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

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Boot Camp: Behind the Scenes at RTC

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RTC Graduation

RESUMING LIVE PIR - 8/13/2021

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Grad & Go Info

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A place to ask questions or give answers to those who have recruits that are a G&G or who may be a G&G

Members: 144
Latest Activity: Aug 16, 2023

When I heard my son may be a Grad & Go, I had a ton of questions. The first one was: What the heck is a Grad & Go?? Now that I've experienced it, I wanted a place for N4M users to come and post questions and hopefully get some answers. Every recruits experience will be slightly different, but there are lots of "norms" that we can share with you that will answer a lot of questions. Remember, there are no stupid questions!

So, what is a G&G? It's a recruit that leaves boot camp before PIR weekend is over to travel to their A-School. They usually fly out on a Saturday, but occasionally on a Friday. This means a limited time to visit with them when you come out for their graduation. Some G&G's are just moving across the street because their A-School will be at GL (Great Lakes). If they are required to move over before PIR weekend ends, they are called a G&G. These two types of G&G's can be quite different, each with it's Pro's and Con's. If they have A-School in GL, but don't move over until after Sunday, they are not considered a G&G.

How do we plan our travel if we don't know? I can only share what others have shared with me. Most everyone made plans as if their recruit was not a G&G. That's what my family did too, and we loved our decision. We flew out Thursday, flew back late Sunday. We enjoyed our Sailor until he flew out Saturday afternoon, then we went and checked out the Chicago area on our own. If you are driving, it's a little easier to change hotel plans a few days before, but flight changes cost $$.

Can we meet them at the airport? YES! The Navy uses all three local airports (O'Hare, Midway and Milwaukee) to transport new sailors to their A-School city. You are allowed to meet your new sailor at the airport and visit with them there. You can even request a special pass from the ticket counter so you can go through security with your sailor and sit with them at the gate! "Most" airlines allow this and they do this free of charge for military families/friends, as long as you have an ID and if your sailor is there with you. You can have a lot of fun at an airport (great food too)!

What if they tell us they are on a Chartered Flight? The charter flights are cheaper for the Navy to use than commercial airlines, so they may be using them more and more. The cost of the flight is pre-determined by the exact weight of everyone and everything onboard. This includes the recruits' seabags. If the parents were to meet the recruits to hand off laptops and other items, now the weight of everything aboard has changed and that may not allowed. Because it's a chartered flight, obviously no one is allowed to go out to the plane to meet their recruits as the plane is not at a regular gate. I know it sucks for the families, but the transportation is all about cost efficiency and isn't concerned about families unable to meet the recruits. This made sound harsh, but the Navy is like other departments in the goverment and needs to keep costs down. New Sailors are not allowed leave and do not have to be granted liberty after bootcamp. Yes, it is customary to receive Liberty after bc, but just know that it's not a right, it's earned.

SEND YOUR RECRUIT THE G&G QUESTIONS POSTED IN THE DISCUSSION AREA TO THEM NOW SO YOU WILL KNOW THE INFORMATION BY PIR DAY!

Can we give them their cell phones? That depends. If you are meeting them at the airport (whether you pass security gate or stay in front lobby), then YES, you can give them cell phone, ipod and even their laptops (don't forget to pack all the chargers/cords!). As long as they can carry it onboard the plane, they can take and keep these items with them at A-School. They "check" their big 55lbs sea bags in with the airlines, so they have no carry on except their manilla envelope (their orders). If you had too much fun shopping at Gurnee Mills Mall that weekend, they are allowed to have a small backpack or gym style bag - but be sure it's a solid dark color (Black or Navy Blue), free from adornment if possible. If they are a G&G over to Great Lakes for A-School, they can have these items AFTER they are processed into that base. In other words, once they call you to pick them up after moving over, then you can give them their "toys". I don't want to get anyone's hopes up, but it has been noted by many recent N4M members that those who are a G&G to Great Lakes ONLY, and that move over to A-School on that Friday right after PIR, only those families they are allowed to keep their new sailor with them all weekend. Once they have actually completed the move on Friday (takes 5-7 hrs), you can pick them up and have them overnight for the entire weekend!!! They may have to muster (roll call/check in) over the weekend, but otherwise they have liberty. There is NO OTHER situation that I am aware of that allows a new sailor to stay away overnight after PIR. Those who are G&G's that are flying out that weekend are NOT allowed to stay overnight with their family, they must go back to RTC (boot camp) that Friday night.

