Chartered Flight, what to expect....

[Lala Ribbon Queen PIR Ribbons]

I wanted to to try and help the families of those who are grad and go with a charted flight. This is a new area and I guess the Navy doesn't charter flights very often. In fact the nice man at the USO said that this is the first time that he knew about. All I can do is share our experience and maybe help others to know what to expect. We expected, like other grad and go parents to be able to spend time with our sailor at the airport. That did not happen. The bus left the base and went straight to the chartered jet. The sailors did not come into the building at all. Even when the flight was delayed for lightning they simply stayed on the bus. There were a lot of families waiting to see their sailors and a lot of those families left in tears. They did end up sending someone to the USO to get the sailors belongings from the parents who were still there but you have no guarantee that they will do that. So what do you do? Do you wait and see? Do you leave your sailors stuff with someone at the airport and not know if your sailor will ever see it again? Do you even go to the airport in hopes of seeing your sailor if they are to be on a chartered flight? Only you can decide what you should do.  My advice would be to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. I will add: Say your goodbyes to your sailor when you drop him/her back off at the base because this could really be goodbye for the duration of A-school. We just dropped our sailor off with a hug and a kiss and expected that extra time at the airport to really say goodbye. No hugs, no "I love you" no "be strong, be careful" no nothing. It was completely heartbreaking. If you go into this experience knowing that you may not get to see your sailor at the airport I think it will be easier on you when you don't get that extra time and a great joy if you do. I hope this helps and I am sure some of my friends who went through this with us will add some comments and their own experiences as well. Lora (aka Lala)

[bella]

Lala, you pretty much just said it all. It was tough. Our family was there waiting with all the others families. Hoping to say I love you one more time. Hoping to say I am so proud of you one more time. Even though we didn't get to see our Sailor, just being there felt good and having the support from our new family. The Navy Family. Good Luck to all !

It was very nice to meet ya'll at the meet and greet. Thanks for being there! Thanks Lala for everything!

[SOBE,PIR 6/4/10 IT Mom, Italy]

Lala - thank you so much for posting this! It will really prepare families. This was the first I had heard of how chartered flights were handled. I knew they did this occasionally, but didn't know our sailors wouldn't go through the airport like other passengers. Your advice is perfect! I'm sure it was heartbreaking though, but you have such a good attitude about it (at least now that is!) I know it probably wasn't that easy on you yesterday. Sobe (Lisa)

[Heart Broken]

Wow, what you have experienced make me think the worst and hope for the best. You said it all, thanks for the advice and I will make sure to say my goodbyes when we drop him off at base on the 30th. I will hope for the best when we go to the Airport, if not at least our family will be prepared. Thank you again for the information.

[RICHARDSgirl (Groton, CT)]

Thanks for posting this up! I really appreciate it.
How will we know if our SRs will be on the charter flight? Is it to a specific destination? Either way, I will definitely prepare the worse and hope for the best. Thank you again!

[SOBE,PIR 6/4/10 IT Mom, Italy]

RichardsGirl: Your new sailor will be able to tell you on PIR day. I suggest looking at the discussion that reads "G&G questions to send your recruit". Copy and paste that little list and send it to him. Have him fill it out right before PIR day and hand it to you at graduation.

[RICHARDSgirl (Groton, CT)]

Oh! Okay. I sent those questions a few days ago. So I hope he'll remember to give it to us after PIR. hehe. Thank you!

[RICHARDSgirl (Groton, CT)]

okay, thanks :)

[SOBE,PIR 6/4/10 IT Mom, Italy]

Thanks Hoppi - I know the truth is hard to read, but I can understand why the Navy needs to cut costs and save taxpayers money. I will incorporate this info into the Group description.

[NH MOM]

Lala, where did your son go for A school? Your story is heartbreaking , my son is a grad and go on 8/6, I will be sevastated if we don't get to see him.

[Lala Ribbon Queen PIR Ribbons]

I think that some may be misunderstanding. First my SR is a daughter, lol although she thinks she looks like a boy with her short hair. She went to Pensacola. There were a lot of sailors going to Pensacola. 150 or more I believe. And I am sure it is a lot more cost effective to charter a jet than it would be to buy 150 airline tickets. We did get to spend Friday with her. After PIR we had her with us for 7 hours. We found out that morning that she would be on a chartered flight. We did not know she would not get to come into the airport so we went there as planned to spend a couple more hours with her and give her, her cell phone. There were so many parents and other family members waiting in the USO and not understanding why their SR's were not there at 5 or even later at 6 am when they were leaving the base at 4 am. We did find out they wouldn't be coming into the airport and that the bus had taken them straight to the jet. The bus driver let the Sailors pass his phone around so that each sailor could say goodbye to their family but his phone started to go dead and we didn't get to talk to our daughter. It was and still is heartbreaking and I wish I had got to spend more time with her. And yes, I do wish it was as simple as purchasing an airline ticket to FL and renting a car but sometimes families just can't afford to do that especially after just coming back from IL. I really just hope that this will leave other parents informed that this can happen so that maybe they will be better prepared than I was to say goodbye, or see you soon and let them know again how very proud you are. And I am very proud of my Sailor.

[SOBE,PIR 6/4/10 IT Mom, Italy]

lol Hoppi - I bet that does happen. I was told by people in my PIR that they pictured me much different before they met me at PIR. They were expecting a tall woman, whereas I am shortest one in my family (5'1 1/2" - notice the 1/2). They knew I was loud and talked a lot, but thought my voice would be deeper. My voice is the thing that caught my husbands attention over 30 yrs ago. I guess I'm in the wrong line of work!!!!

[Lala Ribbon Queen PIR Ribbons]

Well I don't think she looks anything like a boy at all but she does, I think she just misses her long hair and being able to put it in a ponytail out of her way when she works out.