I think they provide the recruits with coats.

August 12, 2009 8:09 AM

What's a good present for someone going into the Navy?

My little brother has joined the Navy and is going to basic training this fall. However, because his friends are going to college in the fall, his "going away" party is next weekend, so I have about 10 days to find a good present.

To be honest, we're not that close, he's 10 years younger than me, and growing up in different households (we share a father, but have different mothers), he is more like a cousin. That said, he's a good kid and I love him, I just don't know what he's into, aside from kind of generically knowing he likes cars.

So, uh, what do you give an 18-year-old who's joining the Navy? I'm looking to spend somewhere between $30 and $100.

Oh, and he'll be training in the Great Lakes area, I don't know if that helps.

posted by explosion to grab bag (17 comments total)

I'd get him a nice shaving kit.
posted by ocherdraco at 8:35 AM on August 12 [1 favorite]

If you're looking for something he can take with him, there's not much that will help. Anything you'd get him you would have to be able to send to him after he graduates boot camp or he would have to pick up when he visits home, because there's no way to "save" anything while he's in Great Lakes. Otherwise, something he would enjoy until he leaves would be fine.

My recommendation would be pictures. A disposable camera at the party or something like that so he has pictures of all his friends and family would be awesome. He might find it lame now (depends on the type of guy), but after a week or two of boot camp even the most independent people become homesick, and pictures become a highly valued commodity. They don't exactly tell you that you can keep them when you get to Great Lakes, but they don't make you give them up.
posted by semp at 8:40 AM on August 12

A gift card to Amazon.com or other online general store. Once he gets settled in and out of basic training, he can order what he likes.
posted by Burhanistan at 8:42 AM on August 12

There's not a lot he's allowed to have at basic training. I like the camera idea (or you could bring a digital camera and printer and take pictures on site, get his friends to write on the backs or something, and slip them into a small album). Also, know that he will appreciate any letters you can take the time to send while he's there.

Otherwise I'd wait until he finds out where he'll be going afterward. Wherever it is, he'll be there for three or four years depending on whether it's a shore or sea duty assignment, and you can tailor a gift to his new "home".
posted by padraigin at 8:52 AM on August 12

Whatever you get him (and get him something nice), bring it to him (along with a large contingent of family/loved ones) on his liberty weekend/"Graduation".

There is not one thing he will be allowed to keep (unless it is orthopedic shoe inserts or similar specific medical... whatever) if he takes it with him to Great Lakes RTC.
posted by jjjjjjjijjjjjjj at 8:54 AM on August 12

We recently gave a friend going to bootcamp a digital keychain filled with photos of his family and friends (and dog, and house, and car, etc). It was a big hit -- pocket sized, held about 50 photos, and easy to keep with him.
posted by anastasiav at 8:54 AM on August 12

Also: and this is just my aesthetic, and may not match up with you or your brothers; the occasion is a pretty strongly life-changing if not life-defining event... so in this case I'd go with "symbolic/permanent" and not be afraid to shy away from "useful".

"This is the silver monogrammed ring my brother got me when I graduated boot camp" has a lot more heft, to my tastes, than "this is the silver iPod mini my brother got me when I graduated boot camp", in other words.

(Then again, your brother might be the practical sort, and eschew all such sentimentality as silly... I have no way of knowing. But if he's on the fence, I say go for "heirloom".)
posted by jjjjjjjijjjjjjj at 9:02 AM on August 12 [1 favorite]

Not sure how much you want to spend, but some sort of gift card for a restaurant in Chicago/Chicagoland area. I know they don't get paid a lot but when they do get free time and come into the city (I live a block from the train that most of them take when they do), having the ability to eat (and drink) a good meal would be something the guys I've talked to would appreciate.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 9:05 AM on August 12

At the moment of graduation, your bro will be flush with $2700+ in a bank account that he's not been allowed to touch for months. A dinner with family at a restaurant would be amazing... a gift card to restaurant, not so useful.
posted by jjjjjjjijjjjjjj at 9:10 AM on August 12

