My son's is 13 Jan as well...... counting down the days.  

Our son's PIR is 2/10 also. We won't be arriving in time for the meet and greet though. We're excited and hopeful that everything remains on track for the recruits. 

Attn: parents with a SR in Ship 02, Div 912. If you haven't already heard, Battle Stations commences on evening of XXXX Jan. Wishing success to all our sons and daughters! 

You CANNOT share BS21 schedules in open forums-- RTC considers that info secure info and is an OPSEC violation if published.  I edited your post. 

No worries..."we got your back Jack!" 

Potentially bad news from boot camp.  I'm hoping someone on this forum has had some experience with this and can offer feedback. Our new Sailor called today to let us know he passed his final big drill. He graduates on Friday and was supposed to go to Pensacola A School on Saturday but he's been put on hold because he has a bee sting allergy and has been declared as having a "high probability of anaphylaxis". The medical officer says this is potentially serious enough to separate him from the Navy.  On Monday he is to report to medical to complete a waiver request form which, if it is not granted, could wash him out of the Navy.  Has anyone else had a Sailor in this kind of situation?  

Got a letter  on 2-9-17  from my SR ship 14 div 89  he is getting his next phone call on Saturday  the 11th so he was told keep your phone close  just thought I wood share   I missed his second call

My son called today (Saturday) around 3pm. I missed the first call, then he called my work (I manage a 24 hour help desk function), and my work talked to him a bit and then also called me back and I was kicking myself for missing his call. But then, like a miracle, he called again.

He only got a few minutes on the phone with me (possibly because he wasted some of his time calling around and leaving voicemails) but I was so happy to hear from him and I told him so, and told him to hang in there.  I was a little sad that he seemed kinda down, or maybe he was just keeping his voice down. But he said he was ok, it wasn't physically too tough, but there's a lot of discipline- he just finished week 3. He said something about making sure the barracks was squared away- not sure if they got it right or got it wrong. After he got off the phone I thought of the perfect thing to say but it was too late ("you're almost halfway through" is what I should have said.)

I think I worry because he's just 18- I was 27 when I went through boot camp and already had a bit of insight about human nature-- that was invaluable to me in Boot Camp. But I remind myself that 18 is an adult, and everyone has to learn that insight somewhere. 

 We just booked our trip to come to PIR (on the 17th) hope to meet some of you fine people.

 

Got a call from our son this evening (end of first week), since his first "I'm Here" call didn't successfully go through (we couldn't hear him).  Grateful he was given another chance so my wife could hear his voice!  He seemed a bit bummed since he apparently made some mistake on his stenciling...is concerned about passing inspection.  Has been told it could be a big problem.  Not sure if it's really a "big" problem, or just putting some fear in him so he pays better attention.  Anyone have any insight on such a problem?  Could it be enough to set him back (even if everything else eventually goes right)?

Frank, so sorry to hear this. Stay strong, but most importantly, keep mailing encouraging letters to your son. My son just graduated and he said that was a lifeline.

On the plus side- if he just powers through this, he'll be totally savvy to the "trick" of Boot Camp (the trick is.. it's all mental) and he'll join up with another division as soon as he heals. But you gotta keep the faith and keep his spirits up, because at this point it's all up to him to push through. Best of luck.

Sorry to hear that Frank. His Training will cease until he is fully recovered and cleared to return to training. He will receive all the medical attention necessary to heal properly. He will then be placed in a New Division and begin again. In the meantime, he can study and further prepare himself. We all wish him a speedy recovery!

Feel almost sick -- we missed our son's call this evening.  Thankfully he got a hold of his girlfriend, so we were at least able to hear some info through her.  Sounds like he's generally doing ok -- failed his inspection, but seems to be confident he'll still finish on time as long as he passes his fitness tests, which he says he's doing fine on.  We heard (through a letter) he was dealing with some dehydration issues, but is apparently doing ok, now.  Just irritated that we didn't get a chance to talk to him ourselves!

Appreciate that, John -- he's definitely getting our letters, so we know he's at least "hearing" from us one way or another.  It was a strange culmination of events that led to us missing him -- we headed out to a local concert, but my cell phone was completely dead.  My wife had hers, but I think he assumed she was working (she sometimes works 3rd shift), so didn't call her phone at all.  We got home about 15 minutes after he called the house.  Grrrr!

The same thing happened to us Dan.  We missed our daughters first real call home after she was there for 2 weeks.  My wife and I felt so bad for missing it.  She did get to talk to her friend who filled us in on how she was doing.  After she graduated and we had a chance to really talk to her, she said the most important thing that kept her going was receiving letters from home everyday.  We sent her a letter everyday with some kind of little saying just to give her encouragement.  Hearing her name called out at mail call every night gave her that little extra boost of encouragement.  So write your sailor as much as you can, everyday if possible. 

