Yes! I'm in but I will say I couldn't access it on one computer, but was able to at work. I can see that you took it from 'hidden' to publicly viewable, but I had a hard time finding the group initially. Thanks for approving me!

I checked with my son.  Here's the deal (at least as it was a year ago).  There is no training for the two weeks around Christmas.  The candidates have liberty of the base and if they are in the candio phase, may also be able to go into town.  They may, if they choose, leave Newport for a week, but that would count as leave time.  Since they accumulate leave while in training, he felt it didn't make much difference,  Sorry to have had it wrong. 

Here's a LINK to the info I posted about Candio boxes. 

I remember using the FB class groups before my son's as a gauge to what is allowed in the candio boxes. I'm vaguely remembering finding some details on either the OCS website or OCS FB group but can't remember exactly.

Hi,  

The navy is bad at communicating and things do seem to change all the time, but my experience was that the holiday leave meant that the length of the program extended by 2 weeks.   OCS training did not happen during that period.  The candidates had two weeks leave -- one week on base and the other at home -- and they had a choice of which week to take at home.  It didn't affect their post-training leave.  And yes yes yes re Appendix B -- there is nnly so much of the OCS stress that can be managed before they go and they are in a much better place if they are prepared on that.

I think both recruits & parents/friends might be hesitant to post & ask questions if both are in one group so you might want to encourage one of the recruits (maybe your son?) to have a separate group for themselves. I've seen recruit groups become F&F after OCS starts but I've also seen separate groups. 

That's fantastic that your son is preparing so well. It's such a mental game there that I honestly think the memorization part is so critical to have beforehand. Plus they are exhausted by all the physical that memorizing while there is so tough.

How interesting that they have to report a week early. Yeah, it's anyone's guess why they change things. The Navy is notorious for that even once the sailors are at their duty station so you all will want to mentally adjust/prepare for that. :)

Good thought in US VPN. Wow, what an added element to navigate being overseas.

I will send another message with my notes on Candio boxes; I think there are limits on how long these msgs can be. 

It's odd, the group was undiscoverable last night on my home computer and ipad, but I was able to easily access it at work today. My membership is pending. Thanks so much!

barbrag:  When my son was DQ'd from flight, he was given the option to leave OCS and the Navy with no obligation, which he DIDN'T want to do.   I think he was given limited options to transfer to, because there had to be space available for him in the training program he chose.  There were others in his class who were also DQ'd.  One of them I remember went to aircraft maintenance, because he still wanted to be around planes. 

My son is starting OCS in October, as well! I'm still poking around this site for info. Best of luck to your son/daughter!

Sure, you're welcome. I remember searching for information on the OCS process; it was so hard to find details. I think they do that on purpose so it adds to the intimidation factor for the candidates. :) You have some great advice from M's mom in your comments. I would 2nd the being physically ready & doubly stress the importance of knowing "Appendix B" before getting there. It is such a stressful environment that it's so helpful to have a lot of that memorized beforehand. 

I'm glad you went ahead & made the FB group. People will find it, especially once their child has left for OCS. You might want to add to the title or put in the description that it's for friends & family. I think the chatter is very different when it's a group for the candidates vs for family & friends. 

The FB page for OCS is "Officer Training Command Newport". Search for that & you'll find it. You might get lucky & see a photo posted of your son once he's there but you can also see progress through the different evolutions of previous classes. They don't give a ton of details but there is some info.

Make sure you know about CandiO boxes. They are a real fun way to celebrate when your son reaches that stage. I did a post about them that I can look for if you need details.

Your son will have to sign up for phone calls once he gets to that point. He won't get phone privileges until after INDOC(trination) phase which is 3 weeks. The phone calls are only 10 minutes & go by really fast but still wonderful.

I posted what I could remember of the the whole 13 week program after my son when through in 2020-2021. I'm happy to send that to you if you haven't found it yet. Some things might have changed but I think they generally keep the same format.

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