Alumni of PIR 8/24/2012 TG 41 — 09 Divisions (261–268 & 941)

I too stayed at the Navy Lodge and liked it, Close to base, quiet, friendly and helpful staff, good rates, and a great "bag breakfast" for the morning easy to take to PIR.

Staying at the Ramada.  FYI: -  Called Springhill , residence Inn and they are booked

They have one room left at courtyard... At least as of late this afternoon.

THey are booking fast!!

I am glad your comments are going to my emails. I am trying to keep up with everyone with your advise. Okay so now I will send an extra envelope for returned letters that my son can't keep. You ladies are soo good on advice. I was just thinking he would throw the unwanted things in the garbage! We are booked at the Ramada and arriving at O'hare at 1430 Thursday. I want to go to a meet and greet.

45 days ladies......45 days....... we can DO THIS!  lol

Hoping that today is the day that RTC will post the divisions for this group!  I bet FTLW probably has it pretty much figured out by now.  She is very good at that!  :-)

Good morning, ladies!

mom-11-263:  Sadly, my son DID throw his letters in the garbage ....back when he went to bootcamp, I was such a newbie, I didn't know about sending the larger envelope.  Doubt he would have sent the letters back anyway.  He is a "no nonsense" type of guy that read the letters and that was that!  :-)

Good Morning everyone :-)

Good Morning ladies!  Sorry, I've been MIA for a few days, but I'm back now.   

when my oldest was in bootcamp, he kept all his letters in a net bag (not sure where he got this bag) and gave them all to me at PIR so i could bring them home.  But he actually had the "lockers" by his bed, which i assume had more room than their coffin racks do now.....

...me waiting for the RTC Website to update the TG's!

Could still be a couple of hours! I think I will go back to bed for awhile! Hubby got in late last night and then it takes me ac ouple of hours to wind back down! So not much sleep! Poor hubby though!

Wrong number at 6 a.m.?  WOW!  I hope the person was very apologetic...not only too early to be calling anyone, but with two recruits in bootcamps and never knowing when they may call?  UGH!  Just not right!  :-) 

Welcome back, Betsy!

mkcmom:  They say that their storage space now is so small that if they get too many letters, they have no where to store them.  So that is why some decide to either throw them away...sigh...or send them home in a large envelope provided by family (unless they buy one in the NEX).

Thanks, Dianne.  I'm checking in when I can. 

I got a call this morning too. My cell had a Great Lakes number and I got scared! Then I heard the man on the other end, it was Sarge. He wanted to help with hotels and activities to do. His shuttle service has 6 seaters which was my main question since we will have 4+my sailor. He was really helpful. Travel from the Ohare to our hotel is $ 54.00 going back is $50.00  He also is going to help for restaraunts where my son can eat for free. He has been there 30 years and knows the places to go. He really is a big help. We are going to Sarge's meet and greet too. I can't wait!

Sad day for me...my son called to let us know he's coming home.  They say he has a pre-existing shoulder injury (I had no idea) and is being medically discharged.  My heart is breaking for him.  He actually called my mom, he says he called me, but I showed no missed calls, but she said he sounded down.  He's not sure how long it'll be before they send him home.

At first I was really sad he was gone, now I'm sad for him that he has to come home.

MoMof4:  I'm so very sorry.  And this was an injury you never even knew he had?  Wow.  It is alarming to see the kind of things they are releasing the SRs/sailors for these days.  I'm wondering if he will be able to get a discharge code with a waiver...which means, if he can get help for the injury and a doctor's release, he may be able to enlist again.  If you talk to him again, you may ask him to sign a waiver up there to allow you all to talk to the "powers that be" to find out more about this injury and the repercussions.  Without him signing the waiver, you can't get any info on him.  Prayers for him....and you all too.  Be sure to join the group:  Ship 5 (formerly 17) ....on N4Moms.  There will be lots of info for you on that group which is the "separation" group. 

MoMof4 - So sorry to hear about your son. Hugs to you and I pray that it is minor. I am sure he is very down. I hope you get to speak with him soon!

 I see you got onto Ship 5...the ladies should be able to give you some insight and support.

Here is my occasional service announcement…

OPSEC, OPerational SECurity, is always of the utmost importance. Please take the time to read the OPSEC and Community Guidelines ( Link Community Guidelines ).

A quick note here: Last Names of Recruits/Sailors are not allowed on this site. So, if your usename contains your last name and it is the same as your Recruit/Sailor, you will need to change it. If it is different it is still not a good idea as this is a public site and anyone may read the posts…they do not have to be a member. That is your choice though.

First Names and pictures of your Recruit are allowed, but remember someone can easily match them up with their "mom". So you might want to consider changing your profile picture as well.

Here is a Link on the "How to's..."

How to Change your Username URL and Profile Picture

Momof4 I am sorry to hear about your son. At first I was shocked and wondered if it could happen to anyone maybe even my son. But now I am thinking that God has a plan for your son, and maybe it is a better one. It is hard to see into the future, but there is a plan. I always think that when we make a wrong turn on a road. But maybe it wasn't a wrong turn, maybe it just saved us from having a head on crash! Give him lots of love.

...I like your way of thinking, mom-11-263.  So totally agree!

Prayers, MomOf4....

Good morning all.

