ALUMNI OF PIR 11/21/2014 TG 02 - 11 Divisions (009-018, and 902)

I know.  Love to hear that "Hi, Mommy!" from my Sailor daughter!!  :D

I have not introduced myself yet...

Hello! Fireteamleaderwife here. You can call me FTLW, it's easier :-)

My Sailor PIR’d in 05/2011. He is a Seabee Reservist. I have been an AF (Security Forces) Reservist wife for 28 years…I know …not Navy…but I am somewhat familiar with military life! We have been through two Deployments. Now working on Retirement process from AF and soon from Civilian job. Our son enlisted while Hubby was in Iraq. This site was a Godsend and helped me get through not only our sons BC experience but my husbands and my separation for 6 months.

I am a “veteran” mom on the PIR groups mostly.

Phone calls from recruits and sailors are almost always AWESOME :) 

Good morning everyone, I am heading to the Outer Banks today for some R & R :) so excited to have a couple days at the beach with my hubby, although I think it is going to be a little chilly lol

Good Morning!

lala Ribbon Queen:  My sister owns Equine Adventures on Hattaras Island.  Horse back riding on the beach!  Enjoy your time at the beach-my favorite place to be!

Good Morn PIR group...

Anyone have a sailor going to Pensacola for A school?? If so, we have a few seasoned Moms to help you, we'd love to have you to join the Pcola group:

http://navyformoms.com/group/sailorsinpensicolaflforaschool 

Hello everyone I have been reading over all the comments and my question is which airport should my family and I fly into and best place to stay and also rent a car?

4LeafClover:  Southwest Airlines flies into Milwaukee WI (45 to GL, cheaper car rental) or Chicago-Midway (hour+ to GL).  Is your SR going to be flying out to A School or staying there for A School?  Because the sailors usually fly out of OHare or Midway and if you plan to meet them there and wait with them,  you may want to choose Midway later Sat./Sun for your return. or else fly out on Sunday from Milwaukee since your sailor will most likely fly out on Sat.  On Southwest, there is no change fee if your SR is delayed.....and 2 bags check for free.  OHare is about 35 min from GL.  Both Chicago airports drive time depends on the traffic.

Recommended hotels on this site are:  Navy Lodge (book in your SR's name if you don't have military ID)....other hotels are Residence Inn, Springhill Suites, Holiday Inn Express, and Courtyard (all of these hotels are in the Waukegan/Gurnee area).   Call these hotels direct and ask for the Navy Grad discount.

CatMom has a code for cheaper car rental with Enterprise that she posts in one of PIR Pertinent Tips discussion up above.

Hello All!

     "To everything there is a season,

      a time for every purpose under Heaven."

                                        Ecclesiastes 3:1

Good morning everyone.  I've been wondering--- if our SRs graduate the week before Thanksgiving, what happens for the holiday while they're at A school? I don't know how any of this works.  I figure if anyone knows, my N4M peeps would know :-)

They will have the holiday off and will have a Thanksgiving meal on base.  Whether family is allowed to come on base to visit them, I'm not sure.  I know they will not be allowed off base yet, but it may be possible for family to visit them on base. 

So they will still have to stay on base even if they have the holiday off?  I was planning to fly to SC to see my sailor during that time?

heyma313, I see you have joined the MC group. They are in a better position to tell you what will be going on at Ft Meade.

Since your Sailor will not have "phased up", he won't be leaving the base. He probably won't have qualified as a watch stander either, so most likely he will have the entire day off.

Poking around the Ft Meade website (http://www.ftmeade.army.mil/) I saw a calendar of events that included "Thanksgiving At Club Meade". A holiday dinner and activities I would guess?

http://www.ftmeademwr.com/club.php

Yes, peejinator.  They cannot leave the base until they phase up which takes 2-3 weeks.  They will find this out when they arrive on that base, but I don't believe they will be allowed to leave base this soon.  You can check on the N4Moms group for your A School and ask the ladies on there if anyone knows.  Please let us know if you find out differently!

My daughter is going to Pensacola for 3 weeks aviation school after Basic?  We had thought about going down to see her for Thanksgiving.  I read about the Phases during A school but is this technically A school since she will just be there 3 weeks? She is basically undeclared I am assuming?  Sorry, very new to all of this.

Thanks everyone for your responses. I didn't know what to expect for the holiday for him. Well he should have phased up by the time Christmas rolls around.  Does that mean we could spend time with him then, maybe at a hotel or rental home?

cpcabe - Sounds like your daughter is Undesignated A-PACT? 

