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My son andrew is at boot camp. I have received to disturbing calls from him, I am concerned for his condition. Andrew is no quitter and is a hard working person, i think he has made a bad decison joining the navy. He wants out, what can i do.

Grad date is 6 Feb 15

Sitting there with my 4 month old grandson enjoying a lovely Christmas morning my phone starts to jump off the table. RTC had uploaded 612 photos of our SRs for a nice Christmas surprise.

There my boy was in clear living color enjoying his morning bowl of Special K  and bananas while studying his Blue Jacket manual. He seemed oblivious to the photographer. Why am I not surprised. :)

It was a nice and unexpected surprise to see him in his NWUs doing his thing. I found him several other photos, as the photographers were getting the other SRs from different angles.

Monday he called his mom for the usual "extra information" they always seem to need for those getting a high security clearance. I'm not sure they really need this info because I know for a fact that the information they asked for was already clear, concise and correct. I remember going over everything with my son to make sure all the "I's" were dotted and "T's" were crossed. I think they make random choices to see if there are in inconsistencies in the information given to recruiters and the information they get when they call home.

He should have called me too because they asked him what city I was born. His mother said he told them it was the city I grew up in, which is incorrect. I hope that doesn't cause him any trouble. I immediately wrote to tell him he had gotten the cities mixed up. He will probably be upset when he finds out.

His mom said that she tried to talk to him but he was able to converse. They must have been standing over him. She said he sounded good though which I was glad to hear.

Can't wait for his first letter and his mid point through RTC call.

I had five letters ready to go so those are getting mailed today. He will have something to read over this weekend. Got reservations at the Navy lodge and that is covered. Somehow I was late to the party as all the suites were gone. No matter I was still able to get a room with a kitchenette so we can cook for him.

He sent the form letter last Thursday so they are humping it. I'm glad he is graduating two weeks sooner than we speculated.

Now it's time to hunker down, write letters and count the days.

Greeting,

Does anyone have experience traveling by train to Norfolk?

My son is traveling back to Norfolk after leave here in NJ.  Wondering if there are any transfers on the line and what the service is like getting from the station to the base.  Taxi? does the base run a shuttle? 

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

Well that was faster than I expected. I had my son send the box to my workplace because I knew it needed to be signed for. Imagine my surprise when I saw that box with my son's name on it sitting on my desk today. I didn't expect to get emotional about it but it came upon me all of a sudden. I'd been okay since I dropped him off at the recruiters office. I may keep the box to store his letters and other mementos from RTC, "A" school and beyond. 

I got his call late Monday night but I haven't able to write much because I caught the flu bug the day he reported to Great Lakes. My son and my grandson are the only ones in the whole family that didn't get the bug. The same thought kept running through my head, "please don't let me be throwing up when he calls." Well guess what? Never the less I was able to compose myself and pick up the phone. He sounded great. He was using his best military bearing, reading the scripted message. I had to laugh because I'd been through it myself. I told we loved him and we we're proud of him. He said he needed to get off because he didn't want to stand out.

BTW, as I was taking his clothes out of the box and saw a little piece of paper laying in the bottom of the box. He was able make a little note to me on the back of the garment tags off his socks. :)

Dropped my son off at the recruiter's office yesterday to send him off on his great adventure and his new life. It was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. We've been very tight for 24 years and all in one swoop there is an instant and long separation. I remember the day he called me on the way home from his physical in August. It got real when I heard him say"Dad, I ship on December 1st."     Gulp!

I am so happy for him because it is the culmination of a lot of hard work and this something he has always wanted to do. He has transformed his body from a somewhat pudgy kid to a buff young man. He lost 35lbs. in 6 months to meet the weight requirements and has disciplined himself to stay well under the weight limit during DEP. He and I rode 1000's of miles on bikes, ran and did P90X over the course of a year to make sure he was physically ready.

Being a Navy vet myself I was able to help guide him, as much as possible, through the recruiting process. Helping him understand the difference between legitimate information and inflated reality was important. I may have angered his recruiters once or twice but I didn't want to hear any of their canned sales pitches. I know they are just doing their job but it's more important for a prospective recruit to get what they want and get it writing. I fell victim to that during my enlistment and I wasn't going to let it happen to him.

That being said, my son is on his way. He will start his in processing tonight. I tried to help prepare him mentally because the first week, especially the first 48 hours were going to suck. I'd love to be a fly on the wall.