My PIR Experience...

[Honnalora]

Tell us about your PIR experience!  There are 2 reasons for adding this discussion.

First, let's share our stories with each other of graduation and grad weekend.  We have walked through the last 2 months together leading up to this moment.  Let's hear all the great stuff we have been waiting for!

Second, it will be a huge help for those that come behind us.  Let's remember and honor those that have helped show us the way by paying it forward!

[michelle Ship 10/Div 338 PIR10/8]

PIR was really impressive - the way the take just a bunch of young people and mold them into these very well trained, respected individuals. I have seen such a transformation in my son over his time in basic. They truly do go in as a kid and come out as a thoughtful, respectful, mature individual. I can not tell how proud you feel when you see them for the first time in their dress blues!
Note: Do get to PIR early, the gates opened at 6:30 and believe me the cars do start lining up quickly. And the earlier you get there the more seat choices you get so you can make sure you are in viewing of your sailor - although they all do look just a like. Our son actually found us in the crowd of people on the bleachers, as they stand their the whole time still as can be they are looking all over with their eyes!
If you are crunched for time, there is a vendor inside the hall selling coffee, muffins, soda, water and other snacks at reasonable rates.

[mommyto4boyz]

Well I got there a little later than I wanted but it was okay because I got a good seat anyway. I spoke with a mom and dad from Jersey and they were so nice and missing their new sailor as much as we all were. My husband and I sat there and watched in amazement as all the little "worker sailors" did their jobs, it was incredible.
When the sailors came through that door and their div was announced, it hit me like a ton of bricks and I was so overwhelmed with emotions, then they got to div 339 and I lost it, I knew he was in there some where and I have not laid eyes on him in two months. My husband found him and I could not take my eyes off of him. We watched in amazement as it all went along and it was beautiful. THEN it was over and we could go get our sailor, I flew down the bleachers, knocking people over (not really haha) so I get to where he is suppose to be and he is not there, panic sets in and I am looking frantically, then I see him because he flew to his dad, I ran to him and I grabbed him and cried uncontrollably, don't know where it came from. I have never been through anything like this in my life and I thank everyone in the RTC for a job well done.
My husband and I are in such awe of our new sailor because the change is so incredible, he is so different but in a good way, so grown up. He stands differently, he acts differently and he talks differently. He has lost so much weight and he is very muscular. The dress blues is beautiful and he looks so handsome. I want to send out a HUGE thank you to the RDC's because my son is the MAN he is today because of them and my son has said although it was hard, the RDC's are great.
I did not make it to the meet n greet last night because we got in so late from a long 19 hour drive, I was sad because I was so looking forward to it, BUT tonight after coming back from dropping off my sailor, I walk in the looby to the Navy Lodge to a cute little woman rubbing my small for his age 13 year old son's head (it was so cute) well I started talking to her daughter because she was talking to my son and she said "your son graduated today?) I said "yup" and she asked what div and I told her 339, she said "me too" and I commented on her t-shirt and asked her where she got it and she said she got it at the meet n greet, I asked her what her name was and she said Navy25 OMG.......woohooo I met someone from Navy4moms. We exchanged numbers. That is my awesome story.

[sjtina]

we are having a wonderful time with my son. he had to be returned by 8:00 every night. brought him back to the hotel to let him unwind. then had a great time at Flanagans for dinner. we spent some time at he nex so he could get his black backpack which most of them have and it is allowed back at base with his cell phone and laptop. today we went in search of superfeet. found them close by. the off to navy pier. if time is not a factor take the metro it takes a hour and 40 minutes to get there. otherwise drive which took us 45 minutes. parking was $24.00. the weather was awesome. I cant sress enough to allow plenty of time to get your sailor back on time. the cars were backed up and the sailors were just getting out the car and walking to the gate. tonight wasnt too bad. 6 sailors were late and lost liberty. remember they still have to walk back to thier ship from the gate. I only ran into 1 n4m who sat behind us at graduation. hi Autumn.

