questions?

[MRs L*]

okay i have a few questions to anyone who may know the correct answers.

 

 

1) approximately how long after i receive "the box" should i expect to get the form letter?

 

2)when i send his letters i have address labels i had previously printed however they are decorative with mickey mouse, would it still be okay to send it with those?

 

3) i see they are supplied with navy envelopes and stamps.. would you recommend that i send extra stamps because he is planning to write his family if possibe?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

 

[zachsmom*USS Curtis WIlbur]

1) I think it was within 4-5 days after getting the box, but you can get the address info from your recruiter after 3-4 days
2) It all depends on the RDC's (officers). some make them do IT (intensive training) for things like that and some don't care. NO MUSICAL CARDS.
3) I went ahead and slipped a couple of stamped envelopes in with each letter I sent. they get to go to the NEX (store). If you haven't sent him a calling card, go ahead and do so now. It will be about 2 weeks before you get a call. They have to use a calling card. Watch for a number from area code 847. That will be him.

[gsdkids (daughter AN)]

hiswife_hermom,
You should be receiving the form letter anyday now. Some moms receive the form letter the sasme day as the box and others have to wait several days. You can always use the mickey nouse address labels; however, your recruit may be picked out and teased relentlessly for the labels. The labels may be well received or they may not. You need to make that call.

You definitely want to supply stamps to your recruit. Some moms would go as far as mailing self addressed stamped envelopes in their letters. I never did that, just enclosed the stamps. You may also want to mail a phone calling card so your recruit has no problems making telephone calls home-that won't happen until at least week 3. I saw where phone cards are best priced at Costco (700 minutes for around $20.00). Telephone calls are definitely considered a privilege and can be easily withheld. I believe it is normal for most recruits to get 3 telephone calls total. The biggest and the best will be after Battlestations 21 to say "I'm a Sailor" and this is usually a telephone call of about one hour.


When you write to your recruit remember to send news of the outside world. They have no newspapers or television. I would print news stories off the internet, tear out of the newspaper and magazines. Also, I would print pictures on computer paper and enclose in the letters as reminders of home-the dog, the garden, their cars, facebook postings, etc..

Good luck to you and your recruit.


Make sure when you write to your recruit you include news of the outside world. They have no t.v.,

[MRs L*]

THANK YOU to both of you for the info.. its very helpful.

i will def be buying the phone card on thursday, hopefully i have id box and address, but i will be asking his recruiter if i dont by then. as fas as the labels i would not want him to get teased, he doesnt need that added to everything else..so i will send them inside the letters so he can just attach them when sending me letters back that way when i check the mail i will auotmatically know its him..

and about the outside world will do.. i plan on sending him the scores his football teams games and such so he can keep up.. cause that was the only thing he was mad about before he left that he wont see the season..lol.. men these days.

[zachsmom*USS Curtis WIlbur]

hiswife - I also printed several pics of the family on one sheet of paper and sent it with a letter. They like pics!

[chris(Kyles mom )]

Hi there...My name is Chris and my son graduated boot camp Aug 6th. Don't worry about the stamps my son never mentioned anythig to me about wanting stamps. The form letter came around 2 weeks after he left. SAVE THAT LETTER. It will have a password on it that you will need to get your parking pass for graduation. It will also have other stuff that you can refer to. I always wrote my address but I'm sure the sticker labels will be fine. I will tell you that we only received 4 letters and 4 phones calls the entire time, which was real upsetting to me. However, they do not have time. Every sunday they get 4-5 hours of down time BUT it is SUGGESTED that during that time they do their laundry, iron, shine their boots, shower and eat breakfast and lunch. If you did not send a phone card with him send him a phone card. He will need it. Also I sent my son clippings from the Yankees and NY Giants (we live in NY). I sent him a few pictures not many though. He did like to know what was going on with sports though. If you havn,t seen the utube video "battle station 21" its a CNN video look it up and view it. Your son will have that test his last week of boot camp and us as parents lit candles that entire week until every division passed that test. I could talk to you about so much. Mayve you can also start a discussion. Mine was "PIR 8/6/10". Which is Pass In Reveiw. You will get parents who have recruits that will graduate with your son and you become very close. Also we stayed at the Ramada Inn in Waukegan. 4 miles from base, descent hotel and the hotel puts on the "meet and greet" the night before graduation. I hope some of this will help. Feel free to contact me . Good luck!!!!

