Resources for Marine Recruit Parents

As a mother whose son is a recruit at Parris Island, South Carolina, I found myself looking for information to find out what was happening in the life of my son. Recruits are either training at Parris Island, South Carolina or San Diego, CA depending upon whether the are East or West of the Mississippi River. It has been quite a transition. I miss him terribly but I could not be prouder. We received that initial call that was a written speech new recruits have to read when calling home. They tell you they have arrived safely, please do not send food or bulky items, they will contact you in 3 to 5 days via postcard with their mailing address, thank you for your support, goodbye for now. They do not get to say anything else and you do not get a chance to say anything. Even so, it is so reassuring to know they have arrived at bootcamp safely! We received his address and a letter. He said it is hard but he is enjoying it. Just hearing from your recruit and knowing he or she is okay is such a huge relief.

I found myself wanting to know more about what the life of a Marine recruit is like. My son's recruiter gave my two resources I wanted to share with other parents or family members of Marine recruits. The first website is MarineParents.com. It is packed full of information to let you know what bootcamp is really like, what to expect, and to help parents and loved ones put their minds at ease. From MarineParents.com, you can navigate to RecruitParents.com and go through each day of the journey through bootcamp. Through the provided links, you can watch videos for each week of the 12-week training period, both from the recruit's and the instructor' perspective.

You are given important information about each phase of their training including combat conditioning, combat water survival, confidence and "O" courses, firing week, swim week, team week, marine week, the crucible and graduation. You can download the entire Marine Recruit Training Schedule. You can track the date of graduation and are given the dates for graduation according to Battalion, Platoon and Company number.

You should keep writing your recruit even if you do not hear from her often or at all. Write and then write some more. This is the toughest challenge she will ever face.

Another great website for Marine Recruit parents is Lifeasamarine.com. Here you can read about the history of the United Stated Marine Corp and hear inspiration stories from parents, recruits, and Marines. They all tell of the transformation from civilian to Marine and of the areas of personal growth in their own lives.

As a parent of a Marine Recruit, I encourage you to use these resources and learn more about your child's new life as a Marine. It is a fascinating journey.

Sources:

http://www.marineparents.com/

http://www.recruitparents.com/bootcamp/

http://www.mcrdpi.usmc.mil/matrix/matrix.pdf

http://www.lifeasamarine.com/