[ken5050]

Right you are.....in the Corps, it starts with reception at Parris Island or SD, where each new recruit calls home to report his safe arrival. Of course, since you arrive there at like 2-3am, you usually wake up the whole house back home....and woe betide the recruit who doesn't write several letters or postcards each week back home.....

[Jarhead_22]

"in the Corps, it starts with reception at Parris Island or SD, where each new recruit calls home to report his safe arrival."

They call home now? When I got there (March, 1990), we were given a postcard and a pen and wrote out a dictated statment with our return address and that we had arrived safely and would write again soon, but not to worry if we weren't heard from right away, as we would be very busy for a while...