ALUMNI OF PIR 01/30/2015 TG 12 - 12 Divisions (075-084, 805 and 912)

In the form letter he listed "mom, dad, sister and someone else" he actually said "someone else".  Made a special trip to the post office to get my letter off and made hotel reservations.  Impressed with the discount in the brochure. 

I was getting ready to wash the "box clothes" and out fell my sons phone.  I'm thinking about stopping his data plan for a month. He has an I-phone any thoughts? 

My daughter's Iphone was also sent home to me. I work for AT&T, I know with hers, and ATT, we can suspend but per apple, we still have to pay the data on the phone. And since we have a family plan, it really doesn't make much sense to suspend. Hope that helps Kristy

I'm so excited- my son is in ship 13 div 81 Anyone else out there? OK I've booked my airline tickets, reserved a car, & reserved my room at the Navy Lodge! Now hopefully I'll get the time off work!!! LOL Anything else I need to think about for PIR?

Thanks for the reminder...I will try to remember to post sbbout checking pockets and shoes for phones. 

The recruits have to send them home in their box. Sometimes it is taken apart as well.

Glad you found it before you washed it.

Thank you everyone for your response to my question. I am seeing that there are twelve divisions and so the four guests would be correct. Just checkin'...

"Someone else"...too cute :-D

Hello :) My son is Ship 02 Div 912. He is going into to nuke program. I'm new the Navy, but I have been through basic training blues with another son in the Air Force. Actually his triplet brother, his triplet sister recently married a Navy man :) so she and her husband are a lot of help right now! Thankful I found this site :)

Thanks for adding me. My son is Ship 13, Division 082.  His A school is in S.C.

Hello All~~

     "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign:

       Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son,

       and shall call His name Immanuel."

                                                             Isaiah 7:14

My son is ship 13 div 81 as well. Talked to him for a few mins today when he called for additional information. He said that they haven't written any letters yet but probably would this coming Sunday.  Hopefully you will get the form letter before the end of the week Susie.

Gals,

It really hasn't that long since your SRs arrived on December 4th at RTC.  Looks like many are receiving the form letters this week.  Also, calls can come at any time for security info or calls scheduled by the RDC.  Personal mail won't arrive till a Mail Petty Officer has been trained to deliver your letters, then when the SRs can finally write on Sundays (or when they can squeeze the time in), the letters are mailed on Mondays and most of you will receive them on Wednesdays or Thursdays--so hang tight!

My son is Ship 13 Div 082, anyone else?  Im anticipating a phone call next week, (not sure if its the right week but its a great thought for Christmas!)

Once they receive their first held mail, as CatMom explained below (usually within 2 weeks of arrival)...they will receive mail M-F but can only mail out on Mondays.

Good Morning!

Angie:  Have that phone ready at all times to receive a call from your SR!  The calls are totally random, meaning even a scheduled call for a division can be changed/cancelled, and they can earn calls or make special calls needed for specific info.  So keep that phone attached to you at all times...even in the bathroom and when stepping out to get the mail!

My SR will be training for gas turbine systems technician. Any idea where his A school will be.

Dana - Gas Turbine Systems Technicians are either Electrical Techs or Mechanical Techs. The abbreviations for the Ratings are GSE/GSM or sometimes you will just see GS.

His A school will be in Great Lakes , Illinois right up the street from RTC on the mainside base. He will have daytime Liberty PIR day, after attaching to TSC GL (Training Support Center Great Lakes), Saturday and Sunday. INDOC (indoctrination) takes about 3-5 hours on Friday and then he will be released for Liberty.

Thank you so much for the information.

Does anyone know if the SR that are leaving GL for A school if they leave on Saturday or Sunday?

Mrsjeni - Hello. It wouldn't be in his form letter. The Form Letter pertains to boot camp.

He would've had to have told you his actual rating. If you have a copy of his enlistment papers it would be on there. Or, you can write him and ask for his rating. Then come back and we'll find the school for you.

Most aircrew fields gonto Pensacola Florida... but that's only a generalized observation on my part ;-) 

I'm sorry today is so hard. Here is a hug 

gonto? What's a gonto? LOL

Go to...

crystalgayle525 - Sailors going to school other than GL usually fly out on Saturday. Occasionally it has been Sunday for various reasons, one being simply flight availability.

They are bussed to their airports in the wee hours of the morning sometime between 1-3 AM. All go at once no matter what time their flights are that day...from early AM into the evening. 

You may meet them at the airport to say goodbye and give them their electronics and one set of civies. They won't need the civies until they phase up to where they can wear them but it is good to have at least one pair if it happens quickly. You can arrange to send them the rest.

