I get a form letter from my son's BCT unit commander, basically saying "We've got him for the next few months, here are the do's and don't's....".

Clearly things have changed since I went to OSUT. They included a link to their Facebook page, where they'll post pics as the training cycle goes on.

Imagine my surprise when I see a pic from a couple of days ago with who I am pretty sure is my son in it. How many Cowans can there be in this class on this post at this time? LOL

Good stuff, congrats on your sons decision to serve.

So with Facebook and such does that mean no more forced proof of life/kidnapped phone call upon arriving down range? Or the scripted forced first letter telling the folks how great it is and how well the cadre is treating you?

Fond memories now but the suck was strong at the time.

My name is Sergeant Hulka. . .


Pretty cool. They didn't have anything like Facebook back in the 'good old days' when I came through. Nice to see social media being used for something productive for a change.

Well, I can't read any name tags in that photo. Surely you can recognize your son without one?

flashguy

The soft cap on the guy center front (with his back to the camera).....pretty sure it says "COWAN". LOL Maybe it's just wishful thinking.

Ceptor, I have received two letters and two (very brief) phone calls so far. A quick call when he arrived at Reception, a letter from his last night at Reception, a phone call when he arrived at BCT and a letter from a few days into BCT. Then today I get the form letter from the unit. The form letter had the addy for their FB page.

I remember when my son was downrange a few years ago and during the NFL game on Christmas they showed his unit watching the game on Satellite for a few seconds...I thought saw him there but when I asked him he said no he was out on a mission and it was just the office weenies that got to watch the game!