Information is Key

    Today is all about information.  For me the most unsettling and upsetting part of enlistment was my complete and total lack of knowledge.   Thankfully, we live in the information age and a plethora of just that was a key stroke away - or so I thought.   Connecting with others and finding real information is not as easy as I had first imagined it would be.  After poring through pages and searches, which led to other searches and other pages,  I stumbled upon a link that saved my sanity.  www.parrisisland.yuku.com   All things Marine boot camp, answers, chat rooms and a connection with others who were either going through this along side me or had been there before.  I wouldn't say that this completely eased the stress but it did lower my levels to a manageable point.

    For parents it's sending your baby who you've been watching as closely as a hawk, into the great unknown.  For wives, husbands, girl friends/boy friends - you are having someone leave that should be, according to most in society, staying by your side.   For us extended family members it's a little different but no less upsetting.   For all but the spouse/partners it's the child/nephew/niece that you've been carefully sheltering from danger going off, willingly, into harms way.   In this day and age we can talk to them, text them, GPS their phones to find them and contact them at any given moment and now they are going off into what feels like a big black hole.

   What will they be doing? How will they be feeling? What... Why... How.... Where....

    I found my answers - hopefully some of the links below will help you find yours !


All Branches

http://www.allmilitary.com/board/

http://www.sparkpeople.com/myspark/groups_individual.asp?gid=273

Marine Corps

 

www.parrisisland.yuku.com    all things boot camp related

www.usmc.yuku.com          combat school and beyond

Army 

http://www.armybasic.org/portal/index.php

http://forums.military.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/2681962206/m/1241902096/p/44

http://www.marriedtothearmy.com

Air Force


http://www.militarymoms.net/airforcebasic.html

Navy

http://www.navy.com/messageboard/index.jspa

http://www.navy4moms.com

Coast Guard

http://www.uscg.org/?uscg-forum=*http://www.uscg.org/forum/

http://www.coastguardfamily.org


If anyone has other sites or message boards that they find useful, please, leave it for me in the comments and I will add to the list above.

Suggested Reading -

Hey Mom! I Joined the Marines!: They May Have Enlisted, but We Were Drafted by Teri A. Laughery (Paperback - Oct. 26, 2009)

Into The Crucible: Making Marines for the 21st Century 

Keeping Faith: A Father-Son Story About Love and the U.S. Marine Corps 

An Army ABC Book 
Separated By Duty, United In Love (revised): Guide to Long Distance Relationships for Military Couples (Updated)