Just curious if Companies fill up just as close to the major Holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years) as during the rest of the year and we can expect graduation 8-10 weeks after or are there longer delays and he may not graduate for 12-16 weeks?
Also, what should the Recruits expect on these days? An extra hour of sleep, nothing?
Thanks (Aircrew Dad)
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My son also left on Nov 09, we have just received his cell phone in the mail. we are waiting on the form letter so we can send off letters.
Still looking at 8 weeks. The day of the holiday will simply be a day off like a Sunday. The divisions that are close to PIR near Thanksgiving will be treated to a day away from boot camp to various organizations that feed them turkey and all the trimmings. But the divisions that get to do that are within a week of graduation. So for your recruit, Christmas, New Year and Thanksgiving will be a holiday routine day. At least, historically that's what should happen. You might keep an eye on the RTC web site for any information regarding those holidays.
http://www.bootcamp.navy.mil/index.html
I went to Boot Camp around the same time of year. (Nov 7, 1994 - Jan 11, 1995). You can expect a normal time frame for graduation barring any unforeseen circumstances such as injury, illness, etc. There is generally a reduced training schedule on the actual holidays, but the master schedule will be adjusted to make up for it by having a couple of longer days prior to or after. They will have "Holiday Routine" which basically equates to some free time in the morning to do things like write letters, study, or try to take a quick nap without getting caught. When I went through, there was an Adopt-A-Sailor program at Christmas where members of the local community will take a Sailor or small group of Sailors into their homes for the day and have Christmas dinner. I got to participate in that program. It was a welcome change from the daily grind of RTC. Your son will probably have an opportunity to participate in the program (I'm pretty sure they still have it. It had been going for several years when I participated in it.) since he will be near the end of his training around that time. I don't remember the exact requirements for participation, but I do remember that most everyone that did was past their 5th or 6th week of training and he will be at that point.