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All Hands Magazine's full length documentary "Making a Sailor": This video follows four recruits through Boot Camp in the spring of 2018 who were assigned to DIV 229, an integrated division, which had PIR on 05/25/2018. 

Boot Camp: Making a Sailor (Full Length Documentary - 2018)

Boot Camp: Behind the Scenes at RTC

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Events

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RTC Graduation

RESUMING LIVE PIR - 8/13/2021

Please note! Changes to this guide happened in October 2017. Tickets are now issued for all guests, and all guests must have a ticket to enter base. A separate parking pass is no longer needed to drive on to base for parking.

Please see changes to attending PIR in the PAGES column. The PAGES are located under the member icons on the right side.

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This us my second time so I've experienced both the shuttle and driving on base. Of the two, we preferred driving ourselves. Parking was in a covered building and very close to the graduation hall.

SUPER TIP: When driving to RTC, do not get in right hand lane to turn in like everyone else - drive past and under Overpass and do a u turn. There is NO traffic in opposite direction. We did not do this, but saw several people do it and were wishing we had lol.

Tip #2: The graduation hall was freezing lol. I get cold easily though and had a sleeveless top on. So, u might want to bring a light sweater.

OUR HOTEL: Holiday Inn Express in Waukeegan.
Drive time to RTC: 15 min and very light traffic.
Price: $159/night
Beds: 2 Queens
Pros: Super clean, completely non-smoking (although someone was breaking that law somewhere near our room), seems recently remodeled or newer hotel, close to RTC, decent area of town.
Cons: You can hear people walking on floors above all night(we bought ear plugs and slept great second 2 nights), pillows are nice but not for stomach sleeper so I had to buy a pillow for that (no biggie), breakfast was okay (nothing to write home about), my husband said the air conditioner sounded like a busted chainsaw lol but it was more like "white noise" to me and once I got the ear plugs, it didn't matter, beds are very firm.
Our Rating: 3 of 5 stars.

We got two queens thinking our graduate would stay overnight but they were not allowed to, so keep that in mind. His school was in Great Lakes so he got liberty all weekend until 8:30 or 9:00 pm.

LIBERTY: (for graduate staying in Great Lakes) After PIR, they have to go check into their command. This took about 4 hours for our graduate but they are marched to the visitors center in groups. Once a group of a certain size is checked in they march them up. Once they come up, you then must bring your graduate BACK to his barracks where YOU must sign him out as his liberty "chaperone or buddy". Check IN/OUT can be a LONG wait due to all of the graduates trying to leave so be patient. You CAN drive on base but ONLY with your recruit in the vehicle. Have ALL ID's ready.

You do not need your graduate to drive around and off the base once u have checked in.

WHAT WE DID:
Shedd Aquarium - the line to get into this attraction was 1 - 1 1/2 hours long. I asked one of the employees how long the wait was and seeing that my son was in uniform, she sent us to the short line! This probably doesn't happen all the time - it was just a courtesy. God bless her! Once we took our shortened journey in, we learned that they were running a military special and the 3 of us got in free! A $140 savings!!! Thank God for the savings because it is NOT WORTH FULL PRICE ADMISSION! Very boring IMO and super crowded. I'll never go back and was disappointed and perplexed at all the amazing reviews it gets.

DINING: Lou Malnettis in Buffalo Grove. Authentic Chicago Style Pizza. Excellent pizza but we went there to dine in and the wait was over an hour. :(

So, TIP #3: Call ahead if you go here. It's worth the wait though. Our graduate had to be back by 9 so we were just cutting it too close.

If you are planning on going to Chicago, go as early as possible. Traffic is horrendous. In retrospect we would have taken the Metra Link located next to RTC to avoid it.

Keep in mind that your graduate will be in uniform, so walking around Chicago in the heat of summer is extremely uncomfortable.

I'm tired of typing now so I'm gonna sign off... I hope this is helpful to someone. Please feel free to ask questions, I'll answer as soon as I can.

Enjoy PIR!!

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thank you so much!!!

If the recruit is leaving the day after graduation, can we bring him a suitcase of some clothes and toiletries to hold him over until he gets settled at school?...Or is this not necessary? Thanks for any input.

He will already have a black backpack and sea bag. He won't need the suitcase and he will have his uniforms and toiletries. You can bring some things though for him to add to bis black backpack. See PIR Day and Liberty During PIR Weekend for the most requested items.

How far of a drive is it to Lou Malnettis in Buffalo Grove?  They have to be back to the base at 9:00pm.....how long did it take you to sit in line to bring him back to base?  I seen somewhere to be in line by 7:00pm to make sure he gets back in time.

Thank you.  This information is very helpful!!

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