My PIR Comments/Thoughts from 3/20/09

[Amy_From_Home]

My thoughts on PIR:
- We flew into Midway. Very easy. Traffic was kinda crazy - but it's gonna be crazy from anywhere.

-If you plan to do anything at all that weekend – rent a car. We rented from Alamo through their website and it was only $84 for a nice sized car from Thurs – Monday. Everything is kinda spread out and we’re exploring kinda people. We only used ½ a tank of gas and it was only $19 to fill it back up.

-The area we stayed was awesome, in my opinion, and would stay there again in a heartbeat. We stayed in Gurnee/Waugkegen area (off 43). There was a Walmart, Starbucks, Denny’s McDonalds and lots more within walking distance. It’s about 15 minutes from the RTC center, which is why I suggest a car – if you’re recruit has to go back and be picked up each day – it will get mighty expensive with taxis.

-Be sure to ask your hotel if they have a PIR discount. Our room was $129 (Courtyard Marriott) but got it for $69. They were WONDERFUL there, but I would probably stay at the Holiday Inn Express (looks brand new) or the Sleep in Suites (also looks new) – they were both in the same area.

-We took a taxi ($3 each way) to PIR. The traffic was HORRIBLE and since we had 15 Divisions graduating (I believe it was 1,097 recruits (Sue?)) so there was A LOT of people trying to get in. The line to get checked in looked long, but went surprisingly fast. You do need your id.

-The hall is like a cross between a basketball court and an airplane hanger. There are only seats on three of the sides and there’s a balcony. The seats are bleachers. Believe me when I say – there was NOT an inch of spared room AT ALL.

-There are signs on the floor that show the approximate area that the Division will be. I lucked out in that my son carried his Ships flag and he was front and center to me the entire time (I sat second bleacher row).

-There really isn’t a lot to do before hand – it’s interesting to people watch, but again, I suggest that you get there early.

-Again, since he was so close to me, it was easy to find him, but I would suggest that you ask your recruit if they could tell you a spot for you to go to to meet afterwards, you don’t have a lot of time before they start shooing you out (15 minutes).

-After PIR, our recruit had 2 hours before he had to report back to move to his new quarters. He’s Special Ops and will be in GL for an additional 8 weeks before going to Panama City for Dive School. PLEASE HEAR ME when I tell you that EACH RECRUIT’s PLAN OF ACTION IS TOTALLY DIFFERENT. Do NOT get your hopes up or make plans based on so-n-so’s kid. The recruits aren’t even sure themselves. Anyways, we were lucky to get back to “Ricky Heaven” fairly quickly and sat down and had Subway with him until he had to check in. We knew it would be a couple hours before he would know what was going on, so we went back to the hotel. It took about 4 hours, but then we got a call and he had liberty until Sunday night at 9!!!! Again, I can only speak for my son, but I believe that only Special Ops got all weekend liberty. I saw several new recruits out over the weekend that were in the 100’s Divisions and none of them had it, but they also ALL commented that the 800 Divisions didn’t get a lot of the liberties that they had during BC because of their training etc.

I know there is alot I'm forgetting...but I'm still on PIR hangover ... LOL

If you have any questions...ask.

[Lisa]

Our son PIR'd on 03/20/09 too. We drove (all 11 hours) but it was worth it to have your car there.
We were on and off the base so much, dropping off and picking up our son, we were glad to have that freedom. You are absolutely right about the indecisiveness. Ugh, I thought he would "know" what he was hungry for!!! Not at all. He didn't care, he would have gone anywhere.
We had a wonderful time, unfortunately we didn't have our son with us for the entire weekend. He had to return to base each night and flew out very early Sunday morning.

[Kay Tim's Mom]

I so appreciate to see so many of you writing about the inability of our sailors to make decisions. It was a really scary, upsetting thing for me to experience. My son was so "zombiefied." He took the whole weekend to just acclimate to having some freedom.

At first he had big plans for the weekend, but after a short excursion to the mall on the first night, we ended up staying in the hotel the rest of the time. Thankfully, we were at a WONDERFUL place. The Residence Inn is great for providing a myriad of services. The rooms were so comfortable that it was easy to feel right at home and with the full kitchen it was great to prepare our meals and veg out. We left him alone for a while to make a trip to the store. I think he REALLY appreciated us giving him some space and I know that he just was so thrilled to spend some time with us in the room where he didn’t have any worries or concerns.

[Gulf Coast Mom]

We also flew into Milwaukee. It was almost a year ago, and I forget which rental car agency we used. I had gotten a good rate for the car from Hotwire, and then when we got there they upgraded to a small suv without us even asking. Nice airport, but pretty small. Easy to get in and out of. Would definetly recommend it.

[Nicole]

Thank you all for the great information. I will be so much better than just guessing, where to fly to, where to stay, rent a car or not. This info is absolutely priceless. Thanks

[Connie]

My daughter also had PIR on 3-20-09 and all I can say is WOW,WOW,WOW!!! What an experience! We too, stayed at the Residence Inn and it was great. The family loved the FREE,FULL HOT BREAKFAST, and I will say we took advantage of it! Our room was a "Studio Suite", had full frig, stove,micro,dishwasher. $69.00 a night...can't beat that. Very conveniently located-Wal-Mart, bowling alley,restaurants,all 2 min down the road. Took us maybe 10 min to get to base. You have to check out Gurnee Mills Outlet Mall..we went 3 times!!!! They have a Rainforest Cafe that is awesome. We went downtown to the museum, as that was where my daughter wanted to go. Very expensive and we all wished we would have gone to the aquarium instead.Oh well,next time! As for the ceremony, it is long,but once it is over, you forget all that. You are just soooo happy to hug your new Sailor! To all about to experience this,good luck and enjoy!!! You will be so proud--guaranteed!!!!

[Lori Fox]

Hi Connie it's Lori Fox....congrats on Angi's PIR. I've been looking for you @ work to get all the details but we must be on different schedules. Seems like the time flew for Angi...maybe not you though...Danny leaves in 11 days! What residence Inn did you stay at? Let me know. I have so many questions! Give me a call if it's easier. I'm working tonight so maybe I'll see you. Congrats again! Lori

[Laurie proud Mom of Joe..Div 176]

I got my graduation info today but it doesn't say if he is grad 'n go. It talks about liberty, but how do you know if he is grad 'n go? I don't want to book a room for the weekend if he is going to be leaving right away. I have not received a letter from my son yet.

[maura]

What was the deal with overflow seating? My father doesn't have an actual ticket but I was told he could go to overflow?

[Melissa Crager]

Hello, This is Missy. I think I ate dinner with your group. Thanks for being so nice. I was glad to meet some other Mom's and Families. My son is now in School in Conn in Sub school and already got a phone. Great meeting you Guy's . Missy

[kelly]

thanks sooo much for your info..... We are flying in April 16 and my son is a grad and go(Apr 17 so we won't see him for very long so hopefully everything will go well for the short time we have with him

[emily giles]

What memories this brings back. My son's PIR was in October and it was just as you described. He is at A school in Pensacola. In June he will class up and go to either San Diego or Seattle.

[Mary c 3 -jeff's mom- HT]

whoa
i am scared to death
i am coming by train
renting a car
i have to study up on this
i can get lost in a paper
bag with directions