USMCDad sounds like my experience. I was Echo but we started in July. We were slated to finish in mid-January. Our major field exercises were in Nov and Dec. It snowed for most our final 10 day FX. We got pulled out of training twice due to cold. 1 was during swim quals that we did in Oct in an outside pool. The entire class was getting hypothermia. They finally brought a doc from the hospital to figure out what was going on. The second was us crossing a creek in November and our Platoon Commander having us hold position for an hour. Our SPC finally took over, put us up on a road, had us run the 1/2 mile to a building and then strip down out of our wet gear and warm up. They brought our packs to us for dry clothes.
Because most of MOS schools started early January they graduated the entire company except for 75 of us before xmas break. So we had finished all of our requirements, did our mess night and had our two week xmas vacation which was great. We came back, had formation once a day and were told to be scarce and not get in trouble. Our final graduation was sort of ridiculous because no one was there! MECEP and USNA grads reported to TBS immediately after basket leave. We sat in Mike Company for a month doing nothing. It was actually a good month for all of us. We had never really been around MECEP guys and they had never been around USNA guys. They realized we weren't so bad and we got along great. Their prior knowledge our knowledge of Quantico and TBS training areas really made a great combo. Our ROTC and OCS grads reported the day before Echo Company classed up. Kinnem and USMCGrunt, this freaked out alot of ROTC and OCS guys not being able to report early. Don't worry about it. We did nothing for a month, so it isn't a big deal. I think orders will state to report in Alphas or a Suit. They probably won't have alphas, so not an issue. As mentioned there is a chance for great loans to buy uniforms. There is also time in the training schedule for uniform purchases and fittings. Even if they already had uniforms we had to be fitted again. One of the Lts I talked with a few weeks ago said their sea bag issue with sword was around $3k which was pretty close to what I paid a few moons ago. We actually went to a few lectures while we were there that required us to wear suits.
Alot of Lts like to buy tons of gear when they report. Tell them to hold off, most isn't needed. Yes some good under armour, ski socks for the cold months, knife, red lens flash light are good investments. The rest of it, hold off and wait until later. They will have time to figure out what they need and want later. No need to buy tons of stuff they won't use. Between uniforms, gear, MREs, wardroom fees, association fees, etc, a Lt can put out alot of money. Food is a big cost because you are buying stuff for the field to supplement MREs and eating out is about the only way to get out of the barracks and get a break from the place.