beyond BC group link. 

I forgot to mention - Informed Delivery - USPS - this is a service offered by the USPS and before they sent SR addresses out by Sandboxx App, many of our members would watch for the form letter and see the return address on Informed Delivery and be able to send out their letters. I will say, this service works more accurately in some locations than others. 

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Good Morning Everyone!!  How are we doing? 

One more week closer to PIR!!! WooHoo!!

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10 Years ago today I watched as my middle child took an oath to defend our country against all enemies, Foreign and Domestic.  I cannot believe how quickly time has passed nor how slow some of those days have been!! HooYah Navy!!

Wow - 10 years, that's excellent! It's always an adventure, isn't it?!

TravelinMom -- That it is!!

Ladies, This is a Regular Announcement: Please put this information in your Phones:
I have a contact labeled {sailor ICE} with this phone number and text number as the phone number under the contacts, then I have the needed contact info in the notes section. The info in Italics below. Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it or have to remember where or what you need! In the event of an emergency I can just pull up the info on my phone and hand it off if I’m not able to think clearly!!

If an emergency (such as a serious illness, death or birth) of an immediate family member takes place then military families can initiate a request for Red Cross emergency assistance. The message will be verified and then delivered. If the emergency requires leave for a service member, the Red Cross will verify the emergency to the service member’s commanding officer. Eligibility for emergency leave will ultimately be determined by them. Throughout the process, the family member will be able to track the progress of the message from anywhere in the world online, by phone, through our mobile app or in person.

To best prepare for an emergency, please have this information ready when reporting an emergency message:

· The service members name, rank, social security number and unit address {SR Davy Jones, 123-45-6789, Great Lakes Naval Training Center Ship 99, Div 1904.} {In Fleet This would be their Ship Name and number}

· The name of the person with the emergency and the nature of the situation {King Neptune, Hospitalized in critical condition}

· The name and contact information for the medical authority to contact regarding the status of the emergency {Doctor Jack Sparrow, Barbados General Hospital, 555-123-4567}

To access these services through the Hero Care Network, create an account and send the message here or send through the Hero Care app by texting “GETHEROCARE” to 90999 or call a Hero Care specialist at 1-877-272-7337.

Please have this discussion before your sailor leaves or ask in an early call or letter (Reassure them that all is well at home but you have learned you should have asked sooner.) No one likes to talk about the possibility of death but it happens and it’s easier if you have a plan for how to handle these situations. When you can, ask if they want to know about anyone not parent or sibling while in boot camp (They likely will not be allowed to leave anyway), ask if they want to come home if it’s a parent or sibling (In Boot camp, It will likely be short, 2-4 days at most) This is very rare and I only know of one case where it has happened in BC but again, better to be prepared! 
The Red Cross may reach out to you while your SR is in BC. This is normal and nothing to be surprised about. They want to make sure you also have this information available and know that they are there should you need them.

BelovedbyHim - time sure does fly!

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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®

click on the link

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