Ship 12 Div. 225 PIR July 8, 2011

[zana_72(Ship 12 Div 225)]

This is my son's division.  Anyone else? 

 

[MidwestMom]

Yes, phone cards are allowed.  How many minutes were on your first phone card?  Mine had 500 minutes so I figure he used <100 of them on the phone call yesterday or do you think it would be more for a call under 20 minutes? 

[Lorie]

Hi midwestmom...i believe he had 300 minutes with him. Im unsure how many minutes it takes to call. I know he called me and his grandad. I just hate the thought that he may run out even though he probably wont. Are you and yr family going to PIR? I cant wait to see them in uniform and to get a huge hug!!

[Peggy]

Hi All.  Thanks for your helpful comments.

I am a (southwest) Minnesota mom.  We missed our son’s call last Thursday; he left a quick “Hello” on the answering machine…so we are anxiously awaiting his next call.  The phone rang twice tonight, but no one responded on the other end; and we do not have caller ID, so we do not know if it was him or not.  (It could be an issue with our phone.)  It is our understanding that he is able to purchase telephone calling cards at boot camp/recruit training. 

 

We have received three letters from him; our daughter has received one.  He told us he has only received 2 (of my 5) letters, plus 2 letters from 2 different friends.  He has not received any of his Dad’s 3 or so letters.  Although they are only able to write letters on Sunday, his recruiter told us that they can “receive” letters more frequently.  (My guess is that they may not “hand them out” on the dates they are received at RTC.)  I also asked his recruiter whether or not recruits are harassed for getting too much mail…he said he had never heard of that before.  In our son’s last letter, he said, “I greatly appreciate the letters.”

 

He said he’s had some “rough” days, but it has gotten better. 

(Hearing that was a relief!)

Here are some of his comments:

“It seems I can’t do anything right.” (early letter)

“My faith—more than anything—is what has gotten me this far.” (later letter)

“I’m in a good division…my shipmates are always there to help me.  It’s pretty cool…I have 80+ people in my division and a lot of them know my name (mainly for getting yelled at a lot, but it’s still cool.)”

“A typical day around here is something like this…wake up around 5 am or earlier, make bed, shave, brush teeth, eat breakfast for 10 min., clean compartment, practice marching, some days have classes or computer lab, study book, eat lunch/dinner, shower, sleep, wake up to do security watch of room or iron, some days…work out with other divisions.”

 

He said he had 3 wisdom teeth pulled in about 5 minutes (“not much pain”).  One good thing is that they put him on two days of bed rest, so he was able to catch up on some sleep.  He had just been to the dentist before he left, so having teeth pulled surprised me; but my dad—who was in the army—said he thought it was “standard” procedure, so they/Navy would not have to have issues with teeth when out on the ocean.

 

Here are some more of my son’s comments:

“I just wanted to thank you two for raising me the way you did.  I know I did not grow up in the most exciting part of the country, but it was safe and friendly.  Talking to a few kids here…had a tougher life.  A few of them were in gangs and have had guns to their heads, been shot at.  I never had to deal with that life style and I’m very grateful for that.”

 

My husband and I look forward to reading your future comments.

[Anne PIR 7-27-12 Ship 04 Div 817]

Wow that must have been really nice to hear.  I'm glad all the SR's in their div are getting along and helping each other. Keep us updated b/c the info is helpful b/c my son hasnt written anything like that.

[Peggy]

I just saw the following on this website posted by someone else and would like to pass it on...

Mail:
 Recruits will mail home a letter with their address in the first week of training. Unfortunately, neither RTC nor your local recruiter can give you their address any sooner because of the Privacy Act; only your recruit can give you their address. But once you have it, start sending those letters!
 Once a recruit arrives onboard their ship (barracks),they will begin receiving their mail, usually around week 2-3.Please don‟t be alarmed if your recruitwrites home asking why they haven‟t received any mail when you‟ve been mailing them consistently since you received their address. Because the recruitsmove around in their first couple of weeks at BootCamp, it takes a couple of weeks for the mail to catch up to them. Don‟t be alarmed; they will get their mail!
 While you can write to your recruit every day, they can only write to you a few evenings each week and while they are on “holiday routine,” meaning Sundays and holidays. We know it‟s hard, but please don‟t sit near your mailbox waiting for the mail each day. Just keep writing to your recruit, and they will write back when they are able.
 And now that you have that address, why not include family photos; a funny snapshot of their pet; or newspaper clippings of their favorite sports team or comics? Recruits can receive anything that can fit into a standard-sized envelope, and pictures and news from home might help ease some of their homesickness as well.
 Resist the urge to send a care package or write on the outside of the envelope. We know you want to send your recruit their favorite homemade chocolate chip cookies, but recruits cannot receive these (they‟ll be thrown away). Also,remember that the envelope will be seen by their RDC, so putting stickers or writing all
over their envelopes might make them uncomfortable.

 

Phone calls:
 The most important piece of advice here is tomake sure that your recruit has a phone card! Many cell phone companies no longer allow collect calls, so if you want to hear from your recruit, make sure they have one with sufficient credit.
  Recruits are given a very short phone call (approximately 15-30 seconds) when they arrive to let you know they‟re safe. This will help alleviate some of the anxiety as you‟ll hear from them immediately and know they are safe and sound.
 Recruits are given phone calls from time to time throughout training as a reward for outstanding performance. There is no set schedule and no way to know when or if these calls will come. The best thing to do is go about your normal daily routine and keep writing to your recruit.
 Recruits are also given a phone call when they fail a training requirement, or become injured or ill, which could delay their graduation. Unless you receive this phone call (not in a letter, but in a phone call), you can assume that everything is fine and going as planned.
 The final call you‟ll receive from your recruit is the call letting you know they are no longer a recruit, but a Sailor in the World‟s Finest Navy! This call comes their final week of training the morning after they pass Battle Stations-21. This is an emotional call for the Sailors and their families. If you‟d like a heads-up on when the call may come (so you can make sure not to miss the moment), please ask your recruit when they will run Battle Stations-21. Unfortunately, again,
neither RTC nor your local recruiter will be able to give you this information, only your recruit.

[Peggy]

If they are unable to get through via telephone, do they lose their call?

 

[MidwestMom]

No answer on the phone call either.  It may be up to your SR to tell the RDC that he wasn't able to talk with you...and he may or may not be willing to do that. 

24 days!!!  I hope it is going as fast for them as it seems to be for me.  Of course, I'm just a mom and not a wife!  You ladies have it tougher.

[Anne PIR 7-27-12 Ship 04 Div 817]

Let's go Ladies.. Trivia is at 10 am.  Let's see if we can win this.

 

[Peggy]

This is new to me...where do you go to answer the trivia questions?

[MidwestMom]

I hope you got it for us Haywhe!  I forgot all about it. 

PeggyAnn - RTC does a Tuesday trivia question on their Facebook page and the winning person gets to have their recruit's division picture posted on Facebook.  Last week 226 was posted (our SR's brother div.)

[Peggy]

Thanks, Midwest Mom...after some searching, I finally found it..." U.S. Navy Recruit Training Command."  (There were other choices when did a search for it.)  Today's answer to the trivia question was "brass knuckles."  That would be nice if we could get a photo of Division 225 on Facebook!

[Anne PIR 7-27-12 Ship 04 Div 817]

I was a bit confused this week when searching for the info, but I have a plan next week.  My son and I will be working together, on both computers.  I know where to look for the info.  I was so mad  at myself b/c I have read that stuff over and over for the past couple of weeks.  I will be prepared this time. It's kinda fun.  I will remind Div 225 Ship 12 Monday night.