900's division sailors

Christine - Oh how your life changed PIR weekend : )
We have already planned the "special" meals. I so missed having him stand over my shoulder and add more and more and more garlic to the "special mashed potatoes" on Thanksgiving! ~ kk

Angie ~ Brain Burp ~ I should know that - as I have to enter "leave" time not "vacation" time. ~ kk

mamabear...you have no idea how my life changed on PIR weekend!!!! LOL He's into this girl BIG time.....bought her a diamond necklace for her birthday and I think he bought her something else shiny for Christmas but he won't tell me for sure or not. Who would have thunk that PIR weekend would be a match maker weekend and from opposite ends of the country no doubt. Yeah I missed watching the Macy's parade with Christian, and I just sat and watched it for about 10 minutes crying! But I made it through, this will be alright. Gonna make hime a WELCOME HOME sign this week! 10 more days, less the 240 hours......So did everyone watch the Navy/Army game??? BOO YAH!!! NAVY WON!!!!! I was baking cookies with my friends from work, we baked over 16 varities of cookies and made 8 different candies and split them all up between us, it was so much fun, it's our 5th year doing this! Anyone ever make peppermint patties out of a potato before????

Christine ~ My daughter and I are going to make cookies the evening my son comes home. Since he does not land until mid-night, we are going to keep busy baking. Does this song bring back memories? "So young and in love are we..." If not, I am way too old! lol Have a wonderful holiday with your Sailor : ) ~ kk

mamabear....I done with my baking...now trying to keep my husband outta them so we'll have them for when Christian comes home....LOL I get after him, tell him I didn't bake all those cookies to see them go down in one sitting, and believe me my husband and younger son could eat a large plate of cookies no problem. hhhmmmmm, the lyric brings a song to mind, but I can't place the title, which song is it? It'll probably come to me in an hour or so....Christian's flight doesn't come in until 11:30 p.m. so I know I'll be climbing the walls on the 23rd, and I have to work on Christmas Eve, hoping bosses let us off at noon! I'm taking my last 2 days of vacation the 28/29, can't miss year end at the office, it's too crazy for me to be gone. Enjoy your time with your son also!

Linda (Ken's mom) ~ What perormance is the 909 preparing for? 1.e. the 901 was state flags and drum core. You will love PIR!

Christine-Christian's proud mom ~ I have the same boss as our sons. I have the latter part of 12/24 and 12/25 off as a holiday : ) I know I will be walking in with droopy eyes - but it will be a nice quiet day. I am working out the other days off. ~ kk

Well, we got Christian off on an airplane this morning, he made it back to base and his ship is locked down so he can't even go back to his room late tonight. We had a wonderful holiday with him home. He'll process out of Great Lakes, head to San Diego (his duty station) and then will transport to his ship. It moves quickly once they begin A school. Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Years. May 2010 be good to us all.

Hello Christine! We had a great - but short - visit too!

Linda (Ken's mom) ~ My son was Division 901. Welcome! I have family in your area, and spent many summers there growing up. All I have to say is, "Nobody want to travel I-90 December through February! The weather changes in a minute." Have a safe drive to GL RTC. ~kk

monica q ~ Yes! Wait until you receive the official form letter. ~ kk

monica q ~ I feel like I have adopted you ~ lol

Monica, what is your son doing? Flags, band, choir, drill? I don't know where you are or where you're flying into but we flew into Milwaukee and drove down to GL (it was only a 45 minute drive for us) but we were in GL Sept, so didn't have to worry about weather, a Feb PIR date could be tricky with weather. We also stayed at the Quality Inn in Waukegan and it was a very nice hotel and not too far from the base, it's also close to the Ramada Inn where there's a nice meet n greet for N4M families. Good luck to your son, god bless him and your family

monica q ~ That is a great fare! It was going to cost us about $900 for 3 of us from Cleveland, so we drove. Actually my daughter drove to Chicago. My Daughter and husband drove home. I was in the back seat covered with every winter coat possible ~ I came home with H1N1 : (

monica q Just so you know, there were many "youngins" at my son's PIR. Some of them had waiting issues, but once the performance started there was not one "run away toddler." Yes, we drove because of the uncertainty of when my son would actually leave GL. It all worked out for us.

