After several months and two private consultations, they gave our son a waiver. He is set to leave April 25th for Great Lakes. This journey has been a hurry up and wait process and hopefully all will go well from here forward. I told him all in God's timing not ours... He did get to spend more time with his Grandfather (my Dad) whom he knows he will not see again this side of Heaven. My dad is terminally ill and my son is his youngest Grandchild. We pray he will be able to see our recruit…

Our son left for bootcamp Wednesday.   We got the call just after midnight.  He has arrived, he is safe, I will get a box.  Just like everyone said, it was an awful phone call. Very short, very scripted.  Yet I also heard in his voice determination, let it go mom I really am okay, and then he hung up and their was silence.  Of course I am proud, and I am only sad for me and how I will miss him.  However, I am more excited for his journey, and all the stories from him to come. 

I'm…

So one more week and I will be in Great Lakes with my other 2 daughters for graduation!!!

News? Well no news is good news I keep telling myself. Last phone call she was doing well and enjoying it all. She said she hadn't written and apologized, but I understand. I write to  her often enough. All she had to do was get through the initial run and swim to set her mind at ease, after that she wouldn't let anything get in the way. I am pretty blessed with a daughter that will push herself…

I found out from the Navy Operations Security Support Team on Facebook that there is a new edition of the Navy Social Media Handbook for 2019. It is long, and for a varied audience: Leaders, "Navy Communicators", Sailors, Families, Ombudsmen, and Navy Civilians. It informative, and worth the…

As a former commander of a unit in the Army, I see that my son isn't given the counsel he needs. Temporary hold is no joke. This is their chosen career and they should be able to seek advice from JAG officer. I fear that he will be out processed soon, separated from his goal. It isn't all happy for these kids. Some need direction. Some need a skill. Many, so many are there to serve, serve their nation with pride in their hearts.

Not all get to stay Navy. 

Some will be turned…

The Navy has specific things they will waiver. Some they will not. My son's asthma is not bad. He has had very few problems with it over the years. During the Gulf Wars more people were MedEvac'ed for asthma than anything else. I understand the Navy's concern. 

He made it. He improved so much through the recruit training. He made it through graduation. He is so proud of himself. We were proud of him. I have tried to guide him to the Chaplains, to JAG, to maybe find that one doctor who…

My son, his dream, his plans. They are going away. He is still fighting to stay in, but they found he has asthma. I know as a former military commander, these things are not the best to have in a unit. Still he made his way through recruit training. 

Now he sits. He is fighting, but his spirit is broken. This was his dream. It may be lost