A few unanswered questions

[caylex 9/279]

Hi there, 

 

I have been searching and reading a lot over the last two weeks since my son left.  But there are a few things I have not been able to find, as I'm still trying to get used to N4Ms.

 

1.  I found info on when to expect mail to start arriving home, but has my son been getting my letters yet?  When we first met with our recruiter, we were told that the recruits get mail every day but can only write on Sundays.

 

2.  The day my son left for MEPS and the hotel, we had to go to the recruiter's office first. At that time, he said my son was getting 5 days off after PIR and could come home. Nowhere, not once, have I read a post from someone on here that has mentioned that??

 

3.  My 91 year old grandmother mailed my son a card the day after we received his address.  I found out later the card's envelope was blue and even had clouds on it!  YIKES  I read somewhere (possibly not this site) that if a recruit receives mail in anything other than a white envelope, they will be punished. My grandma overheard me say this (YIKES again!) and now is extremely upset, crying and stressed out because she thinks she is getting her great grandson in trouble!  HELP

 

thanks, Stacey

[momof5]

Yes, A school shuts down for 2 weeks during Christmas, at least Great Lakes does. I imagine they all do.

[Craig]

caylex - The school house always shuts down.  The Navy believes in maximum time off during this time.  Once you are married, you'll find out that you never want to take Christmas leave because "holiday routine" gives you so much time off. As a minimum, we had every other day off but usually alot more.  This is all on shore duty,  Ship aboard duty still allows you time off, but not as good as the shore duty guys.

 

As far as coming home while in "A" school.  My nephew comes home at least once a month for the weekend.  He is trying to keep a relationship going, and justifies his thoughts by saying "I don't drink, so what else do I have to spend my money on?"  Which I totally agree with.  Round-trip flights from P-cola to Denver are $310.00.   All he does is puts in an "out-of-bounds" chit.  An out-of-bounds chit is needed in P-cola since Denver is more than 300 miles away.  Last month he came home twice, one weekend after another just because of this relationship.  

[caylex 9/279]

So not to sound dumb here, but are you saying my son will not be coming home for the holidays?  The blasted recruiter said that it wouldn't be regular leave because the school closes.

[Anti M]

He'll get to come home, and it will be regular leave.  The recruiter was mistaken about the type of time off.

[lemonelephant]

Actually, since I now know that your Recruit is going to A School at San Antonio for MA, no, your Sailor most likely will not be home for the holidays.  A School at Lackland is 7 weeks, but could be a week or 2 longer if he doesn't "class up" right away, so he will be finishing A School in October and if he comes home after A School, then he would have to go in the hole to take leave at Christmas and few want to do that and the command may not grant that request anyway.  I suppose he could still be at Lackland if he were chosen to receive additional training there and then yes, he could get to go home for the holidays. 

[MidwestMom]

Stacey -- Even after they get to A school, there is no telling how long he'll be on hold, exactly when he'll start classes or exactly when he'll graduate.  Everything is hurry up and wait and the sooner us parents understand that, the less stressed we'll be.  Craig can correct me, but I think he's saying that your son may have the option of taking 'leave' during the holidays when school is shut down or he may opt to just go home during the time that the school is closed using an 'out-of-bounds chit', thereby saving his limited leave time.  Christmas is on a Sunday, so if he only comes home for a few days, he might be able to do it without using his leave time.  Four weeks of leave each year is very generous, but it goes by quickly so your son may opt to try to save some and then take more time off next summer.  :)

[Anti M]

Liberty is 72 hours or less, 3 days only, with four days being a special and rarely granted exception.  Some commands and schools are more flexible than others, there are plenty who will not approve the out of bounds chits, notoriously, Great Lakes.   Coming home for a few days without using leave makes it a very short amount of time indeed.

The schools push them to take the full two weeks during the holiday stand down.  They don't have to, but almost all do.  At Great Lakes, some of the ships close down to save money/energy/staffing, and they are all moved into temporary quarters.  The staff truly prefers the students get the hell out of their hear.

If the sailors have not earned enough leave days, they can sign a paper to borrow ahead.  This is called "going in the hole" and in my opinion, to be avoided.  They earn leave at 2.5 days per month.  Count up, count ahead and estimate how many days they will have earned, and if they borrow, how long it will take them to get back to zero.  Leave is a precious commodity, and is very simple to sort out how much will be earned, and how to use it to best advantage for each individual.

[caylex 9/279]

Thank you for the information!  You've all been a big help.  My son's A School will be in San Antonio.

[Craig]

Midwest - Thanks for explaining that.  I talk Navy 24x7, so sometimes I say things that civilians don't understand.

Per the Leave - During Christmas, he will be able to take leave.  It's usually from Dec 20th to Jan 3rd or so.  This leave counts against the amount he earns, so the sailor needs to use it wisely.

If you decide not to take leave, then you work on the base somewhere.  You muster in, you work 1/2 day, then your off (usually).  We normally worked Mon, Weds, Friday.  Tuesday and Thursday were just liberty days, which don't count against your leave balance.  This is why the older sailors, or the married sailors don't take leave during Christmas time.  I mean heck, you have the time off and aren't being charged.  You use the leave that you didn't use during Christmas, and use it at another time.  

When this sailor is in "A" school, he can fly home for the weekend, as long as they submit an "out-of-bounds" chit.  In Pensacola, if you go more than 300 mile away on the weekend, you are required to have this chit.  Like I said, my nephew is in "A" school now, and comes home during the long holiday weekends, because that doesn't count as leave.

Does this make sense to everyone now?

[Anti M]

I know about the relaxed liberty during the hoidays, but is it that relaxed for stident sailors?

[BunkerQB]

RECRUITERS ARE SAILORS TOO.

There are good recruiters and there are bad recruiters, just like there are some sailors that are better than others. Many do recruiting as part of their shore duty. Some may not even like the job but it was what he/she was assigned. I really don't think any of them deliberately go out of their way to give you erroneous information. I understand many families and recruits may be frustrated and rightly so but with this website, you are getting the needed information. By the way, this website is manned  almost 100% by unpaid volunteers. There are a few who are currently sailors (like Angie) who drop in and help outside of the normal job description. Your sons/daughters have signed up to be employed by the United States Navy.  If he were hired by a civilian company, would he bitch that he may not get to come home for Christmas?  I don't think so. The line is 5 deep if he is put out because he can't come home to see the family for the holidays.There are scores who would be happy to work through the holidays just to have a job. As parents we have to learn to be supportive of this new world order which may or may not coincide with the "normal" family holiday schedule.

My son is single - he volunteers to stay on duty during the holidays because he knows how difficult it is the married sailors to be away from the family during xmas, especially if the sailor has kids. I would have like to have had him home once in awhile during the holidays but we make our own holidays whenever he is in town. He goes to bat for his shipmates and they in return help him when the need arises.

[Craig]

Anti M - As far a Corry Station, if you don't have duty, and it's the weekend, and you want to go outside the 300 radius, you just submit an "Out-of-Bounds" chit.  The only problem I have heard is if the sailor requests to go to New Orleans.  What's weird is New Orleans is within the 300 mile radius, but they have placed it on the out-of-bounds list.  I guess the flashing boobs causes the male sailors to have heart attacks.   

BunkerQB - Well said!