John H. wrote:
On Thu, 27 Sep 2018 09:35:15 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 9/27/2018 9:14 AM, John H. wrote:
On Thu, 27 Sep 2018 08:09:33 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:


Our grandson starting his first week of US Army bootcamp. (on right
marching away from camera). Following completion of bootcamp he will
attend a Navy SeaBee Carpentry and Construction school in Mississippi.

Meanwhile, his older brother serving in the United States Coast Guard
just returned from a lengthy drug interdiction patrol where a record
amount of cocaine was captured and recovered from drug smugglers.

Proud of both of them!

http://funkyimg.com/i/2LAj6.jpg

Good on 'em!



John, it's amazing how social media has changed the whole experience of
basic training today. In the Army each company has a dedicated Facebook
page that is established when the company is formed. Parents, family
and friends can follow the progress of their "boot" as they
go through training. Pictures are updated and uploaded daily to the
Facebook page documenting the various parts of training.

When we entered the military back in the dark ages, we just disappeared
into a black hole and emerged 9 or 10 weeks later. Other than mandatory
letter writing and receiving mail occasionally, we were out of touch.

I am not sure I go along with the way it's done today. The transition
from being a young family member to a member of the military includes
"snipping" some of the ties .. and it's true for both the service member
and of his parents/family. I am witnessing the reaction my daughter
has to her son's Army Facebook page and I don't think it's all
necessarily good.

I had no idea anything like that was going on. We didn't even have a
telephone in the barracks.
Someone may have smuggled in a radio, but I don't remember ever seeing one.

We got a weekend pass on the weekend before graduation (during Basic at
Ft. Leonard Wood). That was
the only time I saw or heard from any family the whole time.

I agree with everything you said. I think it should be a 'growing up'
time, not a 'whining on
Facebook' time.


We got letters all through the 6 weeks of basic. Even got cookies from a
girlfriend.