Class 08-17 A/B Newport Rhode Island started Jan 8, 2017

Sean Crean October 27, 2018 at 8:07am

LTB said:

NavyDads_Admin> I clicked on the OCS Class photos and it only went to a larger screen shot of what you posted. Was that what you meant to post?

To any other parent with a son or daughter in 08/17> Just realized all of our kids are halfway through their 3rd week which means the 'Fast Cruise' may be behind them according to a recent post I found at a Mom's Navy website when looking for information on 'Fast Cruise'. Here's a cut and paste of the post from last week-

"Fast Cruise (the first major rollable event)occurs Friday of the 2nd week--thus Fri for yours. If he rolls, he will be in good company. Lots do.

RLP occurs Thursday morning of the 3rd week. They have a chance to repeat it Friday AM. The last class had 8 that did not pass Thu and they all helped to get 6 more through on Friday. Good teamwork. If you are a praying mom, pray for this Fri and next Thu."

Regarding rolling, I found these three recent posts which are most encouraging addressing a question about what happens to them if they roll-

"They go into the "H" Company or Holding Company. They move back 3 wks for potential graduation, but I don't believe they need to redo previous accomplishments--so they go into holding until they are ready to repeat."

"They go into the "H" Company or Holding Company. They move back 3 wks for potential graduation, but I don't believe they need to redo previous accomplishments--so they go into holding until they are ready to repeat."

"When my son was at OCS he said the ones that rolled do get to call home. My first phone call was after he passed RLP ( room, locker and personnel inspection. One of the best days as it came through on the 4th of July and i was home. He did send an email prior to give me a heads up that he would be calling between a certain time but i did not read my email beforehand. ( this is when they also get email too)"

The above post also may answer the question of when we might be receiving our 1st phone call from our children. It also lets us know it might be a good idea to begin checking our e-mail more regularly if we aren't already in the habit of doing so since our kids left for OTC Newport.

Lastly, I found this informative post authored by a parent whose child rolled during the RLP mentioned above-

"My son is currently in the 06-17 class. He rolled during RLP and contacted me between 6-7 pm the same day to let me know. He rolled to the Holding Class. This was a very good thing for him. It gave him time to concentrate and work on what he needed to. He will be graduating on Feb 17. It is a very stressful time for parents and of course our children going thru it."

Apparently rolling is quite common. If any of our kids are rolled, sounds to me as if they will receive the guidance and support they need to be successful when they roll back into a new class.

Are there any other parents with a kid in this class here? If so, would enjoy hearing what your kids have written home about if you're comfortable sharing same.

LTB February 21, 2017 at 7:30am

Recent information on recent changes to what's permitted in CANDIO boxes here, https://navydads.ning.com/group/navyocsdads/page/the-candio-box

Heads up to families who plan on inviting friends or relatives to future OCS graduation ceremonies. Received a phone call from our son on Sunday letting us know he needed to submit the full legal name, date of birth, and SS# of every person attending his graduation so they could be cleared to get on base. He said he would be calling back for the information yesterday and did. Unfortunately, an aunt and uncle are vacationing and another aunt is out of town traveling for her work and couldn't be reached so now only my husband and I and one uncle will be able to fly in for his graduation. I understand the need to clear guests and it makes perfect sense but am still incredibly disappointed this requirement was not mentioned anywhere online that I could find.

NavyDads Admin (Paul) February 9, 2017 at 5:04pm

spent all day having my car serviced in town and needed the A/C on the way home....gotta LOVE Tucson right now!!!!

Navy Dads Co-Admin Tom said:

Trust me....It is now blizzard conditions.....

Greg Ilkka February 9, 2017 at 4:00pm

Tom - I saw that on the webcams! Nice! Warms my Minnesota heart to see you guys get a good snow storm!

LTB - "Being a Yooper is a mindset." You're so right, THANKS!

