My daughter is just halfway through bootcamp and her last letter puzzled me. She said she is "still not able to complete a single push-up and isn't even sure how close she is to doing one." We both knew this would be a problem for her. She only had 2 weeks between the day she enlisted and the day she shipped, so not a long of time to work on it. But how is it possible that halfway through, she still cant do 1? When I went through Army basic training, I was ordered to do nearly 500 per day and as a result, just barely passed the final PT. Isn't this something the Chief's are aware of... and are doing their best to assist? She is terrified she will be held back. I am worried for her too. How stressed should I be? Thanks dads!
You need to be a member of Navy Dads to add comments!
Replies
I'd like to say it will all work out and don't stress. First, it may not and me telling you to not worry is a waste of time.
My daughter and I spent the last couple of weeks training for her departure to boot. In that time of prepping, my daughter could only manage five push ups, fifteen sit ups and never broke seventeen minutes for the run. She was very worried.
I got a letter from her and she had only improved slightly, but was far from the requirements. I kept sending her letters everyday, telling her to be strong, use her spare time, if any, to practice.
She wrote me a letter saying that a couple of mates were helping her and she was getting better. I got my next to the last phone call and she went on and on about how the RO's were great in helping and how she had no fear in passing. She passed her PFA on determination.
Looking back on it now, all the worrying I did was for not. It was on her.
So.....you're not going to be get off the hook, you are going to stress out. Sorry, that is our duty and price that we pay to send them off. Write her everyday and be positive. Tell her that she is not alone in her desperation and to turn that into a fierce desire to prevail. They, her mates and RO's, want her to succeed. She can find a way.
All you can do is be positive and push her. She should have been more prepared and ready for the physical demands at RTC. She will have more chances to improve but in the end she will have to pass PFA- if not she'll go to FIT to work on passing the test. She will have to pass though or she will be discharged.