Mailing Letters During BCT.

We would scan pics of the dog, little sister, etc, and write on the flip side. One twin's cadre read it, of course, then made that twin recite the letter, but he did get to keep it. The other guy's said, "NO PICTURES." and that twin kindly sent us a note not to do that any more.

I would suggest no postcards, until A day when you can send them to all the new cadets here. It's fun! My kids still have theirs.
 
It's a shame. I used to befriend a few cadets several years ago and wrote and sent contraband during BCT. Some of it made it DURING BCT and some was held until A day. For a RTB, I sent a case of BIG RED gum.....it got quite the lecture (no gum chewing in the military) ...i.e. no gum chewing while in uniform...so one brave basic asked the question: Sir, if we promise to be naked when we chew, can we have the gum? HAHAHAHA. Some parents had a field day with letters to the cadre about how much their DS/DD loved certain things. It made BCT "fun" for a bit. Sometimes they had to do extra push ups for the comics etc....If they are just taking this stuff away no matter what, they are missing out on the "fun" they could have. :(
 
Of course we parents were told "white business envelopes only with blue or black ink" and generally speaking, I did comply... BUT, I met a mom of a rising firstie! two weeks into BCT and she told me: Pink envelopes! Green Ink! Stickers! Dress ''em up!!!

Shocked I was! But then she told me to also find out which basic got NO mail, and that was worse than the pink envelope and the cadre in both sons' squads realized that Basic X's mom was sending mail to everyone. Earned one kid a snickers bar!

So find out which basic isn't getting any mail and start mailing. Be creative.
 
Webguy was a lifesaver. I got to 'see' him nearly every day and know what they are doing. It helped when I didn't get letters. He always smiled for the camera. Some cadre yell at them for smiling, but he didn't care. Others want them to smile at the camera to make mom happy. Tell them to remember, cadre are just upperclassmen, they are human, one of them will be mine!


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fencersmother said:
Of course we parents were told "white business envelopes only with blue or black ink" and generally speaking, I did comply... BUT, I met a mom of a rising firstie! two weeks into BCT and she told me: Pink envelopes! Green Ink! Stickers! Dress ''em up!!!

Shocked I was! But then she told me to also find out which basic got NO mail, and that was worse than the pink envelope and the cadre in both sons' squads realized that Basic X's mom was sending mail to everyone. Earned one kid a snickers bar!

So find out which basic isn't getting any mail and start mailing. Be creative.
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I'm glad fencersmother said that...we sent our kid tons of letters on standard paper and envelopes, but some of her teammates decorated envelopes with all kinds of drawings (some are younger kids) and she really enjoyed those even though she got a little razzing for it. Her old coach sent regular annoying and loud musical cards that of course were confiscated but gave the cadre and the rest of the squadron alot of laughs during mail call. Cadre know how important mail is to the kids, and I saw BCT photos of my kid and her squadron at mail call...they were all smiling and lots were looking at greeting cards and letters. So while it's a good thing to keep it standard, I wouldn't get too concerned if friends and others send fun cards and postcards. Your basic will be able to enjoy them for a couple minutes anyway. I also sent letters and cards to cadets I didn't know as Webguy would let us know if anyone was not getting mail.
 
melindayching said:
I also sent letters and cards to cadets I didn't know as Webguy would let us know if anyone was not getting mail.
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DW did this as well. We found nothing sadder during BCT than the poor Basic with no mail who is standing in the line up against the wall and attempting to read the mail of the Basic next to them who is holding multiple letters. And sometimes we would see the same Basic without mail multiple different times. . .
 
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Blackbird said:
DW did this as well. We found nothing sadder during BCT than the poor Basic with no mail who is standing in the line up against the wall and attempting to read the mail of the Basic next to them who is holding multiple letters. And sometimes we would see the same Basic without mail multiple different times. . .
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Oh my gosh, that's so sad! BCT is hard enough already, I just can't imagine!
 
Mail Call?

So I don't understand....If we send mail to their box they have been assigned, does someone else get their mail and deliver it to them or is this only if we use the email process where they print off the email and deliver it to them.
 
2018mom, I am not sure I understand your question...

Basics don't have access to email, ever, unless things are drastically different now.
 
fencersmother said:
2018mom, I am not sure I understand your question...

Basics don't have access to email, ever, unless things are drastically different now.
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One of the parent facebook pages mentioned a website where you can send an email and the service prints it off and delivers it to the Basic Cadet. My question is does the Basic Cadet get his own mail from his mailbox? Or do the Cadre hand out the mail?
 
2018mom said:
So I don't understand....If we send mail to their box they have been assigned, does someone else get their mail and deliver it to them or is this only if we use the email process where they print off the email and deliver it to them.
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they go to their mailboxes and check if there is any mail during mail call and its not everyday.

you are probably talking about the service write2them.org provides. you email the letters to the write2them website via their server then they print all the emails and deliver the printed emails to the usafa post office where they get put into your DD/DS mailbox. otherwise there is no email directly to the basics.
 
2018mom said:
So I don't understand....If we send mail to their box they have been assigned, does someone else get their mail and deliver it to them or is this only if we use the email process where they print off the email and deliver it to them.
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The basics get to visit the mailboxes assigned to them during BCT 1. During BCT 2, the mail gets gathered up (doesn't go into the boxes) and brought out to Jacks. During BCT 2, it's always good to reference their squad on their mail. Mail during BCT 2 is always messed up so be forewarned. My kid said that once only 1 person in her squad got mail and everyone was so bummed that the cadre went out in search of the mail people to figure out what happened. So be patient and don't worry and let your kid know that it's not that you've forgotten them, but be patient.
 
I am a little confused. Does the cadre read the mail before giving it to the cadets? This way they will know what to confiscate or allow basics to hold onto?


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Runner2014 said:
I am a little confused. Does the cadre read the mail before giving it to the cadets? This way they will know what to confiscate or allow basics to hold onto?


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No, it's a federal offense to tamper with someone else's mail. Not something you need to worry about.
 
No one opens the mail except the basic. All mail is opened in the presence of cadre and anyone with photos or other stuff is expected to show the cadre who then determines whether it gets confiscated or whether the basic gets to keep it.


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Haha ok, that makes more sense. Thank you!


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Does Write2Them only work during BCT; or is it possible to use this option throughout the doolie year, too?
 
Around acceptance day they get their computers. Usually called 'transition days'. You can then email them directly, why email write2them and have it converted to paper that they have to go to mail room and collect?

Cadets will have a difference of opinion whether they want you to use their official Usafa email or their personal one. Some want to keep official and school work separate from personal emails. Mine prefers me to send to Usafa email because he always reads that unless he will need it on his phone, like airline reservation, because you can't get Usafa email on your phone.


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Usafamom2016 said:
Around acceptance day they get their computers. Usually called 'transition days'. You can then email them directly, why email write2them and have it converted to paper that they have to go to mail room and collect?

Cadets will have a difference of opinion whether they want you to use their official Usafa email or their personal one. Some want to keep official and school work separate from personal emails. Mine prefers me to send to Usafa email because he always reads that unless he will need it on his phone, like airline reservation, because you can't get Usafa email on your phone.


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This maybe a little off target here. Come those Transition days and beyond, throughout the 4 years at the Academy, can DS assume that all correspondence from the AFA will switch from his AOL email address to his AFA email address? Probably a stupid question, but it will take wondering off the table. Thank you.
 
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