LTB February 9, 2017 at 3:23pm

Tough luck for your kid.... if they moved up fast cruise to this morning.... he was out there in the rain and cold with his classmates pushed to his limits. Bet he sleeps good tonight until.... they wake him up at 1am to make him run or what ever. Lots of kids roll so it's really no biggie if you get a call. If my kid rolled, I was just going to tell him, "Chin up.... pick yourself up, brush yourself off and.... give it your all until you have nothing left to give in the three weeks to better prepare yourself for rolling into the next class." The more I read about rolling the more I realized it wasn't that big of a deal other than that it screws up parents who had flights scheduled and hotels booked. Seems as if the kids who roll like having an extra three weeks to prepare and many roll into the next class and get class positions like President or VP and billets because they have experience the others don't.

Yes. Week five for 08-17. They were supposed to be working on drilling this week so were probably outside with your kid's class at 4-5am. I think the e-mail access opportunities depend on the leadership which varies from class to class and most likely team to team as you suggested. E-mail access was initially given to the top four in 08-17. Now our son has it although I don't have any details of who else got it or how. I'll ask him for you. I'm pretty sure I was told that regardless of which class a kid was in that they'd all earn the privilege of having their phones in the 9th week. Right now, those with e-mail access are probably using a bank of desktop computers that the Navy provides. Either way, we were pleased as all punch getting an e-mail from him regardless of how "skimpy" it was.

I thought about e-mailing our son the weeks ahead and what to expect provided by NavyDads and linked to by me in the very beginning of this thread but naaaaa.... changed my mind. Decided to let our kid get his "intel" from new classmates rolling in or he can be surprised like kids in classes before him. Being left in the dark keeps them on their toes.

Yes, an old dairy farm with only 20 stanchions. I weeded in the family garden. shoveled snow, put up food, did early morning chores in the barn, and baled hay during the summer into fall just like every other kid. We didn't even have grade A milk which commanded the highest prices. Hitting a deer meant more mason jars of canned venison that we didn't have to pay for. We were very poor but.... so was everyone else. We were clueless... no baseline from which to draw a comparison when you're in the sticks and everyone else within miles lives the same way you do. Do remember the city kids having indoor plumbing.... no outhouses and getting dedicated phones that weren't party lines years before we did. There's something to be said for the old party lines where everyone knew what you were up to before your parents did.... by at least one day before the rumor mill caught up. And the Friday night all you can eat fish fry at a supper club which was the equivalent of a social hour with the added bonus of being able to refuel your car out front by the pump, dropping off any bills you had at the mailbox, and purchasing odds and ends from the attached "convenience" store without having to make the 1 hour trip into town. Funny, couldn't wait to leave the UP and now I can't wait to leave the rat race of where we currently live to get back to a simpler way of life where there is a sense of community.... that sanctuary you mentioned. Being a Yooper is a mindset. You qualify. ;)

Navy Dads Co-Admin Tom February 9, 2017 at 2:28pm

Trust me....It is now blizzard conditions.....

Greg Ilkka February 9, 2017 at 1:06pm

LTB - Yes, blizzard conditions were forecast, but, I took a look at some Newport, RI webcams this morning and it was still rain. Class 09-17 had their Fast Cruise moved up to this morning due to the forecast, so I am hoping I don't get a phone call today!

Your son's class is in their 5th week, is that correct? I keep seeing different weeks when classes get access to e-mail. Probably dependent on their Team.

I see you grew up in the UP! So did my father, and I feel I'm an honorary Yooper - my brother and I own a "camp" near Gwinn. It's my sanctuary!

LTB February 9, 2017 at 11:57am

Update- Might be time for parents to start checking their e-mail accounts regularly. Just received an e-mail from our son with this in the subject line, "Your son has email access! Sort of..."

Content of e-mail was short and to the point. He said-

"I have email access, I can't really see any attachments or load any
links, I also won't typically be on here except for maybe Sunday
nights.

Today is weird because we're all locked inside in anticipation
of this huge storm that is supposed to hit us, it has yet to hit us."

He stated he would be calling us again this Sunday. Sounds to me as if more, quite possibly all, in this class may have earned e-mail access privileges.

LTB February 6, 2017 at 6:03am

Something of possible interest to others- sounded to me as if there are a lot more photos of this class that didn't make it to the Navy's Facebook page. They'll be available to our sons and daughters and ultimately to us once they earn the privilege of using their laptops.

