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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!

Discussion Forum

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Comment by SOBE,PIR 6/4/10 IT Mom, Italy on August 25, 2010 at 1:34am: The $64,000 question!!! I wish I could tell you the answer SailorMom. Some know the first few weeks of boot camp, others don't find out until two weeks before PIR or even a couple of days before! There is no straight answer. My best answer is to keep asking your recruit - and explain in your letter what a G&G is, because most recruits don't consider moving over to GL as qualifying them as a G&G. They think all G&G's fly somewhere, so they answer "no", I'm not a G&G.

If you read older posts on this group, there were moms who had to change their motel rooms from 1 bed to two because they had NO idea that their kid was a G&G, and that they would be able to spend ALL night with them for the entire weekend (so it was a GOOD surprise!). There new sailors had no idea until the day before PIR what was in store for them! Reminder, only those G&G's going to GL A-School get to have overnight liberty, unfortunately all the G&G's flying out do not.

Comment by SM312 on August 24, 2010 at 8:31pm: by when do our recruits know that they are grad & go when staying in GL?

Comment by DorothyM-seabeemom on August 23, 2010 at 1:04pm: oh ok thanks Sobe. that makes sense.

Comment by SOBE,PIR 6/4/10 IT Mom, Italy on August 23, 2010 at 12:56pm: Welcome Dorothy! Thought I'd share this info with you, not sure if you know or not: Just because he is not staying at GL for A-school doesn't automatically mean he is a Grad & Go. Lots of new sailors fly out AFTER PIR weekend to other cities. Only those who move or fly out BEFORE the weekend is over are considered G&G's.

Comment by DorothyM-seabeemom on August 23, 2010 at 10:20am: Hi everyone, i thought i'd go ahead and join this group, as we are pretty sure my son will be g&g. his a school is in port hueneme, so we definately know he won't be staying at GL. but i still haven't gotten any letters or phone calls yet, so I haven't been able to confirm this with him. but hopefully soon :)

Everyone have a great day!

Comment by SOBE,PIR 6/4/10 IT Mom, Italy on August 21, 2010 at 1:48am: dans mom - look above, there is a whole area called "Discussion Forum". These are handy because you can find them any time. Look for the one titled "G&G questions to send your recruit". If you don't see it, click the VIEW ALL in the corner to see all discussions. All groups have a discussion forum and it's a great place to put things that people need to find quickly and often.

Click on the discussion and when it opens up, you can right click and "copy" the questions, then paste them into a word document. There are only a few questions, so you can always just jot them down and mail it to him that way too.

Comment by dans mom - Ship 10 Div 333 on August 21, 2010 at 12:16am: where exactly do i find these questions Ishould ask my son.........are they earlier in this discussion or does someone have them and can they be pasted in a more recent message? I really appreciate your help.

Comment by SOBE,PIR 6/4/10 IT Mom, Italy on August 20, 2010 at 11:53pm: USO locations and hours are in the discussion above. Please don't assume your sailor will fly out of O'Hare, as the USN uses both local airports!

I HIGHLY SUGGEST mailing your loved one the questions in the discussion above titled "G&G questions to mail your recruit asap. Because things change quite a bit up to the day before PIR, we recommend they don't answer the questions until the eve of PIR or early that morning, then HAND you the answers after the ceremony.

Most G&G's are told they will get on the bus to the which ever airport they fly out of at 2am on Saturday, but right before PIR day it USUALLY (but not always) changes to 5am. Some sailors fly out early that morning, some in the afternoon and some in early evening - but they bus all of them over to the airport on the same bus at the same time. Once again, I really recommend copying and pasting the questions into a word document and printing it out to send to your recruit now!

Most G&G's think they will not get liberty (or not much), but except for those very rare occassions, they all get liberty on Friday - usually about 9 hrs of liberty (from 10:35 when "Liberty Call" is announced until 7 or 8 pm that night). Your loved ones have never been through this, so those of us who have lived through it and wrote about it, we feel very confident about how this works each week.

Here's my disclosure clause: I always tell people that the Navy can change the way they do business at any time, and each sailors experience can be unique. I also need to remind everyone that liberty is "earned" and although it's customary to give them liberty after PIR, it can be taken away. Okay, got the legal stuff out of the way!

I hope those of you who wrote today have read the info above, and most of the discussions. Your sons are probably preparing you for the worst, but if you read some of the past stories posted below, you will see that it's not so bad!!!

Comment by javajo50 (MM Power School 1103) on August 20, 2010 at 5:32pm: I'm a bit confused about grad n go and liberty as well. I just received another letter from my son and he made it sound as though there will be no liberty. I can't believe he wouldn't get a few hours off the base but I guess I need to confirm this with him.

Comment by Charlie's Desertmom on August 20, 2010 at 4:36pm: my son only sent me 2 letters, one phone call. i am pretty sure henis G&G.that is all i know.so theyb get liberty on friday? i got a plane ticket nto stay until monday.!He is going to pensacola i think.i thought everyone got liberty friday....