Would a leatherman be a useful gift? They are high-quality multi-tools which are quite small. (I'm not familiar with the navy aspect, just thinking about what someone at that age might like)
posted by a womble is an active kind of sloth at 9:36 AM on August 12

Are people able to have any music in boot camp? Itunes gift cert. might be welcome. In any case, write him a nice card with lots of encouragement about his ability to do well in boot camp and the Navy.
posted by theora55 at 9:52 AM on August 12

2nding photos (make sure a couple of them are small-- like wallet sized)-- outside of medical stuff, it's all he'll be able to squirrel away, and they can be a great pick-me-up on some of the nastier days. Girlfriend/s/other-friends can be a good source of non-familial ones.

Get him something once he knows his duty station; jjjjjjijjjjj's right, he'll have plenty of spending cash for libo afterwards.
posted by Seeba at 9:53 AM on August 12

At the moment of graduation, your bro will be flush with $2700+ in a bank account that he's not been allowed to touch for months. A dinner with family at a restaurant would be amazing... a gift card to restaurant, not so useful.

Thanks for this correction. My cousin has recently signed up and will be at Great Lakes soon, so this will be useful knowledge for me as well. I guess I was conflating everyone at Great Lakes with the guys in Basic, and since many of the guys I talked with on the train talked about having little/no cash for their forays into the city, I got the wrong impression. Thanks again.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 10:58 AM on August 12

I guess I was conflating everyone at Great Lakes with the guys in Basic, and since many of the guys I talked with on the train talked about having little/no cash for their forays into the city, I got the wrong impression.

It's not true for everyone, but my experience says that people in the military, especially young ones who aren't used to having a couple thousand dollars, find it very easy to spend it quickly the second they can. Especially if that spending involves alcohol.
posted by semp at 12:28 PM on August 12

If he's going to a submarine after basic, get him all the socks, t-shirts (white), and underwear you can afford. He'll look at you funny, then thank you after his first deployment. (~150 men, two washing machines and dryers).
posted by Dorri732 at 12:52 PM on August 12

"Basic pay for an E-1 with less than 4 months of active duty is $1,245.90"

That's for the month, before taxes. Guys in Boot don't get any bonuses or allowances unless they got a signing bonus...boot camp is 9 weeks, so prolly more like $1500 (make sure he signs up for whatever they are calling the GI Bill these days, it'll reduce his take home by $100 a month for a year, but it is totally worth it.)

A coupon promising to write at least once a week while he's in boot and then going through with it! I cannot tell you how much mail call means to you in boot camp. Don't send treats until he tells you tho, some DIs don't let the kids have junk food right away, then when you do send stuff make sure to send lots, they gotta share :)

If he's not leaving for a while, and not working, I can guarantee that there's not a guy his age out there that would be unhappy with cash so he can hang out with his buds while he's home.
posted by legotech at 1:04 AM on August 13 [1 favorite]

...boot camp is 9 weeks, so prolly more like $1500

Important note: (unless they've streamlined the process or changed it) Boot is not 9 (or the oft-quoted "8") weeks. File this information under "[My] recruiter lied to [me]." By this I mean... It doesn't last 9 weeks by any traditional objective system of human time measurement. The only conceivable upside is that, yes, you get paid for (most of) this time.

write at least once a week while he's in boot and then going through with it

Couldn't agree more, and truthfully, more than any other suggestion in these answers, I think that this one very simple action would be appreciated the most by most people I know.

I knew one guy that didn't get a letter until week 7 ("human weeks elapsed"=10) who was perfectly fine with it; he was older, focused, unsentimental, and even-keeled, and I think he honestly didn't mind at all. But I gotta say that he seemed like a very extreme exception in these ways. Much more common were kids whose continual disappointment during mail-call was heartbreakingly apparent--just written very large all over their faces, repeatedly. I considered myself very lucky in these matters, and will never forget the many people who showed me this kindness.
posted by jjjjjjjijjjjjjj at 1:51 PM on October 22