Sobe's Words of Wisdom About PIR/Graduation

[Lynne]

Kim/Wolf Grrrl  Stopped by to share these words of wisdom that Sobe left for their PIR group.  They are wonderful things for all of us to remember.  It reminds us to FOCUS ON THE NEEDS OF OUR NEW SAILOR!  Please take a few minutes to read them.  Many thanks to Jck who pointed out the first time I put up this discusiion I neglected to put up Sobe's actual words...lol!!  Guess I was tired. 

 

First of all...remember every Sailor's experience is different. Every Sailor's order's, Grad-n-Go, etc... is different. There were some things on here that did not hold true for my daughter. I will start from the beginning.



Plane tickets...we could not afford refundable tickets. We checked into it and a "change your itenerary fee" was cheaper than a refundable ticket. Therefore if we had to change them at the last minute let's say she didn't graduate (which didn't happen to us but for others it did) on time then eating $75 (or whatever fee would be from your airline) was a lot better than a couple hundred more on an already expensive ticket just to make it refundable. This is purely a personal choice.



Hotel...unless you have money to spare (if so, please share, just kidding)...your run of the mill hotels will be fine. Do NOT go into expecting the Ritz from these hotels. There will be issues that will not sit well with you. Like smoke smell, ugly decor, etc... Bring a trial size Febreeze and/or a travel tealight candle holder. We did both and lived. Take it from me...I despise smoke! I am an asthmatic that is also on the tale end of Whooping Cough so believe me when I say I lived so can you. Our hotel was the Quality Inn in Waukegan. It literally is 3 miles from base. That was VERY nice and convenient when it came time for Liberty. It lacked Quality let me tell you but the staff was nice. We had some minor inconveniences like the smell of smoke and our key card kept not working. However, what I said above about Febreeze helped a bit to where it was tolerable and they just kept issuing us a new key. The price was right so one can't really complain. There are worse things. Now the "shuttle buses"...they are not true blue shuttle buses! They are minivan taxi's. First of all there will be a sign up sheet in the lobby, get on it. Then the morning of PIR, get out there and be one of the first. They just keep coming back and forth until all have been dropped off. I am glad we used the shuttle as the line of cars was just amazing. I hate waiting in traffic and this way we were whisked right in. Also, have bills on you to give to the driver. I think we gave him a $10. each time. That was voluntary on our part. No biggie...it still beats the car line! When I say each time I mean the drop off and the pick up. They were on time both ways and very nice.



Meet & Greet...if you are there in time GO! It was amazing to put faces to the names on this site. All the women I met were just as beautiful in person as they are on this site! I feel I have honestly made life-long friends.



PIR...I cannot stress enough...PIR weekend is NOT for you! It is NOT about you! It is about your Sailor! Please remember, they are finishing 9 weeks of HELL! Their minds, bodies, emotional status, and mental status have been pushed to the limits and beyond. You cannot fathom what they have gone through! They will be exhausted! Please do NOT expect your Sailor to want to do what you want to do! Remember, just being there and chilling inside an AC hotel room with TV and grub is enough for them. There is NO need to spend a bunch of money to make them happy. In fact, they won't want you to. This is part of the transformation that has happened to them during boot camp. They may want to just walk the mall or take in a movie. This should be 100% ok with you! They have been on the go, go, go for nine weeks, they do NOT want to do that the time they have with you. Trust me on this! Be flexible and fully willing to do absolutely nothing. It should not matter to you anyway because the ONLY thing that should matter is you have that time with them. Who cares if you are sitting on your bum in a hotel room or walking a mall? Right? The mere fact that they are with you and you can hug them and kiss them is all that should matter. If you are stressing about money as a lot of us do, DON'T! Save yourself the stress. It doesn't cost anything to sit in your already paid hotel room and chat. The only thing it will cost is to have grub and snacks available. No bad huh? Also, forgo the thought of fancy smancy restaurants. They want JUNK FOOD! They have been eating healthy for 9 weeks! Literally there basically is no sugar! Even the syrup is sugar-free. Again, no stress on money. Talk, take pictures, capture the memories! Take detailed pictures, their dog tags, them tying their Sailor tie, their ribbons and rank on their sleeve, etc... You will appreciate it when you see those pictures. Also, keep in mind and respect their need to get back to base on time. They are still considered "PROPERTY OF BOOT CAMP" even after graduation until they leave for A-School. They will be worried about getting back to base on time. For my daughter her ship was a mile from the NEX. Take in consideration the time it takes them to walk back. They cannot run. Respect it! They will and can get their Liberty taken away if they are a second late. Some kid did the week before my daughter's PIR and couldn't even call his mom. She was left waiting. We always had our daughter back 1.5 hours early. If that meant we stood in the parking lot to talk then we were happy with that. At least we knew she was on time. Now on time for us is different from on time with them. Our daughter's RDC's wanted them back one hour before their actual Liberty hour. No problem, we respected that. It was better than her getting into trouble. Again, it's about them not you. Also while you are waiting for them in the morning, on the hour our National Anthem will be played and all talking and traffic is stopped out of respect. The Sailor's do stop and salute. It truly was amazing to see. If you are wearing a hat, please take it off and DO NOT talk during our National Anthem. Respect your Sailor enough to do that. I witnessed a dad and a brother with ball caps on and talking while their Sailor stood next to them saluting and standing at attention. I was appalled! Your Sailor will have STRICT rules to follow while on Liberty with you. Please respect those rules and your Sailor enough to honor them. If you are a smoker (we are not), DO NOT smoke any where near your Sailor. If they return to base smelling like smoke they can and will get into trouble regardless if they smoked or not. We witnessed a mom with two Sailor's in her car and she was smoking. Again, the lack of respect was appalling! Your Sailor will tell you the rules. If you want to see your Sailor every chance you get over the weekend then respect them. It is NOT to make your life miserable it is just the Navy way! If you follow them, then your time with them will be amazing!



