When I left for Marine Corps boot camp in 1997, the Internet didn’t exist. My parents depended on sporadic scripted phone calls and letters to learn what was going on during my 12-week training. Fast-forward, a few decades (has it been that long), family and friends have a vast number of recruit training websites, social media groups, and mobile apps for support & resources. 

By now, you have heard the phrase, “hurry up and wait,” a humorous phrase used in the military to describe a situation in which one spends a lot of time waiting for an event to take place. And recruit training is a great example. Family and friends can find themselves going in circles trying to find accurate information – and feel a sense of control.

Over the past year, I have had the privilege to answer parents, grandparents, spouses, and other family members on recruit training questions. Although recruit training is very structured, there can be a lot of hurry up and wait for parents based on the dynamic nature of COVID – and lack of updated information from the various commands – and more so, online resources.

The Recruit Graduation team has compiled a few resources to help family and friends find a sense of peace while waiting to hear from the loved one. We have created a new browser-based mobile app,  Recruit Graduation App, that provides updated information and a Live Facebook Messenger chat feature with our team. 

• Graduation dates with live stream links
• Best practices on communication
• Mailing Addresses
• Training Schedule and Activities
• Fun quizzes and learning opportunities

You can save the app as a Chrome bookmark or your home screen using the iOS Safari on your iPhone.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out with questions!!!! Please don’t hesitate to reach out with questions!!!! Our team is more than happy to answer or find the answer. We have – been, there, done, that – so there is no such thing as a stupid question. 

Categories: Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Navy, Recruit Training, Spouses, USMC