1. Your Name (as you would like it to appear) Jenn

2. Where did your soldier attend basic training? Fort Leonard Wood, MO

3. When did your soldier attend basic training (please include the year)? April 7-June 17, 2010 for BCT, AIT is also at FLW until Aug 6.

4. How often did you hear from him (phone and letters)? Quite often. He called almost every Sunday, the time gradually increasing from 10-20 minutes in Red Phase, to 30-40 in White, and close to an hour while in Blue. Also, I received a pack of letters weekly

5. How long was it before you heard from him the first time? The day he left. He called at midnight for 30 second to tell me he made it safely

6. How long did it take to receive a mailing address from him? About a week and a half, via phone call. The official letter came after he’d been gone 3 weeks already.

7. Were there any restrictions on what you could send him? I was told send him only letters and photos (no risqué photos!). Any food, candy, reading material other than a Bible would be confiscated.

8. When did you receive information about family day and graduation? About halfway through BCT.

9. Did he have a family day? If so, please describe. It was the same day graduation. He had an off post past until 2100 hours.

10. Please describe the graduation ceremony. Almost 200 soldiers in less than an hour and a half! Each platoon went up with a different cadence, then the soldiers stepped forward one by one to state the name and hometown (my husband was the only one not from a US state/territory- he’s Canadian). They had awards, songs, and drill sergeant introductions. In the beginning was a video of different things they had experienced during their training. We sat near the front on the right side of the center section (all the soldiers were in the right section!), and got some pretty good photos! Then we followed them to the gym where we were able to sign out my husband and another soldier whose husband and daughter had not shown up.

11. Is there a website for his unit? Did you find a place online that has pictures from his basic training? They gave us a website in a letter to view pictures, but it never had pictures up…

12. Any other tips or information? Get to graduation early, but not too much. I had been told to get there by 7am, but I had heard it from so many people going, that we got there at 6:40. The roads we needed didn’t even open until 6:45, and they wouldn’t let us in Baker Theater until 8. A line formed around 7:30. Bring cash if you want to order the videos, or checks. They don’t take credit cards at the ceremony/reception site. If possible, know where you are taking your soldier during their pass beforehand. There’s not much out there in FLW, and most of the restaurants got crowded fast!

Of course, send lots of (encouraging!) letters during the course of training! My husband’s platoon had to do 10 pushups for each letter they received, and an extra 5 if there were any mistakes. He needed to work on his anyway, so some day’s I’d send a packet (if he had requested items), a letter, and a card, all separately! His family and friends were also writing, so one day, according to his DS, he had to do 100+ pushups! He was known for only doing them correctly during mail call!!!

Take your phone everywhere! He told me Sundays were the day to call, so whenever I was with anyone on Sundays, I’d tell them- If I run out excitedly for a phone call, it’s my husband’s only chance to talk this week! I missed a call once, but by a minute or two, and was able to call him back since he had called from his cell phone, not a pay phone.

For AIT- when they can have their electronics back to use in their daily free time- remind them to ALWAYS lock them up, even if only gone a couple minutes!!! My husband’s “Truck” has had several incidences of theft occurring, usually during formation. They suspect another truck, but the 1^st Sergeant won’t do anything about it, since they weren’t locked up.

1. Your name (as you would like it to appear on the website): Jessie

2. Where did your soldier attend basic training? Fort Leonard Wood, MO

3. When did he attend basic training? January 6, 2010- March 11, 2010

4. How often did you hear from him? (Phone and letters) Letters almost every day once he was able to write.. done with initial processing. Phone calls ranged from 10-30 minutes every Sunday afternoon (starting the second Sunday). On Superbowl Sunday they had their phones almost all afternoon so we talked for a few hours!
5. How long was it before you heard from him the first time? The Saturday after he left he called and I missed it. He only had like a minute to talk anyway but I was very upset and cried awhile. So he just had to leave a voicemail.

6. How long did it take to receive a mailing address for him? The second Sunday he was gone he was allowed a phone call and gave me his mailing address then, so about a week and a half.

7. Were there any restrictions on what you could send him? Yes, no sweets, no risque pictures… In general I wouldn’t send something if I doubted he could have it. Things he asked for included vitamins, Aspirin, cough drops (it was dead winter), and postage stamps.

8. Were you sent information about family day and graduation? He sent me information about times and dates, but I never received a formal invitation for some reason, even though I am his wife. Closer to graduation he will know specifics.

