Fort Knox Basic Training Review (2)

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

2. Where did your soldier attend basic training? Fort Knox, KY

3. When did he attend basic training? January 12th – March 25th

4. How often did you hear from him? (Phone and letters) He sent me 3-4 letters a week. He wrote me as much as he could. He called me 4 times. Once in reception, once of valentines day, and 2 more times on the Saturday before graduation. His platoon won all of the awards so they let then have the phones for a few hours. 😀

5. How long was it before you heard from him the first time? He called me 4 days after he left, and the first letters came the very next day

6. How long did it take to receive a mailing address for him? It came in the first letter he sent. He forgot to have it handy when he called me for the first time.

7. Were there any restrictions on what you could send him? He told me only to send him stuff he asked for. I sent 25 bags of couch drops while he was there. He had friends who needed some too. He asked for lotion, and chap stick. DO NOT SEND candy or cookies. They will make them do a lot of push ups. I sent him cameras when I found out a wife of someone is his company had done it. Always ask your husband if you can send things like that. Because I didn’t know they had time restrictions on the cameras. (They could only have them in blue phase) His came the first day of blue phase thank goodness! lol

8. Were you sent information about family day and graduation? I was sent a graduation letter, and it said to pick him up at 12:00 AM. They sent another letter correcting there mistake. It said to pick him up at 12:00 PM. He graduated at 9:00 AM and they let me sign him out at 10:30. They wanted to get rid of them early; I was more than happy to have him earlier.

9. Did he have a family day? If so, please describe. His were combined into one day. This was hard on a lot of the wives who were there. For some reason it was just the guys graduating on that day. Other companies had family day, and then their graduation.

10. Please describe the graduation ceremony. It started at 9:00 AM, we arrived at 7:30 to be sure we got a good seat. Go early to be sure you get there on time. We got lost on base! It was a very nice ceremony. Everyone screamed and clapped when they marched in. There was not an open seat, and a lot of people had to stand. The place was packed! It was 45 minutes long. They had a live band who played a lot of songs throughout the ceremony. My brother in law followed them as they marched from the field house back to the barracks. I would suggest doing this to make sure to don’t get stuck in traffic. Soldier are not good at directing traffic…lol

11. Is there a website for his basic training unit? Is there a place to see pictures of his training online? No I tried to find pictures but couldn’t find any for his platoon.

12. Any other tips or information? If you are married, GO ALONE! My husband and I had an awful time with his parents around. They didn’t want to leave us alone, and were very mean to us when we wanted time alone. They may want to be there to watch the ceremony, and they do love their family member. But you need time together after being apart for so long. My in-laws were the worst about this. My husband and I decided that they are never coming to anything Army related ever again. It will only cause problems for us as a married couple.