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Comment by Lala Ribbon Queen PIR Ribbons on January 6, 2013 at 4:18pm

Yeah, I stayed at the Navy Lodge and it was not on the base. If that is considered "on base" then they don't have a gate to go through to get to the Navy Lodge. She must be talking about the Gateway Inn. The Navy Lodge was near the fence of the gate but on the outside of it. I never saw a single Sailor walking anywhere near that fence lol. 

LadyHawk, Push division just means they were in processing days maybe longer than expected so they have less time to get all their training completed. But they get it done and it doesn't change their PIR date closer or further. I hope that makes sense :)

Comment by louielou on January 6, 2013 at 1:25pm

Craig you are right about the laptops when it comes to the battery/cord aspect of it. My daughter has had a Dell for about 3 yrs and has had to buy a battery and two power cords in that time. It also had a virus and luckily she knew someone who knew something about computers and fixed it for her and installed the latest version of windows 7 at the time (she didn't have money to buy a new one). My son just bought a new HP laptop this past yr so he is good on that aspect, but I was thinking of getting him a Nook or something for a grad present to take to A school to help with his studies. He actually told me that he had heard of sailors blowing their new paychecks on stuff that they can't take with them and so hopefully with some smarts he won't be tempted.

Comment by Tiffany on January 6, 2013 at 11:42am

I wanted to let you guys know that in a letter that I got my SR said that the book of stamps that I mailed him was the most precious thing that I could have sent. His division is not allowed to go to the NEX.

Comment by diannep on January 6, 2013 at 11:25am

Arwen:  Ramada does have it's own shuttle.  We have confirmed that with many who stayed there.  But the other hotels use the PIR shuttle service that you mentioned (taxis), at least, most of the hotels we have heard about do. 

We also verified the rates after you posted that you thought it was $10-$15 for this service.  It is still $3/pp each way for the ones who reported back (different hotels but I know this is true at Residence, Springhill, Courtyard).  Ramada is free since it is their own van....makes several runs until all are there (this was just confirmed to me by a lady up there a couple of weeks ago).

We were very happy with the shuttle service from Residence.  I was up there just a couple of weeks before you were, back in Feb 2010.  I paid $3/pp.  Signed up for 6:30 shuttle and it worked out great.

I suggest that all who plan to take the shuttles call their hotel front desk and ask what the Navy Grad shuttle service will cost.  We signed up for our time when we checked in.  They may not know what you are talking about if you call it the PIR shuttle.  Refer to it as the Navy Grad shuttle service (taxis).

Good Morning All!

Comment by FireTeamLeaderWife aka FTLW on January 6, 2013 at 7:20am

(continued from below)

Size of NSGL-

From the CNIC//Naval Station Great Lakes site: (Bold, italic an underline mine)

** Departments

Naval Station Great Lakes is the largest military installation in Illinois, and the largest training center in the Navy. The base includes 1,153 buildings on 1,628 acres, and uses 50 miles of roadway to provide access to the Center's facilities. Since its founding in 1911, the training center has prepared men and women for duty in Naval Service.

Here is a link to the CNIC NSGL website:

http://www.cnic.navy.mil/GreatLakes/index.htm

Here is a link to the Base Guide:

http://virtual.mybaseguide.com/publications/g30/great%20lakes%20ns/...

The above is an online guidebook of sorts. Browse through! It will list hotels restaurants etc. after the History of NSGl and information about the base. The only thing you won't get is the map of the installation(Thise are blank saying they are unavailable)...nor will you be able to access it on the CNIC site under maps :-).

Comment by FireTeamLeaderWife aka FTLW on January 6, 2013 at 7:17am

Since this can be confusing...let me try and explain about why we refer to the "Main Base" and RTC as a "base" and why we say that Navy Lodge is not located "on base".

In the literal sense...yes...Navy Lodge IS "on base" as Naval Station Great Lakes is huge and some of it is in an "open" area (I mean no fences or gated area that you need to premission to pass through) and some is not.

The Navy Lodge is not located behind restricted walls and not on Recruit Training Command. Nor is it on what we refer to as the "Main Base(or "Main side" as NSGL has called it)" (There are many tenant organizations on NSGL)that contains TSC (Training Service Center) for GL where many of your future Sailors will be attending A school.

The Navy Lodge is within the Forrestal Housing Village which is part of NSGL Base.

The Navy Gateway Inn and Suites however is located within the restricted area of the "Main Base".

RTC while a "Command" on NSGL Base has been called "base" by RTC itself. Here is an example from RTC FB when they refer to RTC with the term "base":(italic and bold mine)

*...Recruits can begin receiving and writing letters the first Sunday they are in their permanent ships (barracks). They spend anywhere from one to two weeks (depending on what division they were placed into) in a different location on base...*

*...RTC is a restricted base and all vehicles must either have RTC base stickers or the gate pass..."

 

Comment by Arwen on January 6, 2013 at 2:56am

The Navy Lodge is actually on-base, just a few hundred feet from the back fence of the RTC. If you get the second floor, you might be able to see the recruits walking in front of some of the barracks windows. But since it is the *back* fence, you have to drive all the way around the RTC to get to the gate.

Comment by Arwen on January 6, 2013 at 2:52am

Regarding "shuttles" -

ALL of the hotels have shuttles, even if they say they do not. Few of the hotels have organized shuttles. None have shuttle buses or vans - what people tend to think of as "shuttles."

This may have changed since the last time I was there, but I haven't heard of any hotels getting a shuttle bus.

What they call "shuttles" are simply dozens of taxis (many of them are minivans) who queue up for the many PIR families who show up every Friday. At some hotels there are a lot of them, at others you need to have the shuttle (taxi) called for you.

A few hotels pay for the morning taxi service, but not many. Most shuttle-taxis charge a flat rate, between $5 per person and $10 per person, or $15 for a full taxi, depending on the distance from your hotel to the RTC.

The Navy Lodge will swear up and down that they don't have shuttles - because the lodge does not not *officially* sponsor the shuttle service. In reality - they also have the same unofficial taxi shuttle service as all of the other hotels. Because it's not an *official* shuttle service, they do not admit to it, because they don't want to take on any of the responsibility if those shuttle-taxis somehow screw up.

Comment by Ole-CorpsmanMom on January 5, 2013 at 11:23pm

We have 5 more too DNmom.  I can't wait!  We are staying at Navy Lodge and using Sarge for airport transportation for our daughter.  We are driving!  

Comment by DNmom ship03 div 091 on January 5, 2013 at 10:01pm

Thanks so much for the info everyone. Only 5 more Fridays :)  Gosh, I am really missing him bad tonight.  I admit I'm not crying everyday and now I can talk about him without "losing it" but today has been a bad day.

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