The HARD FAST RULE IS: Your new Sailors can't bring anything back with them to boot camp. They are considered to be in bc while they remain on the RTC (Recruit Training Command) side, even if they have already graduated. Handing them money or a debit/credit card is okay, because they are allowed to have their wallets at boot camp, but you can't give them their cell phones or anything else if they have to report back to boot camp that night. Wait until you see them at the airport!

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Comment by BunkerQB on July 6, 2010 at 5:45pm: Download the latest Mozilla Firefox browser. It's free. You should be able to get right on the site to print the pass. You might as well print several copies - just in case.
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/

Comment by SOBE,PIR 6/4/10 IT Mom, Italy on July 4, 2010 at 5:45pm: jackie - I hate to disappoint you, but I don't see any of your wonderful ideas as an option. They are not allowed the freedom to go to the motel to pick these up before they fly out to A-school or move over to A-school at Great Lakes. I am assuming your sailor is moving over to Great Lakes, but not on PIR weekend. I am going to refer you to the Great Lakes A-School group to see if any of those moms know of a way to get the cell and laptop to your sailor without mailing it, but don't get your hopes up (sorry). If you can't find that group, go to my profile page and you'll see it listed in my groups on the left column. You may need to friend me first to see it. I am in and out all day, but will get back on this site tomorrow for sure!

Happy 4th of July to all of you!!! Need to get back to fireworks booth, we sold over $6,000 yesterday - all for charity!

Comment by Lisa (OP's Mom) on July 3, 2010 at 6:47pm: Sobe and Jgoody, We will plan our flight out Sunday. Thank you so much for the info. I'm going to save it in my PIR planning file.
Have a safe and happy 4th!

Comment by SOBE,PIR 6/4/10 IT Mom, Italy on July 3, 2010 at 2:25pm: OPPMom: I agree with JGoody. Here's the deal - things change with the Navy, so the best advice is to plan like he is NOT a G&G by flying home on Sunday afternoon. Even though "most" G&G's fly out on Saturday, there are a small handful that fly out on Sunday and even a smaller few that fly out on a Friday (rare). If you flew home Saturday night and discovered he was held over til Sunday, you would kick yourself for leaving so early!

Comment by SOBE,PIR 6/4/10 IT Mom, Italy on July 3, 2010 at 2:20pm: I was asked a question in my inbox and wanted to post the answer here as well. Her recruit told her that the RDC's said they couldn't be handed their cell phones at the airport and couldn't take them to A-School. Her son is going to Pensacola. Here is my answer:

The RDC's are incorrect - they just don't know it! The fact is, once they get on the bus to go to the airport, they are no longer in the RDC's care and they are NOT in boot camp anymore. Our sailors are absolutely allowed to have these items at A-school. The NEX at Pensacola and Corry Station sell these laptops and phones to sailors all year long. They "sell" internet service too.
If you meet your son at the airport, you can hand him all these items right then. You will love having that instant contact with him anytime you want!! If you got the "I'm a Sailor" call (after passing BS-21), you will probably hear from him quite often this coming week - because they often are allowed more free time to visit the phone banks and to go to Ricky Heaven to buy junk food, play on the computers and use the phones there. My son left me lots of messages on Facebook those last few days!!! Reason I mention this is, lots of things change those last few days, like when the bus leaves bc to the airport. Tell him to WRITE down the following the morning of PIR so he can give it to you: The airport he is flying out of (they use O'Hare and Midway the most), which Airline he is flying on, what time his flight departs (and flight number) and what time the bus is leaving in the morning. If he tells you now, it could change by Friday! If he is worried about you bringing his phone and laptop, just don't tell him. Then hand it to him at the airport! The RDC's also told a lot of guys in my son's group that their parents couldn't go to the airport either. This is a free country and anyone is allowed to go to an airport!! Tell your son to check in his sea bag and get his boarding pass, but not go through security until you get there, then meet you near the ticket counter. Get back in ticket line with him and ask for special passes to follow him through security so you can enjoy him in the terminal. I hope this helped. I will re-post this on the G&G group and also your PIR group page so others hear it too! Congratulations on your son's success, many blessings to you and your family.
Sobe (Lisa)

