Boot Camp Moms (and loved ones)

Katielev -- If you look at the schedule above you'll see that most "Paper Tests" are early on. Most of the material they are "Testing" on are Physical tests.  The RDC's will work with her and her Div to ensure they know what they need to know.  This may come in the form of Extra "Beatings" (Physical activity to Drill information in them not actual Hitting) or pairing her with a Study Buddy.  She may not have much if any free time to write so keep that in mind if letters are few and far between. Try and keep a positive attitude and trust that she'll get it figured out.  Getting yourself anxious will not help.  This is part of the Learning curve for us as Navy Moms.  We have to learn to let the waves wash over us and float with the tide. It's not easy and this is our "Bootcamp".

Be sure to join your PIR group.  Here are the links:

PIR: APRIL 2025

PIR: MARCH 2025

PIR: FEBRUARY 2025

Be sure to join your PIR group.  Here are the links:

PIR: APRIL 2025

PIR: MARCH 2025

PIR: FEBRUARY 2025

Happy Thursday and Happy PIR Day!

Got our postcard last night ... we're finally able to send letters! I feel like a weights been lifted. Thank you to everyone for all the support :)

Watch today's PIR live:

LIVE PIR FEBRUARY 20, 2025

Yeah for the postcard! Your letters will be much appreciated. I like to write letters, but daily was a bit of a challenge. I remembered one of the things I did to find content. We live in a small town and have a "Happenings" section of our weekly newspaper that our family has always thought was whacky. I would photocopy that and send. (newsprint can be messy so don't send the paper itself) That way our sailor could keep up on things like "Gary going to town to get his flu shot" or "Cooking with Larry" latest recipe submission.  

Welcome to all of our new members!!

And congratulations to all of our new sailors. I still have trouble remembering that PIR is on Thursday now and this week has been such a mess of a schedule with the holiday and then two days of ice & snow, shutting everything down, I lost track!

katielev- YAY!!!!! I'm so happy for you!  You are welcome to join your PIR group now too.  I would encourage you to stay on this page as well since more of us monitor it and can help answer questions.

Be sure to join your PIR group.  Here are the links:

PIR: APRIL 2025

PIR: MARCH 2025

PIR: FEBRUARY 2025

katielev - So happy you finally  got the letter!!  I remember how emotional it was to see it in the mailbox!!!!!  I sat down in the mailroom and cried before I even opened it.  Happy tears are crazy good!!!

Has anyone successfully picked up tickets to PIR on the morning of the event, or is it highly recommended to get them the day before? Although super excited to attend and support his brother, one of my sons is worried about missing too much school. Since we need to travel from the west coast he’ll be missing nearly a full week if we need to pick up on Wednesday. Thx!

We picked our up the morning of.. this was couple years ago but we just showed up really early, they do try to move things along..

We picked up the tickets the morning of the ceremony too, in November 2023. It was easy to do but we did arrive essentially at the initial time they opened at the exchange and we went from there essentially to get in line to get on base. We also had arrived to the area mid evening Wednesday night before the ceremony. I thought it worked out ok! 

Thanks Lara and Trey, that is comforting to hear. We might try to fly out early Wednesday and get the tickets that evening. But it’s less stressful knowing pick up on the day of is a reasonable back-up plan.

Hi. Our daughters PIR was last Nov. The bulk of people picked up the tickets the day before  then went to Sarge's dinner (highly recommend) but we talked to a few people who got tix the morning of. It was a long line getting into the ceremony but we got there super early and had a really long wait inside. Seems like everyone was good either way - early tickets, long wait inside, or tickets day of and waited longer in line but arrived in time for the ceremony.

Congrats and enjoy. It is a great ceremony.

PIR weekends are very long and tiring!! My son's was before the days of the tickets, but we were still up before the sun. We thought we had a shuttle ride scheduled from the motel but somehow it had not been marked down properly. Thankfully, we had driven and so had our own car and we were able to go ahead and drive to the graduation site. I had copied the vehicle parking paper they required at that time, just in case. 

My son's PIR was on Fri and his flight was one of the first ones out the next morning. That was also back when we had to take their cell phones, Kindles, laptops to them at the airport. His group left at 0100 and we checked out of our motel about the same time so we could drive over and meet him. Due to other circumstances, we actually spent more time with him at the airport than on Friday after PIR. 

Make sure your flights & hotel rooms are all flexible scheduling or refundable tickets if something changes at the last minute!!

I made our GL motel reservation as soon as I knew his PIR, but they assured me that cancelling was no issue (they were used to it) and it was fine. But I did not make the reservation for our motel mid-way until the afternoon we were leaving, when I was waiting for his call after battle stations. I believe that is also a little different now as well. So, hopefully you have plenty of time to make any adjustments. 