9. Did he have a family day? If so, please describe. Yes! It was held in Shea Gymnasium at 2:00pm the day before Graduation. They let all the family in to sit and then marched the soldiers in singing cadences. They went over the pass rules and then released the soldiers to find their family members. I signed him and two of his friends out and we went all over post, they couldn’t leave the post. We spent alot of time at the PX, there is a Starbucks, Commissary, lots of little places to spend time with your soldier. However, they are not allowed much PDA (besides a hug when they first see you) so don’t be mad at him if he doesn’t kiss you in public. We had to have him back at the barracks by 7:30pm, but don’t walk him all the way there or he’ll get into trouble.

10. Please describe the graduation ceremony. It was great! It was held at Baker Theatre at 11:00am. There is an intro, then the soldiers are marched in singing cadences again, after that we were able to see a slideshow of all their training (you might cry! lol) Each platoon was then called up on stage singing different cadences. One by one the soldiers yelled their name, rank, and where they were from. You are able to run up front and take a better picture if you are close enough to stage. It was very dark though so bring a high-quality camera. Then they take the oath again and are taken outside for another formation. I signed him out again and we were able to go off post until 7:30 pm! Then we had to say our goodbyes outside the barracks. I would suggest getting there early for good seats, at least by an hour.

11. Is there a website for his basic training unit? Is there a place to see pictures of his training online? I’m not sure, I was never given one.

12. Any other tips or information? Write to him daily! I know everyone says this but it means the world to him when he hears his name called at mail call. I wrote him a letter for every day he was gone (even before I had an address!) because I just couldn’t stand to get a sad letter from him saying he was passed over. Also send him pictures every week or so, just two or three, here and there. If you plan on attending graduation make sure to book your hotel as soon as you know the dates! They fill up really quickly.

1. Your name (as you would like it to appear on the website): Lindsay

2. Where did your soldier attend basic training? Fort Leonard Wood, MO

3. When did he attend basic training? he left January 4th 2010 he will graduate AIT April 23rd 2010

4. How often did you hear from him? (Phone and letters) so far i have only received about 5 phone calls. the first was when he first got there, it was about two minutes just to let me know he arrived safely. the second was probably two days later letting me know that he was almost out of reception and would be starting basic training. the following two were under 10 minutes, then the last one I got was for about an hour. they were given a 6 hour pass to go do whatever.

5. How long was it before you heard from him the first time? the day after he left

6. How long did it take to receive a mailing address for him? about two weeks

7. Were there any restrictions on what you could send him? letters, g-rated pics, and cough drops ( halls )

8. Were you sent information about family day and graduation? yes

9. Did he have a family day? If so, please describe. he will have family day the day before his AIT graduation. he is doing OSUT and there is no graduation in between. although I did get to fly up there last week while his company received a 36 hour pass, and he got to spend the night with me in my hotel room off base!

10. Please describe the graduation ceremony. I’m sorry but graduation has yet to come, but it will be soon! I’m sure it will be wonderful!

11. Is there a website for his basic training unit? Is there a place to see pictures of his training online? yes check out Fort Leonard Woods homepage at http://www.wood.army.mil/wood_cms/grad/2856.shtml   …..there is also a very nice Facebook page that will help you meet and share information with people that are going through exactly what you are. its very helpful.  http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/fortleonardwoodmissouri?ref=ts

12. Any other tips or information? just try to write them supportive letters every single day and send as many pics as you can ( like one every couple of letters, don’t over do it though ) and talk with people that are going through the same thing you are. share ideas and tips with each other and be supportive of one another.

1. Your name (as you would like it to appear on the website): Rachel (rachelxy)

2. Where did your soldier attend basic training? Fort Leonard Wood for BCT

3. When did he attend basic training? January – 18 March 2010

4. How often did you hear from him? (Phone and letters) They were given their cell phones about once a week, and the rest of the time the phones were locked up. Phone calls were very short- usually less than 10 minutes. They did get “double” phone time on Valentine’s Day and we could talk for 20 minutes. Most phone calls were on Sunday afternoons, but sometimes it was another day of the week like a Tuesday evening or Friday afternoon. My soldier was one of about 6 guys in his platoon who wrote letters regularly- he wrote about a page every day and mailed them every 3-4 days. Mail is SLOW! Both the letters I wrote to him and the ones he wrote to me were received a week after we’d sent them.

