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Comment by Alisha on February 5, 2016 at 12:33pm

My son just text me.  They will be classing up on Feb 22. 

GO TEAM AG!!!

 

God Bless!

Comment by mykidsmom4 on January 31, 2016 at 11:35pm

Good tip. We are from Florida and ours is the same as yours.

Comment by Proud AG Mama on January 31, 2016 at 11:17pm

I dont know what state you are from, but a couple more pointers. There are toll roads around Chicago and their highway signs are set up different than ours. We were always shifting lanes at the last minute. In Chicago, the street displayed farthest to the left is the next exit. In MN the next exit is the one on the right. I mean the signs overhead on the freeways.

Comment by mykidsmom4 on January 31, 2016 at 11:05pm

Thank you Proud AG Mama for all your advice. We leave Thursday for Chicago!

Comment by Proud AG Mama on January 27, 2016 at 8:33pm

mykidsmom4 I stayed at Springhill suites. They were fantastic.  We originally reserved at Ramada. It was terrible. We walked into the room and walked back out. I hear good things about Navy Lodge. My understanding is your sailor will have to get a chit to be able to go to the Navy Lodge with you.  At some point he also needs to confirm you are with him to be able to stay there.

Go to Sarge's meet and greet across from Springhill.

Don't give phone to sailor until Saturday morning. Meet him at the airport so you can spend time with him until his plan takes off. There is a Hilton at O'Hare. I have heard of people reserving a room there so they can spend the day in a hotel room waiting for his plane versus in the airport itself. I am not sure if the sailors are allowed to do that anymore though. If sailor has tablet or laptop don't give it to them until at the airport.

PIR is over about 10:30. You get to go give your proud Navy hug on the PIR floor. Take lots of pictures with your family and new sailor. It is hard to get pictures after that of them in their uniform. We haven't gotten one since he graduate. Then your sailor has to check out or something. So, you wait for a bit at the NEX. Then you get him for the day.  Let him pick what he wants to do for the day. He has been through a ton in the last 2 months. We just sat by the pool and talked. Some want showers. Some want certain foods. Some go out sight seeing. They have to be back to the barracks at a certain time. Plus they have a walk to get back to the barracks. So, listen to your sailor and get them back to the base even if you think it is too early. You don't want them to get in trouble.

Some sailors fly out Saturday some Sunday. So plan your departure day with that in mind. Some fly out of Milwaukee some O'Hare. Mine flew out Saturday afternoon out of O'Hare. The sailors get to the airport before the crack of dawn. It could be a long wait for the plane. It could not be a long wait.

Keep in mind your sailor has been in a vehicle for 8 weeks. That was an adjustment for our sailor. Keep in mind too that they may be quiet especially to start. They have been through a lot in the last 2 months. We called our son Tyler 2.0.  He was very polite and so much more grown up.

Did  your sailor ask you to bring any specific clothes? If so, bring those. We had our sailor put together a suitcase for us to bring with us. Because we drove we had extra room for luggage. He took some, but not all of what he had packed up.

Do you know that those who can't make PIR can watch live on the internet from anywhere? My dad watched from MN.

It may be too late for you to do this, but we told our sailor not to move a muscle. That we would get to him; that we would know exactly where he was. I don't think he even blinked until we got to him.

The seating area is a little cool and are hard bleachers. We sat on the top tier. If you do, do not cross the solid line. Other sailors will be there making sure you stay out of that area. I assume it is a safety area around the railing.

There will be few things in your life as exciting as when those doors go up. Enjoy every second.

It is a pleasure to pass on the info to you. I know we had to do all our own research and figuring things out.

Have you joined FB pages? There are several Mom groups and two AG groups.

Biloxi is hot, but your sailor should escape the worst of it.

I think that covers it. LMK if you have questions I didn't address. When you hit the next milestone feel free to ask questions.

Welcome to the Navy Family! Thank your sailor and family for its service and sacrifice.

Comment by Proud AG Mama on January 27, 2016 at 8:04pm

My AG had to wait 2 weeks or so to class up.  During that time he was on some kind of duty. He cleaned barracks a few hours a day. In doing that he collected laundry detergent left behind, which got him through all of A School. The detergent would have been thrown away otherwise. The AG community is so small, there are usually not a lot of AG's going from BC to A School. But there may be AG's there already waiting to class up with the new sailors.

Comment by Jackie on January 27, 2016 at 1:36pm

Hello. My Sailor will ship out to Biloxi after PIR 2-26-16. Does anyone know how many sailors will be going to Biloxi. I did read that they may have to wait for other soldiers before the class begins. Any information will be appreciated. Thank You
Jackie

Comment by mykidsmom4 on January 26, 2016 at 10:52pm

Proud AG Mama, no haven't got that call yet. He is in a push div so I am guessing it may come the week of PIR? The app sounds nice, we will look for it. Thank you so much for all your help so far! You had mentioned tips for PIR...I will take any you have. I have a reservation for Navy Lodge and Springhill Suites. Will cancel one of them by end of the week. It is nice to know someone that is ahead of us in this journey!

Comment by Proud AG Mama on January 26, 2016 at 8:06pm

mykidsmom4 - have you gotten your I am a sailor call? My husband found an app that recorded all his incoming calls. So, we still have that call in a digital format. You must be getting excited so close to PIR.  Feb 5th is my 8th anniversary at work. Easy date for me to remember. Good luck. Tell your sailor thank you for his service and thank You for your service

Comment by Proud AG Mama on January 20, 2016 at 7:43pm

I am not as fluent in A School. By then my sailor was more comfortable and thus didn't share as much information. I am afraid I am mixing his first duty station and A School in my head too. I will get a text out to my sailor tonight to confirm, but I am thinking he shared the room he was in with one other sailor. They can have more personal items at A School, but their space is still limited.

They have to phase up. When your sailor (congrats on being so close to PIR) gets to A School he will have to phase up. There are three different levels with different privileges.

Oh, he should expect to not class up right away either.  I think my sailor was there a couple weeks before school started. During that time he did different duties one of which was cleaning barracks. While cleaning he collected left behind detergent bottles that got him all the way through A School (ha). I have seen some sailors that spent several weeks waiting to class up. It can be a boring time for the sailors. First phase has to wear their uniform all the time and isn't allowed off base.

My sailor did extra work/volunteer hours and earned two chords, honor guard and volunteer or something - he had one black, one white and was working on a teal. These cords he wore over a shoulder in his uniform.

His class had an average score of 96%. The class before him had like 87%. The top scorer gets promoted and has a better chance of getting their preferred next station. My sailor got 2 questions wrong the whole time and lost his top position.

There are two parts to the A School. The first part they are in with the Air Force. The second part is just Navy.

In first phase they have to muster every morning and night (flag ceremony).

I can't believe your PIR is almost here. You will be so proud. There aren't words to describe the ceremony. Let you sailor set what you do for the weekend. They may want to go out. They may not. We just sat around the pool and talked. They have to get back to the barracks well in advance of the time they are due to make sure they are not late. Don't give him his cell phone until you meet him at the airport Saturday morning. I have lots of hints/pointers for PIR too, though I don't know what you know and what you don't. Hopefully you aren't staying at Ramada. It was awful. We ended up at Springhill suites. Do go to Sarge's meet and greet.

This has ended up very long. Let me know if you have questions brought on by this post or if you want more detail on anything.

Bravo Zulu! Give your sailor a hug from this Navy Mom. Thank him (and you!) for his service.

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