Thanks, Matthew.  I end each of my letters with a corny joke -- he was always "thrilled" with my stupid jokes at home, so I figured they might help lighten the mood a bit!  He seems to be getting plenty of letters from various folks, and even wanted us to suggest that church choir members combine all their letters into one envelope -- seems he was ab it embarrassed for getting so many at a time!  Good problem to have, I suppose.  I was probably most sad for my wife -- she was really looking forward to talking to him.

Does anyone know if it is still required to sing "Anchor's Away" when passing through the tunnel under Buckley Rd? 

Absolutely Chris! Some traditions will never die!

If you search facebook for Armed Services Blood Program Great Lakes IL, you may find a picture of your SR -- we saw our son, and it made our day yesterday!

Will you someone tell me what the proper way to do pushups is within Navy Bootcamp, I find so many versions on youtube and google.  Is there a point where the recruit can rest in downward dog?

http://www.military.com/military-fitness/fitness-test-prep/practice...

Recruits must maintain a "plank" form....

Thank you everyone for the feedback on the proper pushups. I am very grateful

Does anyone know when they get to complete their final guest list for PIR?  I've seen some older posts (from about 2012) where they submitted the final list 7-10 days prior to PIR, but I'm not sure if it's still the same or not.  In speaking to our son on the phone tonight, he didn't seem to know how that worked.

Dan,

Q.

I am not sure I am on the access list. Can you find out and make changes if I am not?

A.

Thanks, Jim, but do you know if there is actually a "final guest list" form the complete?  The only thing he's done so far is the initial form letter -- his expected PIR is May 5.

Just for clarification -- I really just want to know if it will automatically be brought to his attention (through some formal process that everyone does), or if he has to proactively seek someone out to let them know.

The list should have come with the form letter. If it didn't, write to him right away and have him ask about it.

From other things I've read, the form letter is just his "intended" list, but is not necessarily the "final" list.  Yes, we got the list in the initial form letter, but now he will need to make changes.  As I mentioned, I have seen reference to a final guest list in other forums, but am just trying to figure out if he needs to initiate that request, or if all SRs will be provided some sort of form to submit during the last week.  Here's what I see on the Navy for Mom's forum from 2012: "Your Recruit fills out the Final Access List form. This is submitted to Security to make the main Access List for the whole TG (Training Group) for PIR day. Your Recruit is the only one authorized to do this. They will fill out this form about 7-10 days before PIR."

Got our "I'm a sailor" call yesterday afternoon!  I'm proud as can be!

We got a very disheartening call yesterday from our son.  He is being medically separated.  Still not sure exactly what the exact reason is, but he was in tears about the whole thing.

Chris Gans,

So sorry to hear that about your son.  I know that it doesn't help the pain at this moment but God has a plan for him.  Please thank him for his willingness to serve.

Chris,

Don't despair yet.  My son was nearly separated for a medical reason in January, 2 days before graduating boot camp.  The news was devastating, as you know. Do not give up. You need to get the details of his situation. In my son's case he was advised to never agree to the separation and to ask for an appeal, and if necessary, an appeal of the appeal. He was told that he could apply for a medical waiver from the CO at Great Lakes. He appealed and was denied. He appealed again to the Admiral in charge of Navy training, but before his appeal reached the Admiral's desk his case was reviewed by a medical staffer and the separation order was rescinded.  During this appeal process we contacted one of our Senators who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee to ask for his support during the appeal - fortunately we never had to get him involved.  My point is: do NOT resign yourself to this - fight it.   

May I ask a general question,  what would qualify for a medical separation. 

Renee- the list can be long, but includes: if someone develops asthma, discover an irregular heart beat, headaches that don't go away, injuries that prevent you from completing PT, gain too much weight, find any other health issue that wasn't found prior to boot, and a list mental issues such as anxiety, depression, migraines, etc..

In my son's case it was an allergy to bee stings. His reaction was NOT life threatening as some bee sting allergies are, but his reaction is stronger than most peoples'. As we went through this process with him he met Sailors who faced separation for causes that seem dubious: for example, one Sailor had asthma as a young child but, as a young adult, had not had an attack for many, many years. The main thing to remember is that the recommendation for a medical separation is not a career ending occurrence. Your Sailor has rights, including an appeal process. One of those rights is representation by a JAG Attorney during the review and appeal process. Do not agree to the separation, instead ask for an appeal. And keep asking until all appeals are exhausted.

Thank you all very much for the feedback.  So much more to think about when they are at boot camp

@ Bill Fort:  Just made it home from my second g-around so, I know how you feel.  My middle son followed his older brother who graduated last year and we just left from his PIR which was June 2, 2017. 

Good luck to your son and your and family and lets hope he's in a push company.

he might get held back, but doubt they would remove him unless there were other issues.