5. How long was it before you heard from him the first time? He called for about 2 minutes when he arrived at Reception- basically just enough to say “I’m here and alive, sorry I have to go, love you, bye.” Then it was over a week before I heard from him again. The first Sunday he was actually in training they had their phones for about 5 minutes.

6. How long did it take to receive a mailing address for him? Over 2 weeks, because he sent it in a letter. In retrospect, I should have gotten the address from him over the phone the first time he called from training so he could have received letters from me much earlier.

7. Were there any restrictions on what you could send him? I didn’t send him packages unless he specifically asked for something, because I didn’t want to risk getting him in trouble. He said any packages had to be opened in front of the Drill Sergeants and same with any “thick” letters or cards, but they didn’t have to show regular letters. Drill Sergeants also looked at any photos they had. Definitely not allowed was any food or candy. Cough drops and vitamin C drops ARE allowed (sugar-free), and he said everyone trades them like prisoners trade cigarettes! I also sent him a new pad of writing paper and stamps after a few weeks.

8. Were you sent information about family day and graduation? Yes—technically the letter from the commander was supposed to be sent to his parents, since I’m a girlfriend not a wife/family, but my soldier had my address memorized better than his mom’s and he said they were only given a couple minutes to address and stuff the envelope to be sent out. The graduation date and a form letter arrived about 5 weeks into training. Very brief information, basically just giving the date and saying that soldiers who met graduation requirements would get an on-post or off-post pass until 9pm. The letter also had a website address for the fort for more general graduation information. I found the whole thing confusing and not very helpful.

9. Did he have a family day? If so, please describe: Family Day and Graduation were on the same day. This was originally not communicated well—my soldier told me several times in his letters that the Drill Sergeants told them Family Day would be the day before graduation, so I booked my flight to Missouri for 2 days before graduation and ended up with a whole day to waste by myself. Just before the graduation ceremony the rules for the off-post pass were explained: Soldiers could not consume alcohol, use tobacco, or drive, and they needed to stay in uniform the entire day. After the graduation ceremony I had to sign him out with his platoon’s Drill Sergeant. Again, technically I should have been his wife to be allowed to sign him out, but they didn’t question it. I just had to write my phone number and promise I’d have him back on time.

10. Please describe the graduation ceremony. His graduation was indoors in an auditorium. The ceremony was at 9:00am, but already when I arrived at the main gate of the post at 7:30am there was a line and when I got inside the auditorium seats were already filling up. They started with a briefing about the rules for the Family Day pass after graduation, and directions on how to get to gym where the reception would be. Then they showed a slideshow that included a bunch of Army and patriotic photos. Then the four platoons of soldiers marched in and took their seats (the whole right side of the auditorium was reserved). Then there was a slideshow of pictures from my soldier’s actual training. Then each platoon marched up on stage and yelled out names and hometowns. A couple awards were given out and Drill Sergeants were recognized. The whole thing took only less than an hour and a half, because there was another unit’s graduation that same day at noon so everyone needed to move to the gym for the reception.

11. Is there a website for his basic training unit? Is there a place to see pictures of his training online? Yes- it took a bit of clicking around on the FLW website to find it on my own. Then the website address was given in the form letter I got with graduation information. The photos are not of the current group (which I figured out because the grass was too green to be Jan/Feb!), but it gives you an idea of what they’re doing.

12. Any other tips or information?
- Start writing letters right away! Mail is the only thing they have to connect them to the outside world. If he’s a sports guy, include stats printed from his favorite websites, if he’s into politics include major news stories.

- Don’t worry about writing boring letters—he loves to hear about your stupid co-workers or what you cooked for dinner because it helps him feel involved in your life while he’s gone.

- Keep your cell phone on you at all times, because you never know when the Drill Sergeants might decide to unlock their phones and the time is so limited.

- Drill Sergeants love to use mail as a reason to smoke the soldiers with extra PT. Don’t feel guilty about that—any extra push-ups he has to do to receive your letters are well worth it, and really, they do the PT anyway, so if it’s not from this then the DS’s will find something else wrong anyway.

- Learn the acronyms as best you can. Your soldier gets so used to using them that he sometimes forgets to actually explain what they mean. I used websites like this one to learn as much as I could about the army so I could feel like I was involved in what he was learning and doing on days I really missed him.