[kellig]

What an amazing experience. We stayed at the Residence Inn and would absolutely recommend them. The graduation rate was $104 but the two room suite with full kitchen was a selling point for me. It was very clean and the staff was nice and accomadating if we needed something (extra towels, blankets, etc.) I went to the M&G for just a little while on Thursday night. It was good to meet some of the people from N4M, especialy the ones from Div 333. I was tired so only stayed about half an hour. We took the 6:15 shuttle/cab from the hotel and watched the driver manuever through the large amount of traffic to drop us off at the gate. There were plenty waiting to go back when we were done. The divisions march in by number so our seats were almost right in front of the big door they open for them to march into the hall. To watch that door go up and to be able to see them all out there waiting to come in was the most emtional part of the morning for me. I could just imagine what was going through their minds at that point - probably a combination of excitement, fear, pride, relief and I felt all that for them. It is hard to pick people out when they all have the same clothes on and the same haircut but were able to find him. We didn't have a plan where to meet after and it took a little while but finally managed to connect. I'm not good about taking pictures and totally forgot about taking them in the hall (and knew better to take them outside). I had Nathan order and pay for his pictures before hand so we didn't have to go to the NEX to wait in that line. I have no idea how long the wait was but it looked like there were a lot of people there. We went out to eat, Jimmy's Charhouse - excellent food and service. Went shopping at the big NEX and then just hung out at the hotel for awhile. Nathan bought tickets to the Navy Ball for Friday night so we went to that. Two of the speakers acknowledged the newest gradutes and made them stand up (they said there were about 26 there) so that was kind of cool to see everyone clapping for them. Nathan was a grad and go so we met him at O'Hare (with his phone and brand new lap top) about 5am on Saturday and were able to stay with him til his flight left at 11. They did let us go to the gate with him. Although our time with him was short, we certainly made the most of it. I am on FB if anybody wants to be friends, my email is [e-mail]

[NavyMomLG]

We got home around 2:30 today from our fantastic trip to Great Lakes. I missed the M&G because of some travel delays, which was really disappointing, but the only bad part of the entire trip. We stayed at the Residence Inn, and I would recommend it to everyone. We spent the afternoon there on Friday with our son, and it was very comfortable. The staff was very helpful, and they provided an excellent welcome packet with local information. The PIR experience is really hard to describe, and I'm sure it impacts everyone differently. I will say, get there early to get a decent seat, have all of your information ready, because they are very efficient, and then just try to take it all in. I remember someone suggesting that we tell our SR to just stand where they are and we will find them, but I forgot and it was a little crazy trying to track him down. That was good advice. If you are planning to go into Chicago, I would recommend taking the train. There are a couple of express trains, and the cost for a weekend pass was only $7 each. One way is $2.75. It really beats dealing with traffic and parking. Being a part of this group has been so helpful, I really appreciate all of your support. I will be moving on to the Nuke group now, best of luck to you and your sailors!

[Vicki (Andrew's mom)]

PIR was absolutely wonderful. My son spent four years in NJROTC in high school. My husband and I both thought PIR was like a bigger and better formation that we went through for the last four years. I will tell you all, like others have said, when those doors start rolling up, it is the most incredible feeling! I started crying when they started walking in. Even though my son's divisions wasn't the first, I still felt like they were MY kids, because of getting to know so many N4Ms! But when Division 333 walked in, I LOST it! I looked and looked, and my husband reminded me that Andrew said they do everything by height. We looked at the back of the group, and THERE HE WAS! Even though they pretty much all looked the same, a moma can pick her baby out quickly. The ceremony was awesome. When it was over, I couldn't get down the bleachers quick enough. My husband had to keep up with me to keep me from falling off the bleachers... (heels and I are NOT friends!) It took a while to find my son, but when I did find him, I ran to him and could not stop crying. I thought I was never going to be able to let him go. He told me to stop crying, because I would make him cry, and that was NOT acceptable! lol He is staying in GL for school, so we were one of the fortunate families that got to keep him til Monday. He got overnights, and that made things wonderful for all of us. I have to return him back to the Navy today, but feel much better leaving him this time. He is no longer my little boy, but a man. Thank you to all the RDCs!
Someone stated earlier, but PLEASE when you talk to your SR, tell them after PIR to stay where they are and let YOU come to them. I wish we had done that. I am so happy that I found N4M, and cherish the friendships that I have formed!

