Question from family members looking to support their candidate:
Should we send food to our candidate? Obviously they could use extra calories and will miss home cooking.
Answer:
No.
They will probably either be forced to throw away the food right away, or put it in a closet until they are released to eat it. The official OCS website says the following: DON’T send items to your candidate unless asked for. (We don’t recommend sending perishable items.) It is parental nature to want to send something. RESIST!
So that’s your answer: Resist!
When candidates got food sent to them, it was locked up in the gear locker until Liberty, when it would usually get pretty nasty. Don’t send it. Besides, they will have plenty to eat at good ol’ Bobo Chow Hall.
-OCC 211 Candidate
Send food to any Marine Corps recruit, enlisted OR officer? That’s funny. My Dad went though Parris Island in 1966 and a recruit got a flattened cigarette in the mail. He had to eat it in front of all his platoon mates. Watch the movie “Full Metal Jacket” before sending any food to a recruit.