supplies

[Karlsmom]

Should we send postage and envelopes and such. Or do they purchase the supplies there?

[Adam's mom Ship: 04 Div: 076]

Hi Karlsmom!! I'm new here but read your post and had to reply. My son is in BC(Ship:04 Div: 076) and will have his PIR(graduation) on Feb 5,10. What I've learned early on is that it really helps them save time if you send a preaddress/stamped envelope for the letter that you want them to send back to you, in addition to your letter.
Since they have very limited time, (25 min tops)2 x wk to write all their letters, secs count! I also have sent extra stamps, and my son was very grateful for this. I thought in the beginning that he could just buy this stuff as he needed it, but that's not the case. He just wrote a letter and said that he was getting low on paper. So, I sent him plain paper with more stamps. Cartoons, newpaper clippings etc. might bring a laugh or two! Anything that can fit into a standard size envelope. But, NO stickers or drawings on the outside of the envelope!
Hope this helps! Have a great Navy day!! Deb

[Karlsmom]

Deb,
Thank you! That definitely was a big help. My son is Ship 04 Div 806. He graduates March 5. He is going EOD.I appreciate your help. Please stay in touch.
Donna

[Adam's mom Ship: 04 Div: 076]

You are so welcome. Glad that I could help. Best wishes with BC. You are more than welcome to stay in touch.
Deb (Adam's mom)

[Lynne Proud USS Iwo Jima ET Mom]

I'm glad to find this particular discussion....I ordered 9 postcards thru a scrapbooking site so that I can send one a week to him while he's in bc. They have a pic of us, or his cat or his friends, so its like having photos but with a different look. I plan on enclosing them with my standard letters to him. Will this still be acceptable? Don't need my recruit catching heat for my mistake.

[Shef's Mom]

if my son has to go get paper, stamps or other supplies I will never hear from him but I sent him off to college with all these supplies and he never touched them.

I've read a bunchof posts about these topics but want to review:

1. Supplies for them to write to us - do we send a few sheets of plain paper? stamps? envelopes? do we mail these to them after they've arrived?

2. Calling cards - I've never used a calling card. What do we get? I'd read to have it activated and for them to try it while they're home before leaving. Anything else about these cards? Be real specific please. Do we mail them or he takes it with him?

3. We'll be able to write to them before they can write to us right? So we can mail them the supplies and people's addresses after they've arrived?

[Arwen]

1) I try to include a pre-addressed stamped envelope with each letter for my son to reply. Just fold it up and put it in your letter. It may cost a little extra postage for the whole thing, though.

2) Using calling cards can be complicated, practice is good. It will save time when they actually get to use it at boot camp. Some don't need to be activated (they are activated by the cashier), others have to be activated by the purchaser, and you don't want your recruit to have to waste time doing that when they only have 15 minutes to call home. You can get just about any landline calling card. We got AT&T cards, but you can get several different kinds at most grocery stores at their gift card display. Just make sure they aren't cell phone cards.

3) You will be able to write to them as soon as your recruiter gives you their address, or if they don't get that information quickly (mine didn't), as soon as you get the form letter, which will include their address, their graduation date and a lot of other information. It also has the password to get your on base parking pass for PIR, so be sure to keep that form letter!

Warn your recruit that, although you may start sending mail day 2, it sometimes takes as much as 3 weeks to get to them. Recruits need to know ahead of time about this delay so they don't get depressed, thinking you have forgotten them. They may start writing as early as the second week. How much they write is individual. I know some moms who get 7 or more pages each week, while I only get about 1.5 pages from my son.

[Stacey]

they do have to show pictures that they receive to the chief, so tell them to keep them PG!

[Arwen]

Oh, also, it's not like college. In boot camp they actually WANT to communicate!

My son went to college and I NEVER heard from him, except the occasional phone call which I usually had to initiate. He had so many things to do, he could stay up all night on the internet, go out and play D&D with friends at midnight, etc. And home was a cell phone call away any time he wanted.

In boot camp they are isolated from the world, stuck in a room with 90 strangers (87 other recruits and three RDCs) and have almost no access to phones, there is no entertainment or any meaningful "down time." So they grasp the only thing they have: a pen and paper.

The first letter I got from boot camp is the first letter I ever received from my son, and that includes month-long summer trips to stay with out-of-state grandparents, summer camp, etc. Though once he gets to A school with his cell phone and laptop I fully expect him to convert right back to his old self. But he might text/email more often.

When my son got his 3rd week call he was almost in tears because he nearly lost his time because his calling card wouldn't work. I could NEVER imagine my son so emotional about being able to call home.

[navysister09]

I think the pre-addressed stamped envelope is a good idea. I got 6 letters from my brother while he was there. He got paper/envelopes/stamps once he got there.