Resources for Families

This Site is for U.S. Navy and Marine Parents, Family Members and All Who Want to Learn About Life in the United States Navy & Marine Corps.
This site has fantastic resources for families.

This site is for mothers of kids in the U.S. Navy and for Moms who have questions about Navy life for their kids. This site is similar to the Navy Dads website, with great information for families.

Excellent video playlist with videos explaining the bootcamp experience. These videos can give families a little peek into their loved one's journey through RTC.

The official Navy RTC website with guides, PIR Graduation information, tips on preparing for bootcamp and more.

An App used to connect with sailors. It can be useful for sending letters and tracking your recruit's progress through RTC.

The Navy Lodge Hotels are operated by NEXCOM for active-duty military, their family, and special civilian contractors. We stayed at the Navy Lodge during our PIR trip and highly recommend it!

A veteran owned and operated service that provides transportation at great rates. Also, they host the "Sarge's Meet and Greet" which is held the day before Boot Camp Graduation from Recruit Training Command (RTC) and Great Lakes Naval Station "A" school graduations. 

The U.S. Navy's media stream page includes live streams of boot camp graduation videos as they occur. This is a great resource for family and friends who want to watch the event, but aren't able to attend Great Lakes.

The only OFFICIAL Facebook page for Recruit Training Command! You can view RTC graduation videos here.

Creating or ordering customized anchors are a common way families commemorate their Sailor's graduation from PIR. Just click the button below to see search results we used to find our craftsperson.

Please note that we are not an Etsy affiliate and receive no compensation for this referral. 

The Red Cross Hero Care Center can help you reach your active duty service member during an emergency at home whether they are at boot camp, or deployed over seas. 

Haeden Beck's YouTube channel has some really great tips and information for sailors, including videos on preparing for boot camp and life at RTC.

Mental health resources for service members, veterans, family members, clinicians, commanders, or anyone with a question about psychological health in the military.

Navy chaplains are available to provide confidential counseling, prayer, and clergy support in your daily lives--and, if need be, in times of crisis.  

Free and confidential crisis hotline for military veterans, service members, their families, and caregivers that is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Safe Helpline is the Department of Defense’s (DoD) hotline for members of the DoD community affected by sexual assault. The Safe helpline is confidential, anonymous and available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

"Military OneSource is your 24/7 connection to information, answers and support to help you reach your goals, overcome challenges and thrive. As a member of our military family, you are eligible to use this Defense Department-funded program anytime, anywhere. Turn to Military OneSource for tax services, spouse employment help, webinars and online training, relocation and deployment tools, and much more. Learn about some of the ways we serve you."