[brittanysmomShip10Div332]

The meet and greet was a neat experience to meet people that I had talked to online for 8 weeks. Nice to put faces with comments.
Thanks to the mom that shared the PIR story before our group, such as waiting in the car line to get to PIR and what time to leave, it made the experience less stressful.
For me, I envisioned myself being a total reck just being at graduation and found that I was quite composed and enjoy the ceremony thoroughly. When they opened those doors for the divisions to come in, it was such an exciting feeling, I was so overwhelmed that my husband was the first to spot our daughter marching in her group 332. I brought my binoculars and that was a life saver in finding my sailor. My daughter actually had spotted us and was smiling when she saw us looking at her and we hoped to not get her in trouble. After the ceremony, we had to wait a few minutes to find her in the crowd, but once we did, the tears were flowing for all our family members, myself, dad and little sister. What a moment, it was so overwhelming for all of us, but true tears of JOY!!! The only disappointment was that my daughter had been told that morning that she had watch duty from 12-4 and that really cutt our time from being with her. We had 30 minutes with her after graduation and then returned at 4pm and picked her up for dinner. Had to return by 6pm. So for us it was a rush and just the time together was worth it all. We did get to meet her at the airport the next morning and spent alot of time with her there before her flight. We had even switched hotels so we had a room at this hotel at the airport and I brought her to our room in hopes of letting her get some catch up sleep before the flight. She was running on 2 hrs sleep. She layed down, but was so wired that she really could not close her eyes. We went with her back to the airport, they had told her that she could get us guest passes to go into security to say goodbye to her and we did so. That was so worth it all. One of her friends leaving with her on the same flight had been waiting for her parents to get there to say goodbye and they didn't show up. I felt so much pain for that young girl, she was so hurt and crying.
My best advice to parents with a son or daughter going to boot camp, be there, be there every step of the way, it truly counts to these kids. Go to PIR, spend time with them and DO go to the airport to see them off. All those steps to all these sailors were so important! You will sacrifice getting up at 3am or 4 am for them, but do it, you have too!!!
Now that my daughter is in A school, we have so much constant contact, it is great!!!

[Beth (T&A'S NavyMom)]

We flew in Thursday night so was not able to make the Meet & Greet. But PIR was absolutely amazing!

We were there for 6:20 and the cars were already backed up so definitely make sure that you allow plenty of time. Once we parked and walked from the parking garage into that museum, we were already practically in tears from the anticipation of seeing our Sailor. We had not walked very far in when I spotted a N4M (Kimbob). We confirmed, hugged and I had to wipe more tears. This day, this hour we had been counting down to had finally arrived! We all found seats together (our Sailors were in 947 Color Guard together and we were both given specific instructions from them about where we were to sit so that they could find us).

While we were sitting there, waiting on PIR to start, we had binoculars up and roaming the drill hall, hoping for a glimpse before the ceremonies began. Out they came, through those double doors. Zoom, zoom, zoom with the binoculars ... studying the face. How as his color? Does he look healthy? Has he lost weight? You know ... the normal Moma things. And then they were gone.

About 5 minutes later, his dad started hollering Beth Beth! Look! There he is! So I grab those binoculars again .... looking! He calls me to where he is sitting (one row beneath where I was beside the railing) so I move beside him but I am still looking desperately, afraid that I had missed him. He puts his hand on the back of my neck, turns me so that I am looking down and there is my baby! Standing right there, looking up at me with the most beautiful smile in the world, reaching his hand up to me. I grabbed that hand, squeezed, smiling, let go and ran down those bleachers as quickly as I could. Everytime I think of that moment, my heart smiles. Yes, Kim's Sailor was there as well! It was a great time, seeing my son, meeting this wonderful young lady in that Sailor unform that I already felt I knew.

After PIR, he found us, told us that he had to go back to the flag room, deliver his gear and from there would have to return to his ship for about 15 minutes. He took us to the NEX to wait on him and took much longer than the anticipated 15 minutes. He told us that they would not be allowed to leave until the entire division has checked in so if your Sailor says such, encourage them to get back there ASAP as they can then return much quicker. There is food there so after a while, a pizza was ordered while waiting. Of course, as soon as the pizza was ready, he re-appeared with his picture, division jacket but that is okay ... it served as an appetizer before we rolled out, looking for whatever he requested (dinner and a movie that day, Navy Pier the next!).

