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Comment by joel's_rackie on May 27, 2011 at 1:21pm

“I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind. Some come from ahead and some come from behind. But I've bought a big bat. I'm all ready you see. Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!”

 Dr. Seuss quotes (American Writer and Cartoonist best known for his collection of children's books. 1904-1991)

Comment by ochaos on May 27, 2011 at 12:56pm

A word of advice for you is to not make any travel arrangements until at least half way through BC as many things can change the PIR date for your recruit such as injuries, discharge, illness and many other things.  Do not stress about this, I made my reservations 1 week out from PIR and got great rates on everything.  When thinking about flying look into flying into Milwaukee as it can save you lots of money and is the same distance to the base as from Chicago.  You are just beginning your journey and will learn so much on this site, if you know what job -  Nuke, SAR, etc. join those groups also and you will learn and make more new friends.

 

Remember that this journey is just as much about you being in training as it is for our recruits.  Things change, schedules change, they can not always tell you everything, there will be times when you do not hear from them for a while, there will be ups and downs and everything in between, they will see people drop, leave the service, rollback and finish their training.  Focus on today and learn not to worry about tomorrow.  Always be encouraging and uplifting even when your heart is breaking, they do not need to be worrying about us and how we are dealing with things.  This journey is a difficult one for the ones at home and not knowing what is going on and hard to grasp when you are still so new to it, relax and breathe and it will get better.

Live your life as normal as possible, come to this site for support but do not stress over phone calls, letters and how they are doing.  Phone calls get missed or not made, it is not the end of the world even though it may feel like it at that moment.  We have wonderful recruits and who are on a new journey in their life and we need to be okay with the not knowing what is going on and not hearing from them as this may happen from time to time during their time in the Navy, the sooner you are okay with this the better for them as they do not need to know that we are stressing or worried about them. 

If you are sad, lonely, missing them, angry or many other emotions come here where we know how you feel and we can lift you up.

 

Comment by Lala Ribbon Queen PIR Ribbons on May 27, 2011 at 11:14am

The meet and Greet is hosted by the Ramada Inn. It is for everyone who has a loved one graduating. There will be people there there have never heard of Navy for mom's "gasp" It is the night before PIR. There is no itinerary other than PIR itself  from the Navy. Most people arrive in Great Lakes the day before PIR. After PIR your Sailor will get to spend the rest of the day with you in most cases. The exception to that is if they are staying in Great Lakes for A-school they have to move all their stuff to the new base across the street which usually takes about 4 or 5 hours. Then they call you and you pick them up for a few hours in the evening. Then you should be able to pick them back up early Saturday morning and spend the day with them and do that again on Sunday. There is a chance they could have watch for a couple hours at some point during the weekend. If they are not staying in Great Lakes then they will most likely leave from the Airport on Saturday. They will have to be there very early, like 2 or 3 am but their flights could be several hours after that. In most cases you can meet them in the airport and spend extra time with them. Sometimes the flights will be full and your sailor may not leave until Sunday which will get you even more time to spend with them. You won't know until about the 4th week if your Sailor is leaving on Saturday or not unless you already know their A-school is in Great Lakes.

Comment by G'SMOM (SHIP 7 DIV 194) on May 27, 2011 at 10:00am

hi ladies.. just popping in from the PIR 6/10 group to say hello and give you guys a little encouragement  the first few weeks are the worse for them and you but hang in there after week 4 it seems to get better after they start adjusting to all the new ways of life. and remember things change very fast for them so  try not to worry if you get a letter saying they're having a hard time. they may have been at that very moment and just needed to vent and then they move on to the next challange and do great. its hard not to be able to talk to them all the time. so just keep sending letters thats the best thing you can do for them.  good luck to you all and your SR

Comment by Betsy, mom of Stennis sailor on May 27, 2011 at 9:55am

Karleen, I also always tried to remember that, by the time I received my SR's letters, a few days had passed since he had written them.  Therefore, the thoughts that they may have expressed in the letter when they wrote it, were probably gone by then.

Comment by Lala Ribbon Queen PIR Ribbons on May 27, 2011 at 8:47am

I was very satisfied with the Navy Lodge. We weren't there very long but the room was clean, the beds and pillows were very comfortable. :-)

Comment by Willsmom on May 27, 2011 at 8:31am

I used to be in the Army (millions of years ago!) and know that basic training was a far cry from the schooling (AIT in the Army).  I try to encourage my son that this is only until July 8th - after that, there will still be training, some of which will be rigorous, but the entire atmosphere will be totally different.  He will no longer be 'low man on the totem pole', will be allowed communication with friends and family, will have choices over what to eat and will have more freedoms.  Then, the Navy will be more about serving his country and not totally about becoming a Sailor, because he will be one!  During the eight weeks of boot camp, it sometimes is difficult to remember that it is not all going to be like that!!!!

Lala-were you satisfied with the Navy Lodge?

Comment by diannep on May 27, 2011 at 7:59am

Karleen:  Remind your SR that "A" School is a totally different experience than bc is...much more like a college atmosphere.  Bootcamp can be torturous, but it's only for 8 weeks...encourage him to hang in there and not to judge the Navy by what he is going through in bootcamp.  Bootcamp is a "transformation" process...never easy for anyone to go through transformation...keep encouraging...lots of letters, not only from you/family but from friends, coaches, fav teachers, neighbors, etc...Don't be shy...ask them to write to your SR!

Comment by Lala Ribbon Queen PIR Ribbons on May 27, 2011 at 7:07am

Susie- if you end up driving to the base you can let your parent's out at the building where you check in and then you can have a Sailor take them to the PIR hall in a wheel chair and that will make it much easier on them. We drove to the base and it worked out great for us. I recommend checking out the streets the day or evening before if you can and avoid the far right lane. It ends and you will have to merge left. It will save you a lot of wait time if you stay left. We left the Navy Lodge at 6:30 am and were checked in and seated in the PIR hall in about an hour (65 min). And that was with 13 DIV graduating.

Comment by joel's_rackie on May 27, 2011 at 1:06am

Karleen, I'm so happy for you! I don't have a letter yet, maybe tomorrow.

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