I'll have a post about meeting your sailor to add later on.

I booked my airline tickets and reserved my room at the Navy Lodge.  Now I just have to wait for January 30th.  So excited.  

My SR will be going to Texas for corpsman school. Thanks CrystalGayle525 for the info on the bussing the the middle of the night to the airport- I had no idea. When do they get their flight information? before PIR or after? I've never gotten a gate pass before...what do I have to do to get one?

Thanks!

Actually I guess I should be thanking FireTeamLeaderWife...still getting used to this site!

My son is in Ship 13 Div 82 and is a MA going to San Antonio, Texas.  From all I have heard, unless your SR is staying at GL, they will be leaving on Saturday.  I booked my flight for Sunday so I could send as much time as I could with them.  I am hoping now that he is active duty I will be able to go to the gate with him.  I wasn't able to when he left for RTC and I was so upset.  

The new Sailors will not get their itinerary until just before PIR. So you won't know before then. You can send them a little card asking for the info so they can right it down and give it to you PIR day. 

**Sidebar - I am going to try and get your DIVISION DISCUSSIONS up later and will add one for the Flight info card.

To get the Gate Pass you will need to meet your Sailor at the ticket counter to do so. They need to be with you and you will just need ID to do so. I will also add a discussion for that.

You will hear from different sources that you may not go to the gate with your Sailor. They themselves may even tell you that their RDC said that cannot. This is not true. It is up to the airline and most are very accommodating. 

NavymomMary:  No real advantage to staying in a Navy Lodge but price is usually better.  We are advising people that lately, there have been a couple (or more) of PIR groups where those with sailors staying in GL for A School were denied being able to visit their families staying at Navy Lodge (Navy's orders, not Navy Lodge's decision).  Doesn't happen all of the time, and we have not found out why, but personally, some may decide they would rather stay at a civilian hotel for that reason (remember, this only affects sailors who are staying in GL for School, from what we were told, not those flying out).

Personally, your sailors will have had nothing but NAVY for a long time by PIR weekend....seen nothing but RTC!  So they may be ready for a little "civilian" life!  There are some good hotels in the area:

Residence Inn, Courtyard, Springhill Suites, Holiday Inn Express are some of the.  Call these hotels directly and ask for the Navy Graduation discount.  They are all close to Sarge's MeetandGreet held for you all the night before PIR.

Hello everyone!  I just went through PIR on 12/05/2014 with my new SAILOR!  Since his best friend is now at RTC and graduating on 01/30/2015, I thought I'd join this group and help as much as I can.  What I can say from one mom to another (I can't really speak from the wife/girlfriend point of view) is that it does get easier!  Praying for all of you as you go through this holiday season without your SR.  Let me know if I can help with anything.

I had a bad evening.  This morning we left letters in our mailbox for our SR.  This afternoon the flag was still up and no letters were in the mailbox.  The mailman arrived later and I asked if he has already been to our house once and he said no... SOMEONE STOLE OUR LETTERS.  I have been writing every day and all I could think of was that he will have a day with no letters.  The postal service said to call the police.  The poor policeman that showed up on my doorstep....  I apologized that it seems like such a small thing compared to what horrible things he has seen but then I just started crying... my daughter tried to take up where I left off but then she started crying too... I'm sure (after finding that there wasn't any money in the envelopes) my letters ended up in the trash somewhere...so sad.  I wrote 3 more and went to the post office tonight.  Hope he gets letters from friends on that day.

I do have a question... We will be flying in to O'Hare on Wednesday and leave on Sunday.  Is it best to use Sarge Taxi to get to Navy Lodge and then rent a car, or rent a car from airport?

That's awful about your letters Vickie :(

Vickie360,

So, so sorry that your beloved letters to your SR got stolen~~  Guess you will either need to have your mail carrier come to your door by leaving a note in your mailbox or dropping off letters at the post office will have to be done for now.  I'm glad you were able to write new letters to send out to your SR, so there won't be a gap in mail to him~~

On renting a car, you would be paying $49.00 just to get from the airport to the hotel.  My Enterprise car rental from the O'Hare airport (catch the Enterprise shuttle outside baggage claim at the center median to be taken to their office nearby) was $124.00 for Thursday to Saturday.  So it is best to get your rental from the airport~~

StrongLady:  Contact the recruiter for mailing info for your SR.  You still have time to receive the form letter.  Sometimes they can arrive 2 weeks or later after Bootcamp arrival.  They can only mail out one....could your SR have mailed it to anyone else?  Recruiter should be able to help out!  They have the info on their computers.

