<p>Well, it came today. I got my first letter from my son. It was a whole page! I was surprised. He apologized for the first one being so short, because they only had 30 seconds to write it. Funny, we have not received the "first one". Maybe it is a post card, they take longer in the mail.
He is upbeat. Says he is sleeping more there and the food is "PLENTY". He also threw in a "oh by the way, I have taken up boxing"..not sure how I feel about that.
All week I have been missing my parents, knowing that they would have been so proud of him and thrilled to see him in a Navy uniform. My parents met at a USO while my dad was in the Navy. My dad boxed for the Navy and later went pro. My son received his nomination on the 10th anniversary of my dad's passing and received his appointment on the anniversary of the funeral.
And so the circle of life continues...</p>
<p>Here's hoping you all hear from your plebe soon</p>
<p>I heard from mine, too. Two letters, the first one very short, just a few sentences sending love to the whole family, the second one just to me, and almost a page. He was also upbeat, said he was having a great time! He even included the exclamation point. He has enjoyed the shooting range and he didn't mention boxing yet, but he is a boxer and wants to box at the academy, so we'll see what he says in the phone call. It was a great relief to see the positive vibe in the letter and also the photos from Thorntons have been a great comfort. He said he LOVED the care package, and suggested that the best items were the dried fruit, yogurt granola bars, propel powder to add to water, and beef jerky. So I packaged up another one with more of those, and also threw in a couple packets of tuna and salmon to see how those go over.</p>
<p>Mine sent about one page, too! Definitely more than I expected. She is doing well, but hasn't had time to eat anything from our care packages, nor has she had time to read letters, because her "spare time" gets used up trying to get everything done. Of course, in her next sentence she asked us to keep sending them! Not that I would stop sending them, because even if she only sees the writing on the envelope, she knows someone cares.</p>
<p>Best wishes to all you other Plebe parents, and to any Detailers' parents, too! Even though our Plebes think they have it rough, my Plebe reminded me that the Detailers get even less sleep, and have much more responsibility.</p>
<p>yah, that is true about the Detailers for sure, but then agian they arnt going through ALL of the physical chalenges the plebes are because they are allready in shape</p>
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Best wishes to all you other Plebe parents, and to any Detailers' parents, too! Even though our Plebes think they have it rough, my Plebe reminded me that the Detailers get even less sleep, and have much more responsibility.
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<p>Little known secret, but most cadre get a nap in every day. They're up later and wake up earlier, but they definitely have off time everyday.</p>
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yah, that is true about the Detailers for sure, but then agian they arnt going through ALL of the physical chalenges the plebes are because they are allready in shape
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<p>All (good) squad leaders will make it a point to be out at PEP and lead their squad through all their plebes tough physical events, i.e, e course and o course... shouldn't the plebes be in shape too? I was in some of my best shape coming into plebe year.</p>
<p>A little off topic, but could someone explain SQUADS to me? Is platoon size about 40 mids? How large is a squad? Which things are done with your squad and which things are done with your platoon?</p>
<p>In every platoon during plebe summer, there are 4 squads. So there are roughly 10 MIDN per squad, then each squad has it's 1/c detailer assigned to it.</p>
<p>Things you do with the platoon are marching, pep, briefs, rack/uniform races, "gray space" activities.</p>
<p>Squad oriented activities are meals, motivational PT, squad talks and counseling. </p>
<p>You never forget who your plebe summer squad leader was.</p>
<p>I've never actually heard that term before, but "gray space" activities sound like "Company Commander time." Basically its when nothing else is scheduled. There is usually a lot of rating or rack races, but from time to time they may do something like shoe shining.</p>
<p>In his second letter (the long one), my son reassured us he is doing fine and told us quite a bit. The one sad part was his concern for one of his roomates who apparently due to some strained relations at home has not received one piece of mail. He asked us if we could send him something. We sure will and I passed this info along to some folks at church but are there any other places I may be missing that can help out in a situation like this?</p>
<p>I can guarantee you that if you post that request on the listserve for plebe parents, the kid would be wiped out with the amount of mail he'd get.</p>
<p>Please do not post the information on the parent list serv- while the intent is admirable, it would not be wise to post anyone's name, let alone discuss a particular circumstance.</p>
<p>What I might suggest is tucking in a little note or card to your son that he can, in turn, give to his roomate. Perhaps add in a little "something" into a carepackage. </p>
<p>All in all, the plebes seem to be holding up. It has been especially hot this past week in Annapolis, and there is still a lot of summer left to go.</p>
<p>Navy2010, I'm leaning your way. Listserv seems a little too 'public' for a bit of a private situation. I can see the possibility of having a few missing pieces to the puzzle and doing something I would regret as a result.</p>
<p>I don't see much harm, however, in providing the address to a few people who specifically asked to send general cards of encouragement.</p>
<p>The chaplains receive cards, mails, and food on behalf of the orphans. You can specify a company if you wish.
Or, on the listserv, you could ask for parents for that company to contact you privately w/ regard to the situation.</p>
<p>My mistake. I didn't mean post the actual info on the listserv, I really just meant to ask the same question there and they'd find a way to get the person taken care of... I've heard of similar situations where cadre or chaplains recruited people to send stuff to "abandoned" plebes.</p>