PIR Visitor Help

[MommaT]

Good afternoon, I am hoping someone can assist us.  We got our second phone call from our son on Saturday (it was so awesome to spend an hour with him on the phone).  he was telling us about graduation, which is set for 4/29 right now.  He has 3 people on his list, myself, his dad and his sister.  He told us that his grandparents could come if they wanted to sit in the chapel on base.  I was under the impression that they could not get on base unless their name was on the list.  I am a little confused as I don't want them driving 6 hours to get there and not be able to do that.  They are planning on coming on Saturday as he was told he would have the weekend to spend with us.  His grandfather was in the Navy and looking forward to catching up with him.  Does anyone know if this is correct?  Thanks so much, Kim 

[CryptoDad]

Here's the scoop on the chapel from the RTC Facebook page:

Depending on the number of divisions graduating, each recruit is allowed four guests when the Training Group contains 12 divisions or less, and only three guests when the Training Group contains 13 or more divisions. Children age 2 and younger do not have to be on the access list and do not count against the three or four guests. Veterans and active duty members must be on the access list and count as one of the three or four guests. We treat all recruits equally and there are no exceptions.

 We do offer an overflow area for extra guests in our chapel at Recruit Training Command (RTC). However, this is not intended as an open invitation to bring several extra guests as our #1 concern is the comfort and safety of our staff and guests on our military installation. We offer the overflow area as a courtesty to the extra guests who absolutely must be on base, however, there are limitations which one may wish to consider when deciding whether or not the chapel option is for them.

All guests will check in the visitors center where there are two lines: one for those on the access list and one for those going to the chapel. Additional guests MUST check in here and not permitted to go directly to the chapel on their own. While there is not a limit as to the amount of extra guests you can bring to the chapel, please consider the following information and keep in mind that we have very limited staff to accommodate extra guests, so we please ask to keep your extra guests at an absolute minimum. Again, please respect our request to keep your guests to only a few.

• Children younger than 18 years old must be accompanied by an adult 18 or older and they cannot be left alone. All guests must have a photo I.D. just as the guests on the access must have. If you do not have a photo I.D., you will not be allowed to go to the chapel.
• There is no guarantee that space will be available as there is a capacity limit in the chapel.
• Extra guests will check in at the visitors center and wait in a holding room before being escorted as a group to the chapel which is about a 1/4-mile walk and during inclement weather, this may be difficult for some. Those having difficulty walking may wish to reconsider going to the chapel as we do not provide any type of shuttle service, and the use of wheelchairs is limited as the wheelchairs are also used by guests in the drill hall. If you cannot walk far distances, then the chapel option may not be for you.
• Once inside the chapel, guests are not permitted to leave until the conclusion of the ceremony as they are not allowed to wander around our restricted base unescorted during the ceremony.
• Guests are required to remain in Chapel A (the main chapel area) and main foyer area.
• Chapel staff is unable to accommodate any guest needs, requests or complaints.
• There are no vending machines available in the chapel and food and beverages are not permitted (except for bottled water), inside the chapel. Those with small children may wish to keep this in mind in addition to the fact that they will be sitting there for up to three and a half hours. The earlier you arrive, the longer you will be waiting.
• While we do offer live streaming of the ceremony, there is no guarantee that it will be up and running. Should the system be down due to technical difficulties, the extra guests must still remain in the chapel until after the ceremony has concluded when they will then be escorted back to the visitors center.
• If your recruit is staying in Great Lakes for "A" School, the extra guests most likely will not even see the recruit until after those recruits have checked into their new barracks on the main base immediately following the ceremony. That check-in process takes a few hours and the recruits will not be ready to be picked up until mid-afternoon. They will then have the remainder of the weekend for liberty but must return to the base each evening. If this is the case for your recruit, you may wish to consider remaining at your hotel as many offer viewing of the live stream in their lobbies making it much more convenient for extra guests to remain there as opposed to coming onto the base.
• Recruits are not allowed to "borrow" seats from another recruit as plans often change and a recruit that expected no guests on graduation day may suddenly learn that his or her family can attend; only to remember that they have given their seats away to another recruit. Recruits also are vouching for the guests they invite onto the base and to list another recruit's guests — of whom they do not know — heightens RTC's security risk as well as that of the recruit who vouched for them. Recruits are informed of this rule and are expected to abide by it. Please do not ask them to disobey the orders given to them by asking them to add another recruit's guests.

We respectfully request that everyone please consider the above points closely in deciding whether or not to access RTC as an extra guest. The bottom line: A guest must ask themselves if it's worth sitting in a line of traffic from anywhere of one to two hours, walking to the chapel, then walking back to the visitors center, then sitting in another long line of traffic that can take up to 90 minutes to get off base all just to watch a video. During smaller graduations, guests will have a much easier time. During the larger graduations, they will experience a lot of waiting and may not even see the recruit if he/she is staying in Great Lakes.

https://www.facebook.com/NavyRecruitTrainingCommand/notes

I bet your next question will be, "How much walking is involved?"

Got a map just for you.;)

If you take a shuttle from your hotel you will be walking from the gate. Otherwise from the parking garage.

[MommaT]

That info was great.  Thanks so much, I would rather they wait to see him and this certainly helps!  Thank you again, Kim