Hi..my son is going into his 3rd week at Lackland and I could not have made it to this point without the support of all those people who are on this website...they gave me answers to my questions and let me know that I am not alone in this...so if you are new to this site here are some websites that may help you find out some information about what your trainee is going through...keep these as your FAVORITES...www.lackland.af.mil (great information and photos about BMT) next and a great one is www.bmtgrad.com (God bless the people who made this site)there are others but these will help you try to understand why you haven't heard from HIM/HER and haven't gotten any letters and answers some questions you have...next on this site are some great comments from people who have been there/did it/ and want to help, so post some of your questions and I am sure that you will get answers...MTI Wife gave me some great advise..if you are looking for a topic..seach for it and you will find past postings..but I have to said I did cry when I was reviewing passed comments...next...about letters...WRITE/WRITE AND WRITE AND SEND CARDS even if you don't read from HIM/HER..Be supportive/keep telling how proud you are of HIM/HER and most of all PLEASE DO NOT KEEP TELLING HIM/HER HOW MUCH YOU MISS THEM...CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT THEM...HOW SAD YOU ARE..OR HOW THE BABY WANTS HIS DADDY...OR ANY BAD-BAD NEWS...They have to keep their heads together and letters from us must be strong and funny and reminding him that it's almost over...cards should also be supportive giving him time to believe in themself and knowing that at home there is YOU who loves them...please tell your family and friends the same thing if they are going to write...and don't forget to WRITE/WRITE AND SEND CARDS...BE STRONG FOR THEM AND HELP HIM/HER GET IT TOGETHER AND IF YOU GET A CALL AND HE OR SHE IS CRYING...KEEP YOURSELF TOGETHER AND POST HOW YOU FEEL TO THIS SITE...IT WILL HELP YOU!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: RobRodriguez,

Hi...I talked with an Airman about BMT and thought his advised was great...so here it is...in BMT your loved ones are going through WITHDRAW...withdraw from smoking (if they smoked), withdraw from sex (if married or has a special loved one), withdraw from cell phones (not able to call to talk to friends and family), withdraw from computers and games, withdraw from driving, withdraw from music, withdraw from freedom (to come and go as they want). Your loved one doesn't even know how they feel but these things play a role if they write/or call you and IF they seem depressed. HIS ADVICE: Tell them you know it's HARD to stop smoking/live without the things they are use too/BUT THEY ONLY HAVE 4/3/2/1 MORE WEEK(S) before it will be over..His mom and wife wrote each day...and started each letter: ONLY ( ) MORE DAYS...YOU CAN DO THIS...Is there any others out there who have any advise about what to said or not to said in letters?

My boyfriend is graduating this Friday, and I got to talk to him for a whole hour yesterday! He said some of the things he really enjoyed about the letters I wrote was a whole page at the end of each letter with the amount of days until I would see him. Him and I also had certain shows we always watched together, so I would update him on those. He said that helped keep him in touch with reality. As nerdy as it sounds, we are huge X-men fans so I bought an X-men coloring book and colored him silly pictures. He said he liked those cause he had a reason to laugh.

Got to talk with my son for Thanksgving thanks to OPERATION HOME COOKING. The family that he was with let him use the phone and their computer...he email me a picture him with the family. I could not believe the change in him in only 3 weeks...he said that he got all of his mail and he got the most in his dorm...sad to say some boys have only gotten one or two letters from home...when I asked if we should cut down on writing he yelled "NO WAY..send more please"..KEEP THOSE CARDS AND LETTERS GOING OUT TO YOUR LOVED ONE AT BMT EVEN IF YOU DON'T GET AN ANSWER AND IF YOU DON'T GET A PHONE CALL...THEY NEED YOUR SUPPORT!

My husband left for BMT of the 21st of November. I got to talk to him on thanksgiving also. It was only 7 minutes, but it made my day. I wasn't expecting a call till this weekend, so it was great. I don't have his address yet, but I write him everynight and tell him whats going on...

