My friend is at BMOQ and I want to support him :)
Hiii!
Someone I’m close with is doing BMOQ Mod 1 right now, and he only gets his phone for maybe 10 minutes a night if we’re lucky.
I’ve never had someone close to me in the military before, so I feel like I’m mostly just guessing my way through this. I know BMOQ is supposed to be really tough, and I keep wishing there was some tiny thing I could do to make his week even 1% better.
I don’t want to make things harder by expecting replies or taking up the little free time he gets. I just want to be someone he can look forward to hearing from and remind him that someone back home is cheering him on.
If you’ve been through BMOQ, what made you feel supported? If someone supported you during it, what did they do that meant a lot? Are letters nice? Are care packages a thing? Or is it better to just send little messages and let them answer whenever they can? And what would be good/bad to say in a message?
I also don’t want him to feel like he has to spend his limited phone time talking to me. I’d rather he call his family or just relax if that’s what he needs. I just want him to know I’m proud of him and that he’s able to do this, even if I can’t tell him that very often.
Also… he mentioned that if one person has something they aren’t supposed to, sometimes the whole platoon gets punished. Ever since he told me that I’ve been scared to mail literally anything because I’d feel SO bad if I accidentally got everyone mad at him just because I was trying to be nice :( So if there are things I shouldn’t send (or things that are always definitely safe) I’d really appreciate knowing!
ANY advice is appreciated!! I just care about him a lot and really want to support him the right way :)
TL;DR: Close friend at BMOQ with very little phone time. What are the best ways to support someone going through it?