My grandson been in Army Boot Camp 5 weeks we've not heard from him, is this normal, we are very concerned?

Question

I have acquired a list of phone number for Fort Benning, Ga where he is, but not sure who to call. HELP!!!! My daughter is worried sick..

Answer 1

First of all let me say that your grandson is a true hero! He has chosen to join the military at this time of war. This takes a very brave and a very special young man. I know, my son is one of them as well.

What you are going through is very normal. You worry about them when they are away... my son finished basic training at Ft. Leonard Wood (they call it Ft. Lost in the woods ;o) He was there 4 to 5 weeks before we got anything from him. I think the company comander had this form thing sent out saying that he was there and he was fine.

They do go through a lot while at basic training. The drill sgts put the boys through a lot of stuff they have never done before (or really wanted to do) Their time is structured to the minute and calling and writing is something they earn.

I too was going nuts wondering/worrying about him and was tempted to call the base and ask them what the he** was going on, that I had not heard from my son. I didn't do that and in the end was glad of it.

When we went in April to his graduation we found out just what he had been through. He told me if I had contacted his superior officer that he would have been in deep doooo dooo . soooo please refrain from calling the base.

Never fear he will send you a address to write as soon as he can. Those boys live for mail call! You can't send them a lot of stuff.. no candy, electronics, etc... however you can send letters and if you all are like me it will be at least one a day he will get.. and my won't his mates be jealous... not all soldiers get a letter as day.. some do not get any mail at all...

My son is now in advanced training at Ft. Huachuca Arizona, he has 21 weeks there and it is a very long way from Florida were we live. When your grandson goes to advanced training he will be able to call you guys a lot more so the seperation while hard, becomes more bearable.

While you are waiting you might write to some of our soldiers who are deployed in Iraq if you want to..these boys are over there fighting for our country and way of life and letters from home (even if they are from people they don't know) cheer them up. They know we support them (even if we do not agree with why they are there) http://soldiersangels.org

God bless your soldier and your family. He will contact you soon I am sure.

An Army Mom

Answer 2

Well take this from experience. I did AJROTC summer camp and I was not allowed to call my parents either and we're nothing but high school students. However I do have other family in the military. If your grandson is training then he wouldn't be allowed to call. This is normal. It is a method used to help them build trust in the other members of the squad. If there isn't a level of trust then in combat or any other mission it will be a higher likelyhood of them failing. Also push-ups, fire-watch and other toughing exercises will be used if/when family members contact. Just think about this, If there was something seriously wrong the Army would have been contacted you. Don't worry everything will be fine

Answer 3

It is fairly standard. In the Air Force we were allowed a 1 minute call home to say we had arrived and were ok. If noone picked up the phone when we called, then it was bad luck. We then weren't allowed to use the phone for around a month.

But the Army basic is longer than ours, and I think more strict, so there is a good chance he hasn't been allowed to use the phone yet. I wouldn't worry, he'll do something right soon and earn the privelige of the phone. :)

Answer 4

Do not be concerned. My son joined the army in Dec 05, and I did not hear from him until 2 weeks before he was suppose to finish boot camp. They will not let them use the telephone while they are in training. What you can to is go to Ft. Benning website and look up basic training/new recruits and get a phone number, call and give them your grandson's name and SSN and they will give you a address, where you can write to him.

Hopes this helps

Answer 5

ROFL....Ok number 1 its not called boot camp its called basic training. Dont worry hes ok they make sure of it. I just got out of basic training a few months ago. They dont leave you tons of time to do stuff like call, but he can write as much as he wants to you at night. So the only reason you havnt heard from him is because he hasnt took the time to write to you. Granted he probably is very very tired at night and just wants to sleep. Like i said dont worry its normal. =) O ya PS: Fort Benning F*cking sucks I know. Tell him if he wanted it ez he should have been a poge.

Answer 6

My friend's daughter was at boot camp Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri (Army) and no one was allowed contact with family until their last week of training. And then it was very limited. It is part of the training and is normal to do that. she was not even allowed to write letters, let alone call. Also, any letters to them was with held. Like the one person already mentioned, when they did get privileges that last of contacting family, if someone messed up, the whole group lost privileges.

Answer 7

I can tell you that my nephew went to Ft. Benning for basic-training a few years ago, and we didn't hear from him but once during his stay, and that was right after he got there.
I asked my husband, who is military, and my father-in-law who was once a drill instructor at FT. Benning, and they both said that there are times that it just gets so busy, or some of their training prevents them from calling or writing. My father-in-law said that they usually encourage the guys to write home when they can. He said if it's still the same ( It's been many years since his service there) they usually have Sundays to write their letters. My husband said that was the way it was when he was in Navy basic-training as well.
I know how worried you all must be, and I'm not going to tell you not to worry, especially your daughter, because that is her child and I know I would be out of my mind if I didn't hear from my child for that long! But if there was something wrong, they would contact you.
Try to hang in there.

Answer 8

I was discharged about a year ago from my own 4 year tour. During basic I wrote home constantly once I was allowed time to do so. For the first few weeks (my perception of that time is a little warped) the only letter my parents got was a "forced" letter written at the order of the Drill's and they told me what to say. "Hi, mom, I'm fine, mail me here, love your son."

During boot camp they effectively capture 90% of a recruits time, so don't worry. Regular mility only captures 65% to 70% of a soldier's time. It'll get better.

Answer 9

Army is not a place guys go to be baby sat in the first six months or so the poor boys may not even have access to telephone they rise at 4.00 am and sleep at 11.00 pm with only 30 minutes in all for breakfast/lunch/dinner its always drill,drill and drill and more drill

Answer 10

If he's at Fort Benning...Well, that's Infantry. You won't hear from him for a while. It all depends on their DS's, etc. Don't worry. Fort Benning is lovely this time of year. LOL.