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:
Events
**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:
**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
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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
leave after A/C school-- orders are confusing
Started by MANDY. Last reply by Anti M Aug 16, 2019. 2 Replies 0 Likes
What happens after ASchool?
Started by SailorMom18. Last reply by Phoenixmom Feb 13, 2019. 1 Reply 0 Likes
BECC Info?
Started by adubz33. Last reply by SuBHuni34 Nov 29, 2018. 9 Replies 0 Likes
Comment Wall
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Comment by Anti M on December 2, 2009 at 10:18am
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I was on hold in Great Lakes for a good long time... 30 years ago. They kept us busy, but they keep the kids busier these days. You do go through all sorts of training, all the time, and you can work on advancement courses such as leadership. But hey, they're fed and paid and housed and generally looked after.
BAS is the food allowance... Basic Allowance for Subsistence. They put it in, then they deduct it. Takes a bit of practice to find it on the LES, but food charges do not come out of the base pay.
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When I was at Great Lakes there were assaults. That was 30 years ago. There are dirtbags in every generation.
Yes, holidays are dates on the calendar. Someone decided what day, and it stuck (except Solstice, that's physics). I was not only in the Navy, but born and raised Navy too, and married Navy. I have been connected to the service all my life. I suppose this has given me a very flexible view of life. For example, I already have my Christmas present for this year!
Kelly, I'll send you a private link to my blog for the pictures once I get them up. I don't like sharing it here, not everyone would be interested, LOL.
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Sounds great, Kelly! We did a ton of work on the kitchen, and got the lights up on the roof. I'm just waiting for my tile to come in so I can do the backsplash. Once we get the kitchen finished, I can work on the rest of the house. Everything is out of place now!
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I told hubby, he says a 16 hour watch without a chow break is against Navy regulations, especially at a school command. (What I thought too! Whoever was in charge of the duty section and watch roster should have scheduled chow breaks at a minimum. And I quote hubby, "someone should have their ass in a sling."
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A 12 hour watch at Glakes does not sound right at all. They stand 4 hours normally ( or the double 4, as Tiffany said). Even with a 24 hr watch in the fleet, we got chow breaks. Someone messed up, and Joanie, it wasn't your son. There are typically dozens of sailors per duty section, there had to be someone to stand by while he went to chow. He may not want to say anything but I sure as hell would pitch a fit to the chief.
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Comment by Joanie Tyler's Mom(133 Bees) on November 28, 2009 at 5:07pm
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According to Tyler, one other BDO was on leave and the other one was on liberty off base. He said he knew ahead of time that it would be like this. Didn't seem right to me either.
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My son was still in GL for Thanksgiving 2009. He had watch from 8 AM-12 Midnight on Thanksgiving Day with no chow relief and he couldn't leave his ship. He had to eat from the vending machines and soft drinks all day. That was pretty rough for his first Thanksgiving away from home.
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Most of the time, A school graduation is no big deal, although I'm not sure what the corpsmen do. I'm sure there will be plenty of photos and smiles!
The chow hall provides a nice meal. Turkey day itself is a day off unless they have duty. The Friday after is not a holiday, but neither is it a normal workday, and they are very likely to get relaxed liberty; muster in, do a little this and that, then get cut loose early. And I'm sure the base chapel will have something scheduled.
Yeah, holiday leave right after you're out of boot camp seems nice, but two weeks of leave in the hole? That's around five months to earn their way back to a zero balance of leave days! When I joined, that was the big lecture from Dad, the retired Masterchief. Don't go in the hole with your leave days! Never go in the hole! I suppose it depends on the person and the family, and how much the holidays mean to them. I'd spent Christmas away from my family before. And then I was in boot camp for Christmas, so by the time it rolled around again, I had a full year's worth of leave to fall back on. All in the timing. Still, I only got to see my brother, my parents were working in Saudi Arabia!
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The ones who do not go home check into their school and go to the holding barracks which is kept open for the holidays. They will have liberty on base, but they will also be mustering daily, standing watches on their duty days, cleaning and filling in where warm bodies are needed. After boot camp, that's a vacation!
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Whoa, I looked it up... you DO pack yourself. Yikes. I guess the best thing to do is read the packing tips on their site. This is very strange to me.
We still have all our boxes from our last PCS move flattened and stored in our garage attic. We had tons of stuff, literally.
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