Serewife...we are lucky and should be Thankful that they were able to be with a family for Thanksgving...if you do not hear from your husband this weekend, do not worry...posted on this website is the advise many gave me..no news is good news...read some of the posting and you will see you are not alone in this...keep writing and have everyone you know write to him too...I addressed so many envelopes and put stamps on them with some note paper and took them over to some of his friends...I also called his friends and gave them his address (those away at college), your husband will thank you for it...honest...write back if you need to vent or are worried...or any other - wife/mom/girlfriend or husband

He didn't call this weekend, but I kinda expected that. I am pretty sure he was supposed to give me his address during the Thanksgiving call, and he didn't. He was so pumped up talking about everything that had happened so far he forgot. I didn't ask because I thought he'd call again this weekend. He did say that he already sent out the base pass for graduation, so I will look for a return address on it. The only thing I worry about is that everyone else probably already started to get mail and he won't get any till I get that package. We have a one year old daughter and she misses him so much. It's hard.

SEREwife - you can contact his recruiter for the address or you can call the BMT reception center at Lackland. Let me know if you need the number.

quote:

Originally posted by ksc2pa:
SEREwife - you can contact his recruiter for the address or you can call the BMT reception center at Lackland. Let me know if you need the number.

ksc2pa--You made it home! How was your flight?

quote:

Originally posted by MTI_Wife:
ksc2pa--You made it home! How was your flight?

Long and depressing Whatcha gonna do!?! Actually, the first flight I didn't even realize we had left the ground until the wheels touched down in Houston. This weekend took alot out of me! That's my kinda flyin' right there!

ksc2pa,

Thanks. I did call them today, but the computers were down and she couldn't help. I will try again tommorow.

There you go! You'll get it taken care of

Hi...my son is going into his 5th week...but thanks to the Airman who wrote about week 4 - Warrior Week, I knew what my son was doing..in my letters I wrote about the things that I knew what he was doing and kidded him about the rubber guns..knowing what your love one is doing during their time at BMT makes you feel a little closer to them even if you don't get calls and letters...Advice: if you need to find a CHAT on a subject, go to FIND on the top left hand and key it on....type the subject and passed CHAT COMMENTS will come up..(thanks MTIwife for that information) I AM AN OLD MOM WHO JUST GOT A COMPUTER SO ALL THIS CHATROOM TALK IS ALL NEW TO ME..but maybe this advice has help someout out there...SUPPORT OUR FUTURE TROOPS...SEND LETTERS..tell them how proud you are of them, they can't hear that enough!

Thanks Momandbrat for your helpful comments. I just dropped my son off @ hotel, he flies out of Portland Maine tomorrow afternoon for Lackland. I have been busy reading many postings, they were all so helpful.

Hey everyone! I just got back from my boyfriend's graduation from BMT and will be going in for my basic training here soon. Every Sunday I sent him a letter with all the NFL football scores for all the teams, and he said he absolutely loved this and so did all the guys in his dorm. They would pass around the football scores to everyone. Just a thought. Also, he said what he appreciated more than anything was me letting him know what is going on here at home. It drove him crazy to be out of the loop, and although it was not always good news I sent, he appreciated my honesty and knew he could count on me. I also included a famous military or motivational quote at the end of each letter. He has a letter from me for every day he was down there, and said even though they don't get mail call every day, it feels really good to receive five or six letters at a time. I would number the letter and envelope so he could keep them in chronological order.