Then no she does not have an "A" school. 

Undesignated Sailors do not have a rating-occupational speciality (job) to train for, so they go to a 2-3 week school following BC. They usually get some Leave following this school.

PACT -is Professional Apprenticeship Career Tracks. So she will be apprenticing within the Airman field. The jobs she will perform will usually be within this field...but not always. Needs of the Navy.

Here is a link to a post about PACT:

PACT

Oops, forgot to add that what the short school is for is to prepare them further to go out into the fleet.

Greetings~

     "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace

      as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with

      hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."  

                                                            Romans 15:13 

cpcabe, patmej2011 and any others this applies to:

Here's the "Sailors in Pensacola A School" group that Beachbunny posted yesterday!

http://navyformoms.com/group/sailorsinpensicolaflforaschool 

Just got a call from my SR in Div 017!

my son also going to pensacola for a school right after bc

Good morning everyone!  We are on the downhill slide!!! Just think, in four very short weeks, we will be at the meet and greet and trying in vain to go to sleep that night to wake up and see our Sailors!

Good Morning, All!  Getting closer for you all to hug your soon-to-be SAILORS! 

wow 8 letters from my son. I'm so happy. He got his wisdom teeth pulled out and had to spend 3 days in bed. He says he is fine. All I can do is pray that nothing goes wrong with that. On a happier note he says they had lobster, stake, cake and ice-cream On October 13th for the Navy's birthday. All I can think of is PIR and giving him a huge bear hug.

Good Day!

     "The counsel of the Lord stands forever,

      the plans of His heart to all generations."

                                              Psalm 33:11

amity109,

Sounds like your SR has recovered from the removal of his wisdom teeth and has moved onto the rest of his training~~

Yep, the Navy just had their 239th birthday on October 13th!!

For those of you looking for a special gift for your SR-soon-to-be-Sailor, I got a couple of these Challenge Coins for my Sailor daughter when she graduated PIR last year, please check out www.pirgifts.com. Challenge Coins are a military tradition.  Craig, who is one of the veterans on Navy for Moms, designed the ones that are connected to the ships at RTC.  The name of your SR's ship is right next to the ship number in the Discussion Forum.  When you click on one of the coins, you will be taken to a page where there is a video about Challenge Coins.  This would be a special gift especially connected to their Boot Camp days!  Another really sharp coin is the Core Value one--it has cut outs and a diamond cut beveled edge.  These coins are no longer given out by the Navy to the Sailors, so it is up to friends and famiily. My Sailor daughter thought her USS Hopper (Ship 03) coin was "cool."

Adding on to Catmoms comments on coins....

Another idea is to give your new Sailor a coin for his/her rate. These coins have a large blank area on the back that can be engraved with name and date, making them more personal. Every time your Sailor advances you can commemorate the event with the next coin in the series. The only catch is that you have to know your Sailors rate (E-1, E-2 or E-3) and the right color of the stripes on his/her sleeve: white for Seaman (Administration, Deck, Medical, Technical, and Weapons) green for Airman (Aviation), red for Fireman (Engineering and Hull) and Constructionman (Seabees). Remember that the rate of Seaman Recruit is just a temporary default rate during boot camp for many Sailors

If you need help figuring out the correct color, this website covers it well. Click on the specialty groups and all the ratings within that group will be displayed. http://www.navy.mil/navydata/nav_legacy.asp?id=261

HygienistMom:  Also, some enjoy shopping with their sailor after PIR for a new phone or something else he/she may need---as a graduation gift.  They can't take these back to RTC with them, but you can meet them at the airport and hand them off to them.  For those staying in GL for A School, they can return to that base with the gifts.

Good Morning!

my daughter wanted to g to the mall, first stop was Victoria's Secret, second stop was the restroom where the granny panties went in the trash lol. I think the girls and the guys HATE the underwear that is issued to them lol

Good morning everyone

Happy Friday!!

     "Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities,

      to obey, to be ready for every good work, to speak

      evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all

      humility to all..."

                                                                  Titus 3:1-2

Judicita:  It will be interesting to see how many your get back and what they say!

Hello All, I hope the day is going well for everyone. I've been seeing past discussions on older PIR groups about gift baskets to raffle at Sarge's Meet & Greet. Has anyone started a discussion about making baskets for our 11/21/14 PIR? I'd be willing to make a basket if we decided to do it.

You will find the responsibilities of the Recruit Religious Petty Officers here: http://www.bootcamp.navy.mil/rpo3.asp

where is the link to watch pir ceremonies