Sarge's Meet n Greet is wonderful if you can attend.

He also has a taxi service which comes highly recommended as well. 

Chipmunk 32 raises a good point. We checked out of the Navy lodge early when we found out our daughter was leaving BC at 1 am. We booked a hotel at the airport for the last night so we could get some sleep then hang with her before all of us flew out. It worked out much better and we were able to get some rest.

Just throwing in my two cents... We encountered a weather delay and missed the Meet & Greet.  This was before tickets were a thing so we didn't have that added stress but by the time we landed in Chicago and got our bags it was 9:30 pm.  We had left home that morning at 5:30.  We didn't check into the hotel till almost midnight (We needed some food before we left Chicago!) then we were up early again the next morning.  Got a nap while our Sailor had duty, Had dinner with him then back to the room for another nap before leaving at Midnight to spend the night with him at O'Hare so he could fly to his duty station at 10am on Saturday.  We went back to our room and SLEPT. Sunday we spent sightseeing and flew home on Monday.  Very little sleep was had in that 48hour window.  Our youngest was with us for the trip and it even took him and extra 2 days to recover from the lack of sleep!! I don't regret going but I was glad that I knew this was a possibility before we went.

Thanks BHMom, Chipmunk & Beloved! These are such great memories. I’ll be traveling with my disabled husband so he will definitely appreciate being able to wait inside instead of outside. Thanks for the tip.

I envision a ton of caffeine on this trip. Luckily my two sons will be with us too - they’re hilarious and will help keep us awake and the atmosphere light when we end up on the struggle bus.😁

Something to keep an eye out for, possible changes to the "I'm here" call.  I saw a GF asking on Reddit.  She lives with the recruit's mom, so knows there was no call.  This is what was sent instead:  
"All I got was a photo when he arrived at the airport that said "I have arrived safely at the airport" and its got a QR code then at the bottom it says "attention navy shippers: take a photo of this and send to your loved ones"

Has anyone else experienced this?  Is this the new "I'm here" call?

Cpurple2 -- Welcome.  RTC has made some changes to their schedules and currently they are allowing new Sailors to have Friday as a Liberty day with their attending family instead of having them fly out right away.  It's also possible that she could have Saturday and Sunday as well, especially if PIR is on a Holiday.  This is by no means any kind of a guarantee and they can decide at any time to begin shipping them out on Friday or Move PIR to Friday's again.  I would plan to fly back on Either Saturday Night or Sunday to maximize the time you may have or book changeable flights so you can stay longer if her flight out is later.  Only your Sailor can tell you their for sure travel arrangements and they often do not know those until a week or less in advance.  She may learn it sooner than that but don't count on it.  Enjoy PIR and make the most of your limited time!

Cpurple2 - I concur with BelovedbyHim - see if you can stay through the weekend. Things have changed since both of our sailors were at BC, but my son flew out the next day after PIR to Nuke school. We were able to go meet him at the airport at 0100 and stay with him until his flight took off. I don't know about Midway, but at O'Hare airport they had a person from the USO who met all of the new sailors coming in and the parents and kept us informed about when to go to the ticketing and baggage drop off, led us over there, and helped us get our gate passes so that we could stay with our sailors at the gate. It is a privilege that the airlines extend to service members, and you can check when you sailor is at home on leave and do the same thing when you take them to the airport. You must have all of the required IDs yourself, as if you were flying. 

Anti M - I don't think I have heard anyone mentioning a new recruit taking a picture of a QR code and sending it to their family. But I believe some of our more recent members have mentioned receiving the QR code via Sandboxx. 

For anyone interested, here is a link to our Blue Candle discussion which has ideas posted by others and the poem. 

Or you may go to Storymom's event - A Blue Candle Event ♥ - Navy For Moms

@Anti M - we had the same experience. She left us a voicemail at 1am the night she left but it was cut off and we couldn't hear anything. We received a text about a week later with her Ship number and the QR, which brings you to an information landing page with info about their schedule, etc. I'm a professional event planner and STRUGGLING with the logistical planning for the graduation. I'm being told we should fly in on Wed, be in attendance on Thursday during the ceremony and their free time and that she's likely leaving first thing Friday morning for A School but from this thread, it sounds like she might have liberty on Friday as well? and if she doesn't pass the battle stations, there's a chance she won't even graduate on her specific date. How have others planned (and I use that term loosely) for their graduation travels? everything needs to be fundable?