Linda (Ken's mom) ~ Yes! Another 900 Division series mom! You will so enjoy the performance even more knowing the division worked so hard to perfect it. You are going to be able to see your Sailor from afar while they are holding for their performance time. Some, state flags, sit high on the side bleachers, and some float past the the restrooms, etc. Have a great flight - less stress too! My retired uncle has been traveling from Cleveland to Buffalo to visit family. He is done! He just told all yesterday that he is flying to Arizona and he will see us in June! fyi...family in Buffalo, Williamsville, Jamestown, Chautaqua, and surrounding suburbs.

~kk

As far as H1N1 goes; SRs had it in BC too! I am not sure if my germ contact was from my place of employment (medical center) prior to leaving or if it was GL. I was the best actress ever the last day in Chicago. I thought I was just exhausted and kept the pace. I sucked it up because I am a mom! My daughter (nurse) also had it but did not get it until December. We were fortunate, as we are healthy - but it knocks your socks off for a while.

monica q ~ Did you read my private message I sent you yesterday? ~ kk

Mommacats(Dan's Mom) ~ This all depends on how far east you are in PA. We drove from Northeast Ohio with a 6.5 hour travel time (this includes the traffic in Chicago). We found it to be more convenient and cost effective. We were all able to take time off of work to accommodate the travel day. You may want to write your son, as he may want to see the blue skies instead of a blue pool ~ lol Most want to be out and about. We liked the Navy Lodge - very close to GL RTC - located in a military housing area. As far as the Grad-N-Go - my son's division had many Sailors staying in Great Lakes for A school - but they did not ship across the street until the Monday and Tuesday of the week following PIR. My son shipped out via military charter in the wee hours of the Tuesday following PIR weekend. In addition, the website postings of the daily end of Liberty are an estimate. My son's division had an extra hour daily as a reward for winning the Captains Cup. Plan to have him back at the gate 45-60 minutes before his Liberty ends. He has a walk and a check-in process. ~ I hope this helps. ~ : ) ~ kk

Mommacats(Dan's Mom) ~ Yep that is far! Although, I-80 is a breeze. Plan for traffic in Chicago anytime of the day. We had about an hours crawl time at 2:00 PM. ~ The 900 series division work damn hard to make this performance perfect. Enjoy! ~ kk

Hello everyone! My brother is division 919 and this week we got our first real letter (yay!!) He said that he is in "Staff"... i wanted to know what that meant exactly so I did some research.. i found this on navyjobs.com and I thought I should share it:


"Ship 06 is the home of the 900 Divisions, which as some have mentioned are the performing divisions. There are three...Staff, provides the Leadership for the ceremony as well as the Honor Guard; Triple Threat, provides the band, choir and drill team; and State Flags, marches and displays the flags of the 50 states (to represent the different states the recruits come from.) One 900 division graduates each week. The parents of the graduating 900 have seats to the right of the review stand (as you face it). As far as what the div #'s refer to, it mainly distinguishes one division form the next and then becomes a thing of pride. Be proud of your child for getting into a 900 division. They hand select recruits for those based on previous talent/experiences as well as test scores. It is a great accomplishment!"

NavySister2010 ~ The government fiscal year starts 10/1 each year. The new fiscal year starts the 900 series division all over again. The plan is each 900 series division performs at their PIR and the 2 prior PIRs. Not only are we proud, we know they have to work really hard to accomplish the rigors of boot camp and prepare for the PIR performances. When the SRs arrive at Great Lakes, they go through an interview process for the 900 series divisions. They start with 88, sometimes SRs are removed from the group and placed in other divisions if they see they can't keep the pace. Your brother will work hard - but he will be proud of his accomplishments! ~ kk

I am so excited to find this group through the help of Angie....thank you Angie:) My daughter is Ship 06 Div 920 PIR 4/02. I am so excited to see what the 900 group is. Woo hoo:)

PIR for families of 900 Divisions are AWESOME!!!! PIR is awesome for all families, but for the families of 900 divisions it's more special because our kids are the band, the drill team, the choir, the state flag carriers. My son was div 945, Triple Threat, he played in the band. These kids work just as hard through boot camp and yet still make time for rehersals, and PIR's prior to their own, they are very active, and yes, they can even win the Captain's Cup! God bless our sailors, God bless ALL Navy families! Boo yah 900 Divisions!

my brother called today at 6:50pm (NYC time)... he's doing well! DIV 919 has been working hard.. they are performing in 3 graduations including their own on march 26

There has be be more Div 920 recruits graduating on 4/02? Anyone??? And if you do have a son/daughter, have you