I was at Lackland for the events Thursday through Sunday, so if anyone needs any advice or information, feel free to send me a message.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE tell me everything! I am leaving next week and need to know what to do and not to do...thanks

Whew, alright, this should be long, but I hope it helps:

First and foremost, have your son's squadron and flight number with you. This will help you locate your son during the Airman's Run, Retreat Ceremony, and graduation. Secondly, he should have mailed you home a visitor parking pass. Fill this out in advance and make sure you have your insurance and driver's license with you. You will have to provide it to the security personnel stationed at the entrance gate each time you go on base. While on base, put the parking permit in a visible location on your dashboard. If you arrive on Wednesday, you can attempt to go on base to look around and figure out where you'll be going on Thursday. They let us on base Wednesday and all we had to do was show our parking permit.

Thursday:
Dress according to the weather as you will be outside a good portion of the day. Hint: IT WAS RIDICULOUSLY COLD WHEN WE WENT, although I'm a native Texan, so anything below 60 is cold to me. I recommend attending the earliest events briefing possible on Thursday, which I believe is around 7:30 a.m. It is at the BMT Reception Center. If you arrive early, you can find parking in the Reception Center parking lot, which makes things a lot easier since you are right by the Airman's Run location and Retreat Ceremony. This briefing will provide you with a WHOLE LOT of information in a very short period of time. Pay close attention, and have your son's squadron and flight number handy. You will also receive a map of the base at this time. Afterwards, remember to sign in for your son at the designated location. The Airman's Run will follow the ceremony at around 9:00-9:30. Line up along the road with the other families and be kind to the trainees who are given the job of keeping everyone behind the proper lines...they are just doing what they are told, afterall. Your son will run by with his squadron, and you will be able to identify the squadron by the flag that the person in front is carrying...in addition to the fact that they may be wearing squadron tee/sweatshirts. Your son may be very difficult to identify...they all look alike. If he is wearing glasses it makes it a bit easier. If you have a video camera, this is a wonderful time to utilize it. You will not be able to see him directly after the run, so afterwards I suggest visiting the gift shop or going to eat breakfast/lunch somewhere on base. They have a Subway, Popeyes, Godfather's Pizza, a barbecue place, etc. I suggest staying on base to keep your parking spot. The Retreat Ceremony is not until around 4:00 p.m., but I suggest getting your spot on the appropriate bleachers around 3:00 p.m. They will show you a diagram during the briefing you went to in the morning of where your son's flight will be in order for you to sit in the right location. Be patient, it's a lot of waiting, but it's really worth it. After the Retreat Ceremony, your son should be dismissed to you until about 6:00-6:30 for base liberty. He will have to stand at parade rest until you or a family member/friend touches him. This is to avoid a massive stampede of family and Airmen. He will most likely be very hungry, so you can drive him to a food location on base if that's what he wants to do.

Friday:
Again, dress accordingly. The parade grounds for his graduation are on the opposite side of Lackland across military drive (you can go check these out in advance on Thursday if you wish). You have two options: 1) you can catch a bus at the BMT Reception Center (info will be provided at Thurday's briefing), or 2) you can park at a location closer to the overpass walkway and just walk to the parade grounds. We parked at the bowling alley and just walked. If the graduation begins at 9:00 a.m., I suggest getting there at 8:00, or even earlier to get a seat on the bleachers. We had to stand. They will have also shown you a diagram of which bleachers to sit in at the parade grounds to see your son (according to his squadron/flight again). Afterwards, he will be released to you, but will have to stand at parade rest until you touch him. He will be released for base liberty until 2:00 p.m. and then will have town pass until around 7:00 p.m., although he may want to be back on base about an hour early. He will be hungry, feed him.

Saturday:
You need to arrange a meeting location with him when you see him on Thursday or Friday so you know where to pick him up on Saturday. He will be released around 9:00 a.m., but has to walk to your meeting place, so give him some time. You are NOT allowed to go pick him up from his squadron, and please, for the love of God, don't park in the squadron parking lots. He should have town pass all day Saturday until 8:00 p.m., unless he got it taken away. My boyfriend got an hour taken away because he missed a memory question in front of the T.I.'s in the dining facility. If it happens, don't be hard on him...it's tough. Don't have a huge day all planned out for him, unless he has told you in advance what he wants to do. He is going to be tired, he will want to eat A LOT, and he will probably just want to relax. Have him back on base about an hour or so early.