Hey Nell Glass!!! Your daughter is doing fantastic!!! Section leader probably isn't the easiest job but... it's excellent experience for the future and she pulled it off regardless of how she feels she did. They're there to acquire skills. They're going to make mistakes or they aren't going to learn anything. Aside from that, she was probably just being unnecessarily hard on herself when she spoke to you hence her serious tone.

Our son has my husband's last name, I don't. Kept mine after we were married because of professional licenses. Actually tried to PM our names to you but a pop up said we needed to be friends before I could PM you. I'm not seeing a clear cut means by which to initiate a friend request to you on my end but will try again. Might be an issue with my browser. Did figure out how to accept a friend request when one came in to me so if you can figure out how to send me one from your end... we'll be "friends" and I'll be able to PM you our names.

Pssst.... not only are the land line connections awful, the phones they're calling out from don't always work. We lost several minutes that couldn't be recovered because the phone my son was calling from wouldn't dial out initially. Things happen.... and will continue to happen that are out of our kids' control. We'll just have to keep flowing with the garbled phone calls and frequent disconnects until they earn the privilege of using their mobile phones. Won't be long now.

Beneath this most recent post of mine, you should see the words Reply and Message. Beneath those two options, you will see another option to 'Reply to Discussion'. If you don't click on any of those options above the box in favor of just typing in the little white box then clicking 'Add Reply' underneath and to the right, your posts will be easier for others to follow because they won't end up with someone else's content in them. If you make a mistake and add in whole posts from others because you're on a smart phone, just go in and edit your post right away and delete everything that's someone else's.

Nell Glass February 5, 2017 at 3:42pm

I got a call today, (the phones are so bad), my daughter could not hear us...we spent the first 8 minutes trying to call back...very frustrating. She was very serious today and said she was section leader and that it was not an easy job keeping track of everyone and making sure folks were signing in, etc...I

LTB, I don't know your last name, I have told my daughter that I am able to communicate with another Mom, but that is all.

LTB said:

Our son called home and I have an update. The top four people in our kids' class have e-mail privileges. The president, the vice president and two others that he rattled off too fast for me to catch.

Billets were doled out and one was assigned to him. We both laughed out loud at the same time when he told me which one he had. There is a 'Hi Mom' Committee that our son is on. I believe that's what the luncheon or dinner on Thursday March 30th is called. It may be a Meet and Greet or the Meet and Greet may be a separate activity the same day. Didn't think to ask if they were two separate events but will try to remember to do so in the future. It's hard asking everything in the allotted 15 minutes.

Found out there is another Nuke in this class and some seals that he has gotten to know better. Was really happy to hear that because who knows.... maybe our son and the other kid will be going on to Charleston together. I got the impression there wasn't a bad egg in the lot from speaking with him.

Finally had the opportunity to ask about the sand pit. He said, "Ah, the sand pit. That's where they roll you around when you screw up" then laughed about it saying it wasn't that big of a deal. And the ropes course.... he liked it. According to him, the worst of OCS was being roused out of bed from a deep sleep in the middle of the night. Lots of confusion and in-one's-face screaming going on during those wake ups which...he says are over now. Laughed again while commenting that they'd done a really good job of making the place miserable for everyone the first few weeks when according to one of his friends, OCS was like a glorified prison.

Had to ask about the food. It's cafeteria style food but there are still many healthy options.

Apparently the 08-17 class is still on track for honors and they'll know more based on how they do week six. They're all looking forward to a drilling competition that lies ahead.

The odds of rolling from here on out may have decreased exponentially according to our son. Doubt any of them are on easy street but the worst may be behind them. Overall, he was his normal upbeat self still taking everything day by day and in stride.

Nell Glass> My son knows your daughter!!! I assumed she had the same last name as you and asked if he knew anyone with it. He said he sure did and that she's pretty darn cool and really enjoys her. He also said she was section leader today. Have no idea what section leader entails but sounds impressive to me. Way to go!!!

Navy OCS

Class 08-17 A/B Newport Rhode Island started Jan 8, 2017

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