Welcome to
Navy For Moms

This site is for mothers of kids in the U.S. Navy and for Moms who have questions about Navy life for their kids.

FIRST TIME HERE?

FOLLOW THESE STEPS TO GET STARTED:

Choose your Username. For the privacy and safety of you and/or your sailor, NO LAST NAMES ARE ALLOWED, even if your last name differs from that of your sailor (please make sure your URL address does not include your last name either). Also, please do not include your email address in your user name. Go to "Settings" above to set your Username. While there, complete your Profile so you can post and share photos and videos of your Sailor and share stories with other moms!

Make sure to read our Community Guidelines and this Navy Operations Security (OPSEC) checklist - loose lips sink ships!

Join groups! Browse for groups for your PIR date, your sailor's occupational specialty, "A" school, assigned ship, homeport city, your own city or state, and a myriad of other interests. Jump in and introduce yourself! Start making friends that can last a lifetime.

Link to Navy Speak - Navy Terms & Acronyms: Navy Speak

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

...and visit Navy.com - America's Navy and Navy.mil also Navy Live - The Official Blog of the Navy to learn more.

OPSEC - Navy Operations Security

Always keep Navy Operations Security in mind. In the Navy, it's essential to remember that "loose lips sink ships." OPSEC is everyone's responsibility.

DON'T post critical information including future destinations or ports of call; future operations, exercises or missions; deployment or homecoming dates.

DO be smart, use your head, always think OPSEC when using texts, email, phone, and social media, and watch this video: "Importance of Navy OPSEC."

Follow this link for OPSEC Guidelines:

OPSEC GUIDELINES

Events

Add an Event

**UPDATE 4/26/2022** Effective with the May 6, 2022 PIR 4 guests will be allowed. Still must be fully vaccinated to attend.

**UPDATE as of 11/10/2022 PIR vaccination is no longer required.

**UPDATE 7/29/2021** You now must be fully vaccinated in order to attend PIR:

In light of observed changes and impact of the Coronavirus Delta Variant and out of an abundance of caution for our recruits, Sailors, staff, and guests, Recruit Training Command is restricting Pass-in-Review (recruit graduation) to ONLY fully immunized guests (14-days post final COVID vaccination dose).

FOLLOW THIS LINK FOR UP TO DATE INFO:

RTC Graduation

**UPDATE 8/25/2022 - MASK MANDATE IS LIFTED. Vaccinations still required.

**UPDATE 11/10/22 PIR - Vaccinations no longer required.

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.

Format Downloads:

Graduation Info
PDF – 2.7 MB
PNG – 2.3 MB
JPG – 3.4 MB
Printable PDF – 2.0 MB

Latest Activity

Navy Speak

Click here to learn common Navy terms and acronyms! (Hint: When you can speak an entire sentence using only acronyms and one verb, you're truly a Navy mom.)

N4M Merchandise

Shirts, caps, mugs and more can be found at CafePress.

Please note: Profits generated in the production of this merchandise are not being awarded to the Navy or any of its suppliers. Any profit made is retained by CafePress.

Navy.com Para Familias

Visite esta página para explorar en su idioma las oportunidades de educación y carreras para sus hijos en el Navy. Navy.com

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Great Lakes A School Q&A

Information

The purpose of this group is to allow family of new sailors assigned to school at Training Support Center Great Lakes a chance to voice questions to a Student Division Commander

Location: Great Lakes, IL
Members: 2332
Latest Activity: Mar 12

Discussion Forum

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Comment by Jarj on November 15, 2019 at 12:54pm: Sorry if I probably repeated same question as skywatcherchicago and astc.

Anyway, by December 20-January 6 my SR will already be in his duty station (if he's not held back). Will he be able to request off for holidays? at least Christmas?

Comment by Jarj on November 15, 2019 at 12:49pm: my SR just started A school at GL on Tuesday. This week was just plain orientation he said.

Yesterday, he learned (from other SRs) that they will be on hold until January due to the available class. I don't exactly know what he meant.

He's is saying that there will be a mass leave for the holidays and that most instructors will be on leave too that is why they will be on hold until January.

His school is only for 3 weeks.

he has orders already before the mentioned date of this year's stand down.

just in case he is on hold, will he be able to take leave as well?

Comment by Anti M on November 11, 2019 at 11:01pm: No one on the RTC side can tell them for sure what TSC side will be doing for the holidays other than there is a stand down. Once they get to TSC, they will be filled in. Yes, they need to fill out a chit to take leave. That's thousands of students, so they make them do it all about the same time, en masse.
The tickets will be expensive, because you simply cannot guess the dates. I won't even give a best guess anymore, as I have been weirdly incorrect, and I am good at it most of the time. Never book a morning flight, they have to all be checked out and take the shuttle (they pay for) to the airport. Noon at the earliest is safe. And have them return with plenty of time to spare. Weather in Great Lakes is iffy, just look at the mess today. They can call in if the flights are cancelled, but you do not want to deal with that.

Comment by Sandy on November 11, 2019 at 6:53pm: skywatcherchicago - thanks for sharing that. I didn't realize he wouldn't start class until after the holidays. I'm not sure he knows he will be able to come home for Christmas, so I'll mention it to him as a "maybe", and encourage him to get details as soon as he is able. Will anyone at RTC be able to answer those questions, or will he have to wait until he actually moves over?

Comment by ellen0502 on November 11, 2019 at 2:06am: Tracey,

The Navy pays for a Sailors flight to a new duty station. If your Sailor is coming home between school and his new he pays the difference in amount to and from home. That is the basic.

For your son there are a lot of what's and why's and when's on your Sailors actual travel. He is also still considered a student until he actually reports to his Ultimate Command. How all of his travel is handled is going to depend on his orders, and when he has to report to San Diego. He will need to make all of his travel arrangements after A School through the CPC even those coming home after A School.

Comment by astc on November 10, 2019 at 8:58pm: SkywaterChicago-my sailor just graduated November 8th and is at a school at GL. I am curious of what you said and was wondering if you could pm your son’s rating? I’m asking pm just in case we can’t publicly share that information.
i am eager to know if he would be able to come him for Christmas or not.

Comment by ellen0502 on November 9, 2019 at 9:44pm: Graduating on Dec 6th, he probably won't know until after he moves over to TSC, and puts in his chit for leave. During stand down it doesn't matter if he has just started school, the chit for leave just needs to be approved.

For the second question, yes, it does count to the total leave he has for the year. This is also the only time Sailors are allowed to go into the negative on leave. They do accumulate 2.5 days a month for leave, so it does add up fairly quickly.

When his chit is approved he will have help on flights etc from someone there on base. All of his transportation is at his expense, but the military will help him arrange it so that he is within time frame for leaving and returning.

Comment by Sandy on November 9, 2019 at 8:40pm: At what point will new A school sailors learn whether they can leave for the holidays? Ours graduates Dec 6, so if he's just started his school, will he still be able to leave? Will this count against his total vacation/leave time for the year? I'll start researching flights but I assume we won't know anything for sure until sometime mid-Dec...

Comment by ellen0502 on November 8, 2019 at 2:46pm: HoneyLemonTea, You are correct on your dates. All Sailors will have to return that weekend as regular schedule begins on the 6th.

Comment by HoneyLemonTea on November 8, 2019 at 1:00am: MassX this year, according to my sailor, is December 20 through January 4th and that is what she bought her ticket for.