Camp Pendleton Corpsmen Moms

@docsmom Hi I think my son might be going there. I know he is staying at CP and he said 4 others went to same spot. with him. 

@docsmom  I think mine is going there.  He is staying at CP too.

Hi All.  My son is graduating from A school in San Antonio on 2 July and will be reporting to Camp Pendleton for FMTB on 16 July.  He is very excited and I am excited for him...and nervous.  Looking forward to learning all about this as we go along.  I am just happy he's on the West Coast because all of our family is on the West Coast!

My son graduates Friday too. Have not heard from him this week. Does anyone know if they get off after graduation?

The graduates who are reporting to jobs on Camp Pendleton might be picked up, taken to their clinic for a quick tour, and then checked into their barracks.

Thanks. Proud of all the graduates of FMTB!

DramaSoul...my son graduates tomorrow and he LOVED this training.  We're on the east coast, though.  Hope your son does well. 

Congrats to all the graduates tomorrow!

Great graduation ceremony.  Congratulations to all the "Docs"!

Kathy, Congratulations to the "Devil Doc"!!!!

Those pictures brought back fond memories of my "doc's" graduation at CP two years ago!

Son and daughter at graduation 6/29/12. Happy times.

Hi to All - we just got back from visiting our son at CP. This is the first year the "Navy" guys were asked to be a part of the 4th of July parade in downtown Oceanside. It was a gorgeous day and they looked amazing in there dress Whites  marching in formation!!!! 

We stayed for 4 nights in Carlsbad. If I could give any advice I would recommend this cute , quaint little beach town it was fantastic. A lot of little shops and eatery's - with a great view of the beach. Also beach combing/walking is user friendly:) 

We were able to tour the base and see where our son is living and working for now-(until FMTB starts) Then he took us to see where they move them too for this training. "Devil Doc" Hall. It is down closer to the beach (Del Mar) on base. What a great beach!!!!  Went shopping in the commissary with him and then to yogurtland for a treat. The base is quite LARGE.....I just thought I would throw all this out there so you can kind of get a picture of what things are like there for your sailors. 

Does anyone know anything about ricon(sp) corpsman and if so can you fill me in??

Thanks, Kathy!  Loved the pics you posted.  Where is your Devil Doc off to now?

Kathy...my son will be going to 29 Palms after FMTB! And he has been doing P90X while home so far.  Yeah he is really aware of not slacking off on PT.  As soon as he got the FMTB orders he started doing two-a-days while at Ft. Sam.  It is one of the reasons when he was asked to sing in the choir for graduation, he bowed out. He couldn't do everything he needed to do to complete the course work and add the extra PT as well as their duties and sing/rehearse with the choir.  He said there weren't quite enough hours in the day.

I will definitely make sure he orders the DVD.  We have the one from PIR which is just the ceremony and we have The Keel.  Again congrats on your son's accomplishment!!!

Kathy - congrats to your Sailor on graduation!! Also thanks for all the good info you share. I read most all posts from my phone but I don't like to respond from it ...so I just do a lot of creeping ;):)LOL 

Dramasoul - congrats on your Sailors corpsman grad and so glad to hear your trip was good. I agree with you about it being a worthwhile grad to attend. I hope you enjoy your time with him while he is home, it goes by so fast!! Sounds like he will be heading to work at the hospital where my son is? I am sure they will meet up. I did tell my son about meeting you - and told him your son would be there around the 16th - he wanted to know his name. 

Hi All.  Just heard from my Sailor.  He arrived on the 17th and has been doing hospital duty.  He is scheduled to move into "Devil Doc Hall" next week.  He was home for 14 day leave which went by VERY FAST.

Does anyone have the link to what they are doing in FMTB?

DramaSoul...glad to hear. He will have fun. He will be exhausted for awhile but he will have fun. My son has been at CP since January. Did his FMTB training and is now paired up with a Marine unit. It is an experience. Tell him to take care of his feet. Blisters are a BIG problem. My son got these socks that I cannot remember what the name of them are and he swore by them. I am sure someone else here remembers the name of the them. He said he got one blister and then got the socks and they helped a lot. No more blisters and dry feet at the end of the day. Enjoy the ride.

