Celtic Heart

I would like to give my son a celtic cross to wear at navy bootcamp. Can he keep it?

I recognize giving him a blingy gold cross would be a mistake. I would like to give him a silver celtic cross, or a saint's medal (St. Brendan or St Nicholas). Will this be a problem?

Public Comments

1. Why would it be? He may not be able to wear it during the routines, but he can have it with him at night time, etc. Just make sure it isn't very heavy. Remember you have no idea where he'll have to carry it around.
2. I am not sure about Navy regs but the Army allows for religious symbols to be worn.
3. Absolutely he can keep it. No problem at all.
4. Yes you can, as long as it is small. they are allowed to wear it on the chain on which they have their dog tags. . I was there myself...=)
5. They cannot take this from him or cause him problems for real religious items such as that. Religious items cannot be discriminated upon by anyone during basic. If it is small and not a distraction, it will not be a problem.
6. GIVE HIM A GOLD ONE HE'LL LOVE IT
7. Why not wait until he's finished with ALL his training?! Unauthorized jewelry might pose a problem in boot camp!
8. I believe in boot-camp they are not allowed to having any personal belonging on them.You might be better off giving it to him after he graduates boot-camp.
9. i shouldnt be... however he better not get caught skipping mass
10. religious items are perfectly legal. I kept the same St. Christopher with me in Viet Nam that my Dad carried through WWII
11. Not a problem. In fact, a very nice gesture!
12. That's not a problem unless it makes him look like a rapper.
13. It depends on who is training him and what they think about it. If they look and it and decide its not appropriate. Doesnt matter much if its religious or not, what matters is what the instructor thinks it is. And there will be no arguing with him on the matter. You can definatley try, but if he is told to take it off, there wont be any arguing. If it is obviously religious like a plain cross or something like that he would probably be just fine, but if its in question for even one second, he could be told to take it off. It just depends on his luck.
14. Be prepared for him to lose it. Training is quite rigorous and things can go missing during training quite easily. Make sure that it is small, silver (Gold will cause comment) and it has a good fastener. The Drill SGT are instructed not to ridicule anyone for their beliefs, regardless of what they may be. However, take note that this instruction is not always followed to the letter.
15. yes he can have a single religious medallion to wear UNDER his uniform.
16. John, as a former Navy DI (RCC), two tours, I can tell you a couple of things. One, he'll be able to wear the cross on his dog-tag chain, but keep it small. Think St. Christophers. Basically, keep it smaller than the size of a dog tag. Two, definitely, not gold. Silver is quite alright, but no need to tempt the occasional thief. Every recruit is allowed to wear one religious medal - cross, Saint's, etc - along with the dog tags. There will be times he'll need to take it off, say, in the water survival, fire-fighting, damage control segments, but other than that, he can keep it, and no one will question it or attempt to have him take it off.