What to bring to Boot Camp and what NOT- Females Stuff Only

[Craig]

I know I just said "Females Stuff Only", so God knows why I'm here (ie I'm a guy)..... But I do know alot about this subject since I was helping a female Sailor and collected this information for her.... This is written by a female Sailor who recently went through Bootcamp....

So Guys, If your here, you can read this, but you do so at your own risk.....

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Q. What to bring?

A. Almost nothing. You will be all set there. They won't let you keep much of anything anyway. They issued bras, skivvies, swimsuit (that you wear once,) stationary, stamps, and you can pick up religious texts at the chapel. Bring addresses and phone numbers, ID, and your debit card. Some girls brought their own bras, which they generally let you keep if they were sports bras, but you'd probably want to lock them up in your drawer for inspections, and the drawer is very small. You really don't need to bring a bag of anything in my opinion, because you just mail it home. The only exception is, you may want to bring some makeup for graduation. I did, because I use bare essentials and want to have it there. My RDCs let everyone go to the NEX and buy makeup on picture day if they didn't have any. They have basic makeup from drugstore brands.

They also give you toiletries, and our division went to the NEX within a week to pick up any other toiletries we wanted. There were limits - no styling products, for example, but you don't have to worry about not having what you need.

Depending on your RDCs, you MAY be allowed to shave once a week, on Sundays. We were allowed to, but that's not always the case. You'll want to buy a really good lotion at the NEX when you go. It was really dry at Great Lakes, to the point where everyone's hands were cracking and bleeding. We were also getting red dry patches on our legs. Yeah, it's not attractive! I was there in the dead of winter though, so perhaps it will be better now.

You will wear a sports bra 24/7 at boot camp - YES while you're sleeping! Get your hair cut before you leave, and try to get it cut short enough so that it will be in regs for the entire 2 months. They just do a quick job on it there and it gets butchered. (I had mine cut ahead of time.)

If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask. Keep in mind that different RDCs have different rules, so a lot of things aren't guaranteed, but I can at least tell you what I know, and what I've heard from my shipmates. By the way, boot camp was a great experience for me. Follow the rules, stay motivated, and act your age, and you'll like it too!

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Q. Was there specific times that you were able to shower? I've come to understand that the showers are open and really you only have about 5-10 minutes to wash up.

A. As far as showering goes... In the beginning we generally got 12 minutes for each half of the female house to shower. That was about 30 people or so - at busier times of year it could be 44. 12 minutes is not a lot considering you enter dressed in shorts, shirts, socks and boots, and must exit the head in the same attire. You can only comb your hair in the head as well, so really you have 4-5 minutes at MOST to actually wash. There are a total of about 15-18 shower heads. There's no privacy, but you're so focused on getting done in time, that it's not an issue. Later on we got 15 minute showers and when there was time and we were well behaved we would occasionally get 20 minute showers. One time they gave us 30 minutes and we were all done by minute 22 because we just didn't know what to do with ourselves! On Sunday you take your shower during holiday routine between 0700-1300 and you can take as long as you want - you just might want to start early, say right after chapel, if you want hot water. It can be a little tempermental on Sunday. You also have to get ironing, boot polishing, and letter writing done as well.

PAP tests - I don't know of anyone who got out of their PAP test, but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen. You might as well get it done at boot camp because it's free, and you're correct that they might do it anyway. It's not bad. They'll also prescribe you BC if you want it, and of course that's free too.
Hope this helps!

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Q. If my hair is short in the back but longer in the front. Do they allow you to pull your hair up on top of your head?

A. As long as your hair is not drastically longer in the front it should be okay. A lot of females had a variation of the Victoria Beckham type haircut at bootcamp (myself included) if that's what you're thinking of. It's nice because you can tuck it behind your ears. Depending on your RDCs, you may not get to wear barrettes right away. We didn't get to wear them until week 3.

I turned 27 on 1-2 day of bootcamp. (Happy Birthday to me!) I'm an E-3 and an MU. The more mature and respectful you are, the easier everything will be for you at RTC, so at 26 you should do fine. Good luck!

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Q. Was there ever major "drama" from having that many girls living in the same space?

A. 15 minutes for shower (called Hollywood). and you had so many shower heads. Craziness. We usually had about 8-12 minutes for half the compartment with 8 shower heads. That was tons of fun.
For menstrual cycles. I started mine the day I went to boot camp (lucky me!). That would be my last cycle for about 6 months. That’s how wacked out it got. 3 years later and I’m still not regular again....whatever. I did take enough products for a few cycles (just in case) if you run out someone is bound to have something till you can get to the NEX. Like its been said, modesty goes out the window at boot.

Drama will always be an issue when you have 80 females in the same room for 10 weeks. Just a fact, unfortunately. Just wait till you go on your first cruise. That’s even more fun.

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Q. “Cycles?”

A. For the "time of the month" issue...

The first time you go to the NEX each female will buy supplies. I think each person pretty much bought a pack of tampons, pads, and liners. We kept them in a cabinet in the bathroom and that was a "community" supply - you used what was there. The RDCs won't let you run out, they will take a collection and get more to fill the cabinet if they have to. Unfortunately, I had the opposite of what most females say happens... I had 3 periods in two months and the last one was almost 2 weeks! My hormones were out of wack I guess.

As far as the question about "civies" goes, at my A school I got to wear civilian clothes after 2 weeks. My parents brought a small set up when they brought the car (I'm married and live off base during A school.) I've purchased some cheap things, but I don't plan on having too many clothes until I PCS after A school. I get to wear civies on nights, weekends, and holidays.

There were quite a few older and married females in my division, but you will feel ancient sometimes. I think it's great to go in with some life experience under your belt!

Skivvies.... only a few people brought their own. The RDCs in my division checked them to see if they were genuine "Granny Panties" and made them trash them if they weren't. Only a couple of girls had brought ones that were big enough. I mean these are huge, up to your belly button grannies!! They almost come up to your sports bra.

I hope this helps. I really don't mind taking the time to answer questions, because I've been where you are and I understand how mysterious boot camp can seem, and these issues are not always addressed on this forum. Have a great weekend everyone!

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Q. How was sleeping in the racks. ie: comfort, picking bottom vs top. I'm sure you just get pretty whipped and any lying down will feel good. Was your rack and locker assigned?

A. Comfort's not an issue, by the time you hit it, you could sleep anywhere (and you will be tempted to).

If you get the top, be careful jumping down. Land wrong, and it hurts. (You should've seen my ankle by the time I was done with boot...I refused to go to medical while I was there, though. In our division the division leader's racks were dictated, and the rest of us randomly selected racks in some odd, sleep deprived haze.

Oh the racks... they are incredibly hard. As you suspected though, you're so glad to be going to sleep, you get used to it real quick! catherine's comments about choosing racks were accurate. I was part of my division's leadership so I never got a choice. I had multiple jobs and when I was made Master at Arms I was moved from a top rack to a bottom one. It felt claustrophobic on the bottom, but that's just me.

Yes, you get 8 hours of sleep per night, but we had to take turns getting up in the middle of every night to iron our utilities.

At MEPS I was the only Navy female, so I didn't get to meet anyone, but it was still very interesting. One female found out she was pregnant at MEPS! Definitely a DQ there.