Sunday:
I don't know if you are religous or not, but I highly recommend attending the church service at the BMT chapel with your son. It is quite an overwhelming experience to see all the trainees in all weeks of training there. They are all just so happy to be there and many have tears in their eyes. It gives you a whole new outlook and even deeper respect. I recommend going to the service at 8:00 a.m. (if you're protestant). It will give you an extra hour with your son. He is released at 9:00 a.m. for base liberty until 6:00 p.m. unless he is an honor grad, and then he will get town pass again. He will be hungry, feed him. Lots.

Additional advice:

1) Carry a lint roller with you and keep it in your purse. It will amaze you the amount of stuff your son's blues will collect while you're out and about. I spent a great deal of time picking stuff off of my boyfriend, and really wish I had a lint roller with me.

2) Don't order a graduation video until you find out if your son ordered one. He will have been given the opportunity to order a package with his pictures and stuff already early on in BMT, and he may have already ordered it along with it. If not, you have ample time throughout the weekend to go order it. It is $50. You can pick his pictures up for him in advance if you'd prefer, just ask the people at the BMT Reception Center where the pick up location is (I forgot, it was a really long weekend).

3) You cannot purchase stuff at the mini mall or base exchange without your son. Military ID required.

4) Your son will most likely need to run errands with you while you are there. I don't know where he's going for tech school, but if he's going to Keesler AFB, make sure he's got a working cell phone and plan before he leaves. They don't have cell phone stores available on base at Keesler according to the phone lady at the BX at Lackland. The BX at Lackland does have a cell phone store where you can purchase plans too. I recommend you all be on the same plan (such as Cingular) so you can talk to each other for free. It's working really well for us.

5) You may need to tote around a fellow Airman or two of his on base...keep your backseat cleaned out.

6) DON'T ask to take a picture of him and his T.I. I nearly passed out when my boyfriend's dad asked to do so, but fortunatey his T.I. was very nice about it. DON'T touch anything, I mean ANYTHING in your son's dorm when you go visit after his graduation on Friday. He will freak out. Don't bump into the beds. Take the initiative and don't walk down the center aisle of the dorm unless your son does so or says it's ok. It is a sign of courtesy, as they have not been permitted to do so.

6) This may be a moot point, but take LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS of pictures. He will get pissed off at you, but it's ok. He'll get over it.

7) I cannot stress this enough: feed the boy. You will think he has been starving for six and a half weeks. If you know his favorite candy or snacks, bring some with you so he can eat them in the car. He can't take them back to the dorm with him though.

8) Let him listen to what he wants on the radio, even if it drives you crazy.

That's all I can think of for now, though I'm sure I've missed something. If I think of anything else tonight I'll post it, or if you have any questions at all, please ask, and I'll make sure I get you an answer before you leave.

I hope you have a wonderful time, and it is really a wonderful experience.

KJA06...I just printed your reply...I am going to keep it with all my stuff I am taking to Lackland and reread it on the plane...first thing tomorrow, I am going to buy a lint roller...keep in touch, there are other moms/girlfriends/loved ones/ who are going to be in the same boat as we are..Happy Holidays and I hope that you will be together for Christmas

I'm glad I could be of help. I think it will be strange actually going through basic training myself in April...most people don't experience both sides of the Air Force like that. I also found out, when I was at Lackland, that he wants to marry me, so we'll be getting married before I leave for BMT. He comes home for Christmas on the 23rd! I'm so happy!

Oh KJAo6 I am so very happy for you! Now you can give your mom this website so she can chat-in and tell everyone how she didn't hear from you and how worried she is...better yet give it to your future husband and let him vent alittle and worried a litte...you will do well girl...it sounds like you both have it together...good luck and have a special Christmas