Oh yeah. Refundable/changeable is the name of the game. Almost every hotel around there understands this. Hopefully your recruit will hit battle stations earlier in the week. Ours had it the night before we flew out. That was nerve-wracking 

katielev - I feel your pain in terms of planning!!!  We wrestled with the same things.  Ultimately, we chose to drive up there (14 hours).  Our son graduated the day before Thanksgiving, so we knew we would at least have Thanksgiving Day with him.  We arrived on Tuesday, and just as we passed a sign that said, "Recruit Training Command entrance", our phone rang and he told us he passed Battle Stations!  Some of his friends shipped out early Friday morning (after Thanksgiving with family), but he didn't ship out until Tuesday.  He had liberty Thursday through Sunday (7 a.m. until about 8 pm), but on Monday, he had no liberty.  We stayed until Sunday.

Hi all - I'm back from vacation and trying to catch up....hopefully you all got answers to your questions!

I have the May PIR group up now:

PIR: MAY 2025

@katielev I’m really struggling with it too. Our flight is ~7hrs including layovers (30 hrs if we drove non-stop). With all of the weather issues and potential delays we decided to fly out Tuesday afternoon Unfortunately, looking at schedules we may not hear from him until Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. It kills me to think of flying all the way out there and not being able to see him because we missed the post Battlestations phone call by an hour. Hopefully if there is bad news we could at least recoup tickets for the return trip if we turn around and go home once we hit the layover destination.

To stay positive, I keep telling myself that they push everything until the last minute so the recruits have the maximum amount of time possible to train/prepare.  It’s so hard though! Good luck, and let us know if you hear any other ideas.

katielev & Staci -- Welcome to your first lesson in Semper Gumby!! Always Flexible!!  Plans are just plans until after they have happened.  Up until then they can and sometimes do Change!  The KEY as a Navy Mom is to keep in mind that you have NO control and won't for the remainder of their Navy Career. Make your plans as best as you can and know that refundable/Changeable are essential.  (BTW, Travel insurance is Iffy... They don't always cover Military changes.) Also Most of the time your SR will complete PIR on time!! We cannot say for sure how much time you will get after PIR though.  I know that the last few groups (The 10 week BC) they had BS Before that last week so that fear was covered and they had made a change to give all the New Sailors Friday so I'd plan on having that day unless you hear different from your Sailor.  It's up to you if you can afford the additional days there.  I recognize that not all of our moms can afford to go for such a short visit and that's quite the ask but it's awesome if you can. (you can also choose to "Adopt" any of your sailor's friends if they want.)
Keep a positive outlook and remember not to borrow tomorrows worries!! No news is Good News and You will grow and learn through this. 
Yes there are Awful things that can happen but you cannot dwell on them or you'll drive yourself crazy!

It's really helpful for as many of our Current BC moms to stick around after to help answer the questions of the New moms.  Things have Changed a great deal in the 11.5 years since my Sailor was in Boot Camp!! Chipmunk and B'sNukeMoM️MMN(Vet) sailors have both completed their time in the service and are out.

Be sure to join your PIR group.  Here are the links:

PIR: MAY 2025

PIR: APRIL 2025

PIR: MARCH 2025

Thanks so much everyone! @staci, we're in the same boat. Two hour drive to our airport, two flights and then the drive from Chicago. We've booked our tickets for Wednesday morning and have a hotel room for Wed and Thursday. From what I've read, she'll leave Friday am for A School. I know it will work out the way it's supposed to, but it's just hard to not have a solid plan. We have three other kids, all still in high school and middle school, so getting out there to turn around to come back a week later is not ideal ... but as everyone has said, this is our future for the next few years. I'm trying to embrace it #calgontakemeaway :)

Be sure to join your PIR group.  Here are the links:

PIR: MAY 2025

PIR: APRIL 2025

PIR: MARCH 2025

Happy Thursday!

Happy PIR Day - Congratulations to all of our new sailors!!

I edited my post - NO PIR today!

Be sure to join your PIR group.  Here are the links:

PIR: MAY 2025

PIR: APRIL 2025

PIR: MARCH 2025

LOL - I was actually going to double check the schedule today before I posted that!!  

Well, we are thinking about all of your SRs and you today and hoping that you get letters, phone calls, and our SRs are passing Battle Stations!! 

Thanks @ beloved, “Semper Gumby” that’s perfect, I love it! @katielev looks like a lot of counting to ten and deep breaths in our future lol. 😅

Be sure to join your PIR group.  Here are the links:

PIR: MAY 2025

PIR: APRIL 2025

PIR: MARCH 2025

I want to clear up any confusion on the # of guests for PIR.

Normal PIR is 4 guests.  If there are over 10 divisions graduating they will limit it to 3 guests.  I indicate in the PIR groups when it is a 3 guest PIR.

Here's the link to the Official Guide to Pass In Review Ceremony (PIR):

Official Guide to PIR