Comment by jgoody/new Nuke mom on July 2, 2010 at 3:07pm: From all that I have seen, grad & go means leaving on Saturday. You may want to plan to stay over Saturday night & leave on Sunday though, so that you can hang out at the airport with him. You won't know until PIR what time his flight is or what airport he is going from, so if you want to see him off, you need to be flexible in that regard. And those few precious hours are really worth it!

the one other thought is for you to try to get a late flight out on Saturday.

Comment by Lisa (OP's Mom) on July 1, 2010 at 11:35pm: Need advice. My son is grad n go. Leaving for FL for A school. I don't know which day he will leave. Is it usually day after PIR or could it be Sun. We've reserved a hotel thru Sun. after PIR, but as far as buying plane tix, not sure what to do. This stinks.

Comment by jgoody/new Nuke mom on June 30, 2010 at 7:41pm: We found a nice little place for lunch after PIR - Illinois Beach Resort. Its about 10 miles north of GL & it wasn't busy at all. Granted, that was early June, so it may be busier now. The beach itself was so-so, but the restaurant was really nice, the menu was good & the prices very reasonable. We enjoyed it because it wasn't crowded which meant we didn't have to wait or deal with a lot of people & noise so we all had a really good time with our sailor after all those weeks away from him!

Comment by SOBE,PIR 6/4/10 IT Mom, Italy on June 30, 2010 at 6:12pm: Christina: I am chairperson for a huge fundraiser this week, so I haven't been living on this site like I normally do!! (I'm a N4M addict). Yes, there is a Six Flags park, and I have heard it's a lot of fun - one price covers the roller coaster portion AND the waterslide portion, however, you will spend hours in long lines and amusement parks can be really hard on Dress Whites!Although it sounds like fun, most Moms have reported that when they arrived at PIR, their recruit just wanted to spend time with them and not be at a really busy place. And now that school is out, I bet that park is busier than ever! We went to a nice restaurant for lunch, then over to Gurnee Mills Mall - but just to see a movie, not to cruise the mall. Had my son not been a G&G, we would of gone into Chicago on Saturday to check out the museums and Navy Pier. So we did that on our own after he flew out.

MississippiMom: Hoppi was correct, they all go over together in one group. It appears from recent posts on this group and some others, that they tell the recruits they are leaving at 2am on Saturday, but by PIR they change it to around 5am. Once again, my standard disclosure - nothing is set in stone and every recruits experience is different. It also appears that most moms I've chatted with state that their recruits knew their flight info and bus transfer time by PIR day. It was just that my son didn't bother to read it so he couldn't tell me!!! He had to find a pay phone when he arrived at the airport at 6am so he could tell us which airport to go to, which airline he was flying on, etc. We met him at Midway by 7am next to ticket counter and we had no problems receiving courtesy security passes from Air Trans Airlines. "Most" airlines issue these. We stayed with him and had some great food and conversation until he boarded his flight just before 1pm.

The trick to knowing which airport and which airline is....... write to your recruit NOW and ask them to write down this information by the morning of PIR so they can hand it to you. My son could not believe that he did not do this, we only lost an hour's time with him, but after 8 weeks of bc, an hour is a lot of time to lose!!!

Comment by christina_waits on June 29, 2010 at 9:47pm: Thank you Sobe for all the info!! My bf has A School in San Diego for sonar tech... I have already booked my room at the Ramada for Thursday - Sunday so I plan on staying the whole weekend. We're driving in from Pittsburgh, so the flight isn't an issue for us. There is a Six Flags out there right? And with Chicago so close... I'm sure even if he is G&G we'll find something to do for one more night. And I have to admit... the idea of him having his phone right away is nice.