I was so glad when I got to church to see that the people cared enough to let us write home. I'm glad that I'm here and I'm already learning a lot. But I miss you and Brooklyn so much. I hope you are giving Brooklyn all the kisses I would if I were there and telling her how much I love her. Also, if you could please call my mom and dad and let them know that I love them and I'm safe. We have some good guys in our platoon and some that need help, but so far it's been good. The drill sergeants have already singled out all of the OCS (Officer Candidates) so I'm sure it's going to be fun.
Make sure when you write me to put the address exactly how I did (as I explained below), including 2nd Platoon on the back and only use white envelopes.
This letter came from Callen's new military Branch. Included was a letter from the Branch President. I'll highlight a few things:
Dear Family and Friends:
This letter is to let you know that your Soldier has arrived at Fort Leonard Wood safely and has attended a church service with us, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He or she is doing fine. While attending basic training your Soldier is given an opportunity to attend church services as long as your Soldier can find a Battle Buddy to come with them. Our church services are from 1000 - 1200 each Sunday in the Leiber Heights Chapel on Indiana Avenue on Fort Leonard Wood. If you are in the area and would like to worship with your Soldier, all are welcome. Enclosed you will find a letter and picture of your Soldier. Enjoy.
When a new recruit arrives on Fort Leonard Wood, it takes several days to a week before they receive their assignment to the Basic Training unit. Once they have received their assignment, they will be given that unit's mailing address where you may write your Soldier. Letters from home are great moral boosters. However, you should be aware that the mail is sometimes very slow until all the units are settled and training begins. As a service to your Soldier, we provide an e-mail service so that they may communicate with you on a weekly basis. We do ask that they keep the emails "G" rated. They may send that email to multiple addresses. Please respond to your Soldier's email no later than 1200 CST on Saturday afternoon. This allows us time to download all the emails, sort them according to names, and have them ready by Sunday morning for your Soldier. Generally, we send out about 125-150 emails a week and expect about that many in return. This email service is only for those Soldiers who attend the Branch's Sunday services. You may send your email to flw_branch@hotmail.com and please ensure that your Soldier's name is in the Subject line of the email.
We ask that you DO NOT send attachments such as articles and photos as we do not have the capacity to print them. We will happily print the email but CANNOT print attachments. Thank you for your cooperation.
The Fort Leonard Wood webpage, www.wood.army.mil, has information about the training your Soldier is involved in and the graduation date of his or her unit. We encourage you to take advantage of this resource. The training link, located below the Maneuver Support Center of Excellence (MSCoE) logo, will take you to information about basic training.
As a note of information, each Soldier writes out their email and members of the Branch type them in for them. This is a free service that the Branch provides for your Soldier.
We look forward to hearing from you. May the Lord bless you and your Soldier!
Sincerely,
President Jim Bogle
The Fort Leonard Wood MIlitary Branch
Callen's birthday is this Wednesday, so although it's too late to send an email that would get to him in time, you could mail him a letter on Monday and it should get to him in time!
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