[SusanA(ship07/divsion284)]

My son also told me that he did not need stamps. I got tons of letters so it definitely depends on the kid and the RDC. After the first 3 weeks they are allowed to write on Sun, Tues and Thurs. At least my son's division was able to. It seems that all the divisions and the RDC that run them do it a little different. We only got two phone calls besides the "I'm a sailor" call after Battlestations. I know some divisions got more. So it all depends. Also I did send my son newspaper clippings of sports scores, etc and he told me in three different letters not to send the newspaper clippings, but to just copy and paste from the internet on a separate piece of paper. They also get a NEX card with I think $150 on it for stuff at the NEX like stamps, phone cards, etc. It is taken out of their paycheck. I sent him off with one card, but he did buy another on his own.
As far as the PIR weekend, we stayed at Hometown Suites. I absolutely loved this place. No shuttle to PIR, but we had no trouble getting there and we had no long traffic lines getting in. It worked out wonderfully. We got a suite, kingsize bed, living room with pull out couch, two tvs and a kitchen all for $69 and a free breakfast and also Mon-Thur a free dinner. Friendly staff and it was very pretty, lots of trees, etc. I was very thrilled. It was about 20 min from the base.

[MRs L*]

wow thats good to hear id like to not have to send him stamps so i can use them to send more letters :)

and $150 NEX i did not know that.. i feel better now cause he had an issue with his account at the airport and his money was all messed up..so atleast i know he'll be able to get his necessities.
he had a phone card but i know he will need another one.. do you know where i can get a not too expensive one i am not a costco or sams club member..
as fas as when sending him the football stats i was planning on sending them written on paper, or type it then print it.. he love it, he a football fanatic..

as fas as his PIR weekend, i will be going with my mother in law and our daughter so i def need 2 beds so.. i will check into the hometown suites though, thanks. when you left to go to the graduation what time did you arrive at the base because ive heard some that there is going to be a long line depending on when you arrive and such and i want to make sure we get good seats.

[gsdkids (daughter AN)]

Springhill Suites is also very nice. There rooms with 2 queens and full bath had a walk in closet plus a sitting area with couch and desk. Very roomy and nicely laid out. Our PIR rate was $99.00. They do have a shuttle that runs to the RTC - one at 6:30 a.m. and then another (I think it was at 7:00). Nice about the shuttle is you don't have to worry about the traffic and parking. Shuttle will bring your recruit back with you to the hotel. Have fun.

[SusanA(ship07/divsion284)]

You can also get the two queen beds at Hometown suites, that is what my mother and sister did.
We left the hotel at 6:00 and got to the base about 6:20, no long line at all and they did not search the car nor look at the car registration of anything. They just looked at our ID's. It is all very well organized. You pull through the gate and they have people directing you to parking, which there is plenty of. You walk through a building with tables and they are checking you in by the list, they stamp your hand and then you walk over to were the PIR will take place. Then you just wait outside of that building, they let you in in groups. We were in and seated by 7:00-7:15. There were still plenty of seating and we saw people coming in as late as 8:30 that still got decent seats. You sit in front of your sailors division. They have big screens showing "the history of boot camp" and some other stuff that was fun to watch. They do have a refreshment cart at one end of the hall to get coffee, sweet rolls, muffins (all prepackaged), sailor hats and stuff. It doesn't start til 9:30 so plan on spending a lot of time sitting. They also have restrooms close by. Once over, it was not hard to find my sailor, he had to go back to his ship and told us that he was on clean up duty for 1 hour, and it took him 20 min to walk back to his ship both directions. So we just hung out at the NEX, etc. Turned out that the RDC didn't make them stay and clean so we didn't have to wait too long after that.

[ilze]

Just one question or two:) for Cris (Kyles mom)
Did you like Ramada hotel and what time was the meet and greet?
And would you, please, tell more about 3 liberty days. Graduation and how and what then? Thank You!

[JessicaB-Sailor Mom]

I liked the Ramada...did not have any security issues, staff was nice, clean, no odors...some have complained though.

The restaurant and free breakfast was nice, has indoor pool.

The M&G is the night before PIR from 6-8pm Try to get your PIR group to ask if it can be held in the ballroom or somewhere besdes the bar...very dark and crowded in there.

What specifics do you KNOW about graduation?

[ilze]

All I know about graduation is may be 3 days of liberty, they have to go back night time, wear uniform all the time. I'd like to know more if... he is late to go back, if someone from Div is late and everybody have limited hours next day or are they aloud to stay in hotel night time etc? Or what if they have duty hours in one of these days? It is all day or some hours? Thank you!