Thanks for the info.  I just sent him a box of things he needed (and forgot at home) including a lot of moleskin!  I will get the socks.  Any suggestion as to where to get them? I really appreciate all the good information!

I just ordered the fox river socks from amazon.   :)   

Kathy, I ordered the socks but my son told me he talked to someone and they said either sand or green! So I ordered two of each.

argggggggggggg.... time to order more socks. lol  live and learn.

momma3many...maybe he can use the brown ones as well.  My son got his info from one of the Marines.  Since they will be wearing marpat (the Marine patterned working uni's which have green, brown and tan in them) the brown may work. 

@drama.  he said "send it all" ha ha.  so i will.  Black and Sand.    If they aren't right maybe he'll love them and buy some for himself.  or ask for more.  that'll be fine.  :)     

wow.  I'm kinda nervous about this new school all of a sudden.   ha ha

My son is soooo looking forward to starting.  He has had some martial arts training so I am guessing he will like landing on the sand instead of a cement floor covered with a mat!  They move into Devil Doc Hall tomorrow!!!

momma2....he will love the socks from what I have heard!

Thought I would share a giggle.  My son said he is in a holding company or as they call it PSI.  I thought pounds per square inch, right? Nope. In Navy-speak, PSI is Pre-School Instruction.  I thought he had been outta preschool for about 19 years that I know of...apparently not!!

Gettin' nervous...they are moving into Devil Doc Hall as I write.  I was just looking at all the requirements.  Whew.  Why am I so nervous? HE'S the one who has to do all of that!

Hi Ladies!  Just wanted to introduce myself...My husband graduated HM School a way's back on May 07th with class 080.  He's been on hold since then working in the ER at Camp Pendleton's Naval Hospital.  Whew, this has been a long and bumpy road!  Well, hello to all from Philly.  Hoping to get some useful info along the way, from what I hear these next two months are going to be worse than boot camp.  Hmmm, curious to know if I can make some cookies for these guys?  I know when they were in Great Lakes, that was a BIG NO NO.  Anywho, my husband just called to let me know that he and his whole class are moved into Devil Doc Hall.  He said they'll be doing actual assignments for their racks on Monday.  He also did say, that the yelling has begun!  Lol. 

Also! Wanted to add another quick question!!!  How soon is too soon to order plane tickets to their graduation this September??  Since it will be me and his sister and we're flying from Philadelphia I wanted to make travel arrangements soon due to the prices only going up!  Any info would be lovely!  Thanks Ladies!

Hi MarissaLeigh! I was looking at those flights myself last night.  My son confirmed that graduation is September 28th.  I haven't booked a flight or hotel or car yet but I think that is on the agenda for this week. 

Good question about the cookies! I am hoping to actually SPEAK to my son (instead of TEXT!) tonight so I will find out if we can send them things like that.

I am in the Great Northwest so hello from there!

I actually SPOKE with my son tonight!

They have moved into Devil Doc Hall (rack assignments to follow on Monday as MarissaLeigh said). And yes, the yelling has begun. As far as I can tell, it's okay to send cookies. 

He is excited to get started with this phase of training.  It was just soooo great to talk with him.  I feel like boot camp all over again when we got those rare phone calls or letters!

Kathy...I found out about sending him something when he requested I sent him a couple of things he forgot at home on leave.  I sent it on the 20th. It's been sitting at the base post office and should get to him sometime next week he was told.  I did send it with a confirmation number so that it could be tracked!  We only had a PO box number so I couldn't send it via FedEx.  Hopefully later this weekend he will text me his address at Devil Doc Hall.

I am most likely going to book my flight with Southwest.  They do not charge for a change in flight.  I had an awful time with US Air when I had to change my flight home from SA.  They were going to charge me a large fee plus the change in what the fare would've been.  I explained that it was due to a change in my son's orders. They said they would forgo the fee one time and I needed to bring a copy of his orders with me when I checked in on the flight home.  I went through all of that and brought the orders...which I didn't need! Soooo...gonna go with Southwest this time!