That night he had to be back at 8 p.m. so we dropped him at the gate at about 7:20. He was stressing both days over being late so Saturday, when he had to be back by 5:00 because he had duty at 5:30, we were on base with him by 4 and just hung out with him at the NEX until he needed to return to ship, change before reporting for duty. We then had to "share" him with his fellow Sailors who were also reporting back, or had simply not left but that was great as well as we were able to meet some of the people he has been with these last 8 weeks and it was stress free since we were not worrying about traffic causing us to make him late for duty. Seeing him so relaxed, so in his element with his fellow Sailors truly made it easier to leave him. I expected it to be more difficult, as many had told me that it would be, but knowing that he truly does not have any regrets, that he is at peace with his decision, made it much easier. Yes, we cried after we reached our vehicle and again the next morning when we drove in the opposite direction from the base, moving further away from him, but nothing like we did when he initially left.

Even though we did not have much time with him, only Friday and Saturday since we had to fly back Sunday morning, it was worth every penny, every sacrifice made to get us there to share that with him. In his case, he also had liberty Monday for Columbus Day. Initially I was wanting to approach his dad about his changing his flight so that he could be there with him (he was also off of work for Columbus Day), but my Sailor had already made plans for both Sunday and Monday after we left so if you have to leave before their liberty is over, don't worry ... they will not have to sit on base because you are not there to bring them wherever they want to go. Between taxis,and other families, they will be able to leave base, enjoy their liberty.

Sunday evening, when I got off of the plane and checked my phone after getting in my car to go home, I had a text from another N4M (Honnalora) that she had just delivered my Sailor back to base, for me to not worry about him, as he had been delivered all safe and sound. I just love that Moms always know what Moms worry about ... getting that message made me feel so much better about leaving him there.

Thankfully for us, his A school is only about 4 hours away from us so once he is out of Phase 1, we will be able to visit him. As soon as I get that call Tuesday with his new address, I will be overnighting his phone to him. New season for all of us but from here on out, we can communicate and for that I am grateful. We made it!!

[HelenGJ]

WOW Just got back to South Carolina. This weekend was amazing. It was much harder to say goodbye to my son this time.
FIrst thanks to all here for the support and information over the last nine weeks. Couldn't have done it without you.
The meet and greet was great. I almost didn't come because I was so tired from traveling all day...but was so glad I did. It was wonderful meeting some of my online buds.
We stayed at the Residence Inn. It was really nice, suite with living area attached and a kitchen. I didn't really use it but it was nice to have the option. I flew in to Milwaukee, which was a good decision. Easy flight in and very easy to navigate the airport and didn't take us too long to get to Great Lakes. We did take the 6:15 shuttle to the graduation. We had a really nice driver who had some good tips to pass along to our Sailors. He was a VIet Nam Vet. We got to the base without any trouble and arrived before 7 am. The line to get in was already pretty long and it was a bit chilly but it really didn't take us long to get inside and once we did it was a really pleasant experience waiting for the ceremony to begin and talking with the people sitting around us. The actual ceremony was awesome. Zach's dad had already told him to stay where he was after the ceremony so we could find him That was a Godsend. We had no trouble finding him. Actually, I hopped the bleachers to get to him..Just like a mom.
Our time together was a wonderful. i brought binoculars and had he was directly in my line of vision...Truly a God thing. I kept them on his face most of the time. He said later he saw me and wondered what I was doing. We didn't travel too far because he is staying at Great Lakes and we knew we would be able to sight see another time. I loved just resting my eyes on him and soaking in all he had to say.

A BIG THANK YOU to the RDC's who took my son and made him a better version of himself. I am truly thankful.
I don't know about everyone else but I heard some hilarious stories...really side splitting... that show that the RDC's are human and really take these SR's under their wings and DO NOT want them to fail. As a result my son stands taller and has a great sense of accomplishment.

For all those who are about to make the trip.....these last nine weeks are sooooo worth it.
Find your PIR group and stay in touch.

My last words are to Honnalora.....Thank you for starting this group....Ship10mom for helping with the meet and greet and everyone else. The scripture and connection proved to be a true life line.
Have a blessed night and I hope we stay in touch.

As our Sailors would say......Smooth Sailing