Some rules; Girlfriends, Wives, and fiance's...there are strict rules to public display of affection. DO NOT make out in public. Your Sailor will get into trouble! ALL; their uniform must be worn in public. They can NOT wear civilian clothes in public. Some did during our weekend and well...I'm sure they got in trouble. They are to take their "cover" aka hat off indoors. They are to put it back on as going outdoors. They are to have their raincoat with them at all times. No drinking, no smoking, no tattoos. If you think you are safe out and about with your Sailor, think again. There are RDC's out there too and some Officer's that will be in plain clothes. If your Sailor is caught breaking the rules, it can and will be reported. Just please keep that in mind.



My daughter; she was a "push division". That meant her division learned every thing in 7 weeks opposed the the 9 weeks. She left the Tuesday after graduation. During a briefing on Monday for which she did not have Liberty on Monday...the RDC's told them they could NOT have their cell phone's and laptops at A-School. She informed us the very early morning hours when we met her at the airport with a "plain black backpack" with all of that in it. She was not happy nor were we. Ok...now pay attention...Until the USO representative who brought them to the airport and served 14 years in the Navy told them different. He said they are NO longer at boot camp and they are individuals that A-School doesn't care if you have that stuff. He said they ARE allowed to take it with them. Phew! So DO NOT pay any mind to the RDC's briefing on that. I think it is their last ditch effort to screw with our Sailor's. Do not panic about the plain black backpack...they have them at the NEX and your Sailor who makes money now can buy it themselves at the NEX during Liberty. LOL.



My daughter told me she was just too go go go that she just wanted to chill. I kept feeling bad as if we weren't doing much with her. However, we did exactly what she wanted. For me, I am a planner. Every thing and every day of every vacation has always been meticuously planned out. I had to remain flexible and prepared for that for PIR. That wasn't hard as all I cared about was time with my daughter. I took pictures boy did I take pictures.



Now...take comfort in knowing if you survived boot camp you can survive A-School. A-School is MUCH better. You can text them, talk to them, email them, and even Skype. Oh hey moms, they can also receive care packages! That is your light at the end of the tunnel! Take it in and relax! It truly is worth it to see the transformation that your son/daughter has gone through. They become more than you can ever imagine or hoped for. They are US NAVY SAILORS! Be proud of them and be proud of yourself! Most of all, you keep repeating to them how proud you are! I still tell my daughter. I am still beaming with pride!



THINGS NOT TO FORGET:

Your ID

Your registration/insurance for you car

Your parking pass...you NEED that in your window ALL weekend!

Coins for toll roads. The most we paid out was maybe $10.00 for the entire week and a half we were there.

Your Sailor's cell phone/lap top/all chargers to go with all the equipment

Your cell phone/laptop and all the chargers

Your CAMERA mom's! NEVER forget your camera! Batteries, chargers, etc...

Tissue...you do cry. Trust me your Sailor doesn't mind either.

Clothes, shoes, makeup, toiletries, accessories



Oh...ladies please dress respectable at PIR. I was appalled at some of the way they dressed. Not a lot just a few. In fact, I could count on one hand. You don't have to spend a lot of money. I didn't. Believe me I NEVER shop! I hate shopping. I wore khaki capri's and a blouse with kicky little cute sandals. My outfit was probably $80.00. That is only because I found everything on sale and I didn't have any clothes to begin with. I live in jeans and t-shirts.



Enjoy your time with your Sailor!

 

God Bless each of you as you prepare now for PIR!!

[Karen3269(Ship4 Div824 PIR11/5)]

Lynne.... Thanks sooooo much for ALL of this information!! I teared up at this..... AGAIN!! lol

[stefani71-ship7/div364]

Thank you SO much for posting this - it is great information. I got teary-eyed again too, but it's all good :) I can't buy plane tickets until payday (the 1st) but I'm so looking forward to seeing my son again! You can bet I'll be packing junk food for him in my suitcase lol.

[jb_navymom MMNuke Class 1107B]

Thanks for sharing the PIR weekend information. I was kinda stressing about what we could do over that weekend, but maybe he won't want to do anything at all! That only makes sense as they have been going non-stop for weeks. McDonalds and a movie is just about my speed anyways!

[stefani71-ship7/div364]

Same here! My son worked as a dealer at a casino before enlisting so he was used to eating junk food on a regular basis (the employees had a food allowance that they could use during their work shift and most of the food options there are the typical burger and fries kind of thing) so going cold-turkey was probably kind of rough...lol poor kid.

[jb_navymom MMNuke Class 1107B]

Stefani71 - what's your son's PIR date? My son's is 11/5 - still 40 days away, but I'm already getting excited!

[Lynne]

I think jb....everyone in this group should be 11/5 except for some seasoned moms and wives who are here to cheer us on...lol I am excited to...I love our countdown clock...lol

[jb_navymom MMNuke Class 1107B]

Yes, of course, that's why this discussion is under the PIR 11/5 Group. It's definitely past my bedtime! Thanks Lynn :)

[Lynne]

you should see what I did yesterday...thought two dianes were the same person and sent them emails that were intended for the other...they were so confused...lol

[stefani71-ship7/div364]

Jb, my son's PIR date is 11/5. I love the count down clock too. I will probably hang around the forums after he graduates since it will only be a month or so until my daughter leaves for her turn at BC unless we're busy moving at the time. I'll definitely be around when she leaves though to keep up on any news.