Alright Ladies!  Day ONE of FMTB!!!  WoooooHooooo!  I got a text from Andy this morning at 6:30am my time, so it was 3:30am his time...Yikes that's early!!!  He talked to his brother last night pretty late but said he was the Corpsman for his Platoon..uhm, aren't they all Corpsmen???  Lol.  If anyone can shed light on that, that would be most wonderful.  I'm so nervous, it really does feel like Great Lakes all over again!  Good to know about sending stuff like baked goods.  I was going to make candied bacon, I guess I wont be sending that now, lol.  I booked my trip over the weekend through Priceline.  Like Great Lakes, I made sure that the tickets were refundable.  Not a bad deal though, with the car, hotel, and flight it came out to less than $500.00. 

My hopes and prayers are with these guys, they're going to need it.  I know Andy was excited to begin FMTB, I'm excited that he's excited but my nerves are a wreck!  I can't wait to hear from him again and from everything I've read there will be days that we don't talk to each other.  I know, that this is prepping us for the possibility of him being deployed...which makes me that much crazier!  Gah!  When I talk to him tonight, I'll send an update on here.  If anyone else hears anything, please do the same. 

Well, I am sitting in a Starbucks in San Antonio getting some work done before my husbands graduation tomorrow morning, and then he is onto Pendleton.

I am a little confused after reading some of the below comments. His orders state that his classes wont start until Nov, so he will be working in a hospital there for a few months. Pendleton is about 2 hours away from our home. (Thank you Jesus!)

I keep reading that it's like GL. Is this because it's very demanding or is it TRULY like bootcamp? I am wondering for Liberty sake. We planned a little get together for him but maybe he wont make it now!?

Amac23:  When I spoke to him about Liberty for FMTB, they are currently at Phase II.  They will have to earn their phases, just like San Antonio.  The activities and PT are just like Boot Camp, actually I heard it was worse than Great Lakes.

If he's on holding until November, when were you planning the get together?  While on holding, Andy took leave to Philly twice.  Once was for a week and the other was for 11 days.  I'm sure your hubby has accrued Leave, so if you're planning anything I would recommend that you do it before his FMTB starts.

Hope this helps.  : )

Marissa...where did you find that price for airfare/car/hotel???  And can you change the flight if you have to without any fees?  

First day of FMTB!! Waiting to hear from my son about rack assignments and an address to which I can send the socks. I am sure PT is a lot harder than at GLRTC.  My son was kinda disappointed (?!) in the PT at boot camp.  He thought it wasn't hard enough.  Don't think he will be saying that now...

Thanks, MarissaLeigh!  I haven't talked to my son since last Friday night.  He is in Platoon 1.  I will check out Priceline. I know there is some place to stay on the base, I think.  I will look into that as well.  If you need to change your flight, is there a penalty or fee? 

It makes sense they're in Phase 1 since they have officially started FMTB.

Hi ladies!  My son started the other day also.  He's in Platoon 1.  I look forward to learning about everyone and their sons.....and their days.  My oldest has been in since 2007 and is HM3.  I also have a younger son that is PO3 and is an aircrew rescue swimmer stationed in Norfolk with a special operations squadron.  My sons are third generation Navy.  Hooyah!

TexasMomof2...my son is in Platoon 1 as well!  I talked with him today.  He was on the beach helping out with a triathlon.  He is excited that next week MCMAP begins next week. 

DramaSoul, hi there!  Which squadron is he in?  I need to ask my son which one he's in.....I think there's 4 squadrons in each Platoon.  Your son was on the beach huh?  San Diego is so pretty!

Hi All! Quick question: does anyone know the contact information for the pay office? There are some questions about my husbands pay check (is it normally for them to deduct 600-800/ mo for meal?) and I dont know who to contact, and he is never out in time to make it to an open office...

No- this charge has been on every check..they are also taking out double child support :/ I am just not sure who to get in touch with...

Hi All...I am looking into hotels for the graduation on 28 Sept.  I thought there was something on the base.  I have to arrive on the 26th because the 27th is a Jewish holiday and I don't want to travel on that day.  Also, I am staying through the 1st.  Any ideas?