Vickie.  SO very sorry...how awful.  I have a feeling that police officer understood your tears....they usually have a very close relationship with military.  We can't mail from our mailboxes where I live....too much theft....so I have been taking my mail to the post office for years.  Sad state of affairs in this country.  Just write extra extra letters for a couple of days and you will be fine.  Remember, even if you mail out everyday, sometimes the letters get held up in the RTC mail facility, so they may not get them each and every day...but rather alot on one day, maybe none the next.  Also, not sure all divisions in this PIR group are receiving their mail by now?  Takes about 2 weeks normally to train the Recruit Mail Petty Officer to handle the mail so you may be in luck that the letters are being held and so your missing ones won't be noticed and will be replaced by more.

On Sarge's service/car rental, it is always more economical to rent a car if you can.  There are deals out there, especially if you book your flights through Southwest....they usually give you a discount car rental code.  We rented from the airport when up there....got a good deal on an SUV several years ago.  The shuttles (taxis) can add up. 

Good Morning All !

Welcome back, Barbie!  Thanks so much for joining here and offering your help! 

Good Morning!

     "The Lord gives His people strength.

       The Lord blesses them with peace."

                                           Psalm 9:11     

Overwhelmed by all the hotel information.  Im looking at the hotels to make my resivations.  My son is going to A school in GL.. so from what I read its better to go to another hotel other than the Navy Lodge, correct?  I just want to avoid any possible missed oppurtunities we have with him. 

On that note Moms.. no news is good news, dont forget! :D  Everyone have a great day!!

Vickie360, I am so sorry to hear that! Just reading your story made me cry. It is beyond me how someone could ever do that!! I can only imagine if that happened to me I would be in the same state as you and your daughter. Just think somehow Karma will get the low life that stole your letters! Again, I am so sorry that happened to you. Please know you have the love and support of all the navy moms!

I think I'm on letter #5 in 2 days. I've sent sport updates, information about the pets at home...including my son's chicken...now I feel like I'm just rambling to him! 

Angie:  Sai to say because Navy Lodge is wonderful,the  price too, but yes, to be safe since you will have a GL A School sailor, it would be better to stay in a civilian hotel.  There seems to be no way to predict which PIR weekends will prohibit these GL A School sailors from getting chits to visit family in Navy Lodge.  Those with sailors flying out shouldn't have a problem, but GL A School families possibly could have the problem.  Suggestions for you are:

Residence Inn, Courtyard, Springhill Suites, Holiday Inn Express....call these hotels directly and ask for the Navy Graduation rate.  They are about 4-5 miles from RTC and A School base.  Close to Sarge's MeetandGreet held the night before PIR (Springhill is right next door).  These hotels are in the Waukegan/Gurnee area.

If none of these work for you, you can google Great Lakes hotels and find others.  We just ask you to please check the TripAdivisor.com reviews online before you book any of these hotels....some are not in good areas.

*Sad to say....

Vickie360, when we went to my son's PIR two years ago we rented a car and drove up.  It was nice to have because we were able to drive to the base, make sure you have printed out your pass, went to lunch at a nice restaurant with him and drove to the airport to spend the day with him before his flight.  We stayed an extra day in Chicago and did some sight seeing also.  I stay at the Navy Lodge when I visit my son because it is way less expensive and has a kitchen, laundry and very nice staff.  Especially in places like Pensacola where it can be expensive to stay in other hotels. 

Oh, and I had a 30 minute phone call from my daughter this morning!!!  She just finished up her Security clearance and earned a call.  She is so happy, but tired.  She did well in her Fitness testing and earned a superior in her swim test.  I'm a happy mommy today.  It was so good to hear her voice and know she is fine. 

MTRanch>  There is a problem on some PIR weekends with those just-graduated sailors, staying in GL for A School, being allowed to visit their families at Navy Lodge.  I have been helping on these groups since early in 2010 and up until a few months ago, we had never heard there was an issue (they get a special chit to allow them to visit family there).  But recently, there have been two weekends for sure where sailors were NOT allowed to receive this chit and visit families in Navy Lodge.  They were not told why.  Just last weekend, 5 families we know of checked out of Navy Lodge and into a civilian hotel so their sailors could visit when their sailors told them they couldn't visit in Navy Lodge.  Maybe a new policy for something?  We don't know.  Most PIR weekends, maybe everything goes fine with the visits.  But there is no guarantee.    Not sure if your sailor has to get a chit to visit you in Navy Lodge or not when you visit?  We had been told that the sailors are not allowed near the Gateway or Lodge (Navy) hotels without a special chit.  But the "new" news is that even the special chits are denied at times.  Frustrating as Navy Lodge is a great place to stay.

Awww I want a phone call!  Glad she is doing well MTRanch!