I am so sorry Momof4, Everyone has offered some great advice already so please just let us know if you have any questions or concerns. i will keep you both in my thoughts and prayers. I am sure he will find something very rewarding in his life and will give it his all :-)

I know there are some of you already on a couple of facebook groups :-) And that is great. However, we want you to be sure and keep this page active as well. There are lots of people who do not "Do" Facebook and they will be here looking for others who have the same PIR and DIV. There are also those who come here to read your news and comments but they are too shy to post anything. But if you keep this page active they sometimes will get brave and start posting just like you. Sometimes having a family member join the Navy is not the only new experience for a lot of people. Many of them have never used a computer either :-) And I am sure they would like to get to know you as well. 

Here are some of the more active facebook groups with members from all the PIR groups and DIV. Some are closed or private and some are not so you still have to be careful and not post your Sailors personal information.

Navy Mom PIR Friends https://www.facebook.com/groups/327167160695549/

Navy Moms: https://www.facebook.com/groups/46342059809/

Navy for Moms: https://www.facebook.com/groups/40865546374/

You don't have to go to or join facebook. you will get all the info you need on this site and we are all here everyday to answer your questions but If you decide you want to start your own private facebook group or DIV group we suggest that one of you make it yourself that way you know who is in the group. There are lots of groups created by other people who may or may not even have a family member in the Navy and you just always need to be careful.

And please, no matter what come to this group page every day and post any news, comments or questions so everyone can benefit from it :-)  Thanks!!!

((hugs)) momof4, as I mom, I can imagine how this news has affected you. We are so very proud of your son and please thank him from us.  Just getting in to BC is a feat for which he should be very proud.    As others have said, I'm sure there are very big things waiting for him.  As FTLW stated, Ship 5 will be a big help to you.   

That is great Wendy, I know you are happy to finally have a date :-) I was going to post the link to your group but I saw you are already on it :-)

I do ok until someone asks if I have heard from my SR, then it gets my head spinning again!  Hoping we start getting some letters soon and information so we can future out their schedule.  Only 43 more days!

This TG (TG 41) wil start with 261 and go to 268 then...with a Performing Division of 941. I know there is a SPECOP DIV of 818 running around...but not sure which PIR it is in yet!

Still no word from RTC about this TG.

The performing division has the same number of recruits as the other divisions. When my daughter was in the performing division 936 in 2010I only found 2 other moms from that division. So it just depends on how many get online. I know the 936 division this year has PIR next week and they have a bunch of people on this site and on facebook. I hope you find a lot too :-)

808mom...Glad to hear your son is staying positive.  I thought I read somewhere they get 2 days to recover.

I am a veteran, but it has been a very long time. I had my wisdom teeth pulled out, all 4. I remember I went in the middle of the day. They pulled them out real quick and then gave me tylenol 2. I think I slept for 24 hours straight. I remember waking up in my bunk and my pillowcase was covered in blood! I didn't have much pain though! He should be fine and hopefully they still give them rest.

I just saw an advertisement on TV for a Nationwide Sale at Southwest Airlines. They are running a special for one way flights for only $69.00. You have to book at Southwest.com and the promotion is called their "Nationwide Sale" they are book flights all over the country for that price. Check and see if an airport close enough to you flies Southwest. They don't have a charge for 2 checked bags and they don't charge a change fee if you have to change your tickets. You would only have to pay the difference in the cost of the flight. This is a great deal and they fly into more than one airport in the Chicago/Milwaukee area. Here is the link http://www.southwest.com/

Recruits that get their wisdom teeth out get a couple of days of SIQ (Sick in Quarters)...meds and SLEEP! Which they love...

Absolutely, MomOf4!  It is not easy to get into the Navy these days...not to even make it as far as he did.  So he should be proud! 

Hoping you can talk more often to him soon....

Hi Everyone, got my first letter from boot camp today.  I was very excited. He sounded good but sounded a little tired.  Not a lot of sleeping I guess, and his bunk is next to the bathroom so the light is shining on him all night he says.

I still have only found one mom and one GF from div 941.... I can't believe there are not more on here???   all the other divisions have so many people.  Why is the performing division so different? 

I know it seems that way srmproudmom but it really is just the luck of who gets on these groups and who doesn't. I only found 2 others when my daughter was in the performing division but next weeks PIR the 936 has a whole bunch from that division. Have you looked in the facebook groups as well? Here is the Navy Mom PIR friends group. I will post a comment there and see if I can find others in that DIV for you. https://www.facebook.com/groups/327167160695549/

Also it is still early and others will join this site daily right up until PIR as they find out about it so keep searching :-)

No letter for me yet :(  Hoping I get one soon. I have not been on this site all that much it takes long time to load.  Have a page on Facebook page also.  Its great.  ship 11 div 262 Looking forward to 8/24.  Can't wait.

No letter for me either.  It is getting harder, I try to stay busy and not think about it- but today was tough.

Oh, MomOf4! I want to run up to RTC and hug your son!

Me too FLTW He needs a Navy Mom Group Hug for sure :-)

If you have small kids at home here are some ideas :-)

 I know it is hard on all the moms, wives, etc but it is also hard on the little kids. They miss their big brothers and sisters or Dads and Moms so much and they just don't understand it all. I know some families have made it easier for them by making some kind of craft to help them count down the days until PIR. Some have made paper chains like are used at Christmas and they tear off a link every day. Others have used a small jar filled with marbles or pennies. One mom even used a jar filled with quarters and once a week they would take the quarters they had pulled out of the jar and go get an ice cream cone :-) There are lots and lots of creative ways to make it easier for the little ones. You can also do a picture collage of what they are doing while bro/sis/dad/mom is at bootcamp like going to the pool, the dentist, shopping, playing with a family pet, a picnic etc and then scan it onto the back of a letter each week. My mind is spinning with ideas :-)