Sunday, August 26, 2012
I am the Dad of a Navy Recruit. I’m going to keep his name out of this forum for security reasons. I will tell you that he just finished his 1-week.Last Friday the 24th , my son called me from RTC GL about 1600 PST. I’m ex-Navy, I know that I was not going to hear from him until near the end of boot camp .
So right off I know something is up. He tells me that he is in the Navy Hospital that he had had an anxiety attack. The Dr.’s had already talked to him, diagnosed him and where going to process him out. All in the space of one day. I went from being excited about my son’s future in the Navy and the idea of some great bennies for college to total shock and confusion. What had happened? What was so bad that the Navy would kick my son out all in a 6hr time frame? When I was in Basic you had to commit some heinous crime to get tossed that quick! I will tell you that if the navy taught me anything, it was to regroup and move on .
Over the course of the day he called three times. While on the phone with him I was concerned and supportive. I could tell he was distraught so I didn’t grind him for too much information. I asked him what he felt . He said they told him the USN was not for going to work for him. That’s it. By the end of the day he said he was being moved to a holding barracks for up to three weeks during until his separation. I find out now that is Ship 5.
As of today (Sun.) I am still in shock, and somewhat angry.
From the forum entries I have read here, it seems that this condition is the biggest reason for discharging recruits. And that the majority of the cases take place in the first two weeks. I know that the screening process before enlistment is thorough . But my son was on the DEP program for 8months prior to shipping out to basic. I’m thinking that they dropped the ball here. My son has always been an honest upfront person. He would not seek to deceive or cheat.
What now? He comes home feeling shame and despair? Like most, he cut all his losses before leaving for basic. No job, no car, no money. And no VA benefits, at all. I told him everything I could think of about boot camp. He knew that there was going to be hard days ahead. I guess I should have yelled at him alot. That might have prepared him better. I never had to. He's a good kid.
I hope that his recruiter got a nice promotion for all the kids he signed up.
Replies
I have a friend whose son joined the Marines not so long ago. This young man was very GUNGO HO about joining up and becoming a Marine...right up to the time he left for basic. Shortly after getting there though, he had a major meltdown. He was eventually released and escorted home soon after. It's hard for us as parents to accept...we hate to see our kids as...less than perfect...in all areas of life. But that's not always the case, is it? Like we ourselves do, they too sometimes fall. What matters though is not that they fall, but how long it takes for them to get back up again. Be there to help him do just that, to get back up again. Support, love and encouragement is what he'll need. Not anger and resentment. Hang in there!
It is hard to imagine dropping everything to ship off to RTC only to be sent home shortly after with nothing to show for it. The Navy is not for everyone, and it is probably better for some to get out while in basic as opposed to once they are out in the fleet. One of the reasons that they are so hard at RTC is to make sure that you can handle the stress of military life, it is designed to weed out those who may struggle down the road. It may be true that your sons recruiting office dropped the ball as every office is a little different. I, personally, feel that my office has done a good job of preparing us for RTC and the Navy in general. We are yelled at, put in stressful situations, and made to pay for mistakes that we make; and all of this will be done to a greater degree after shipping out. I am sorry if you feel that your son was wronged in some way, but maybe the military was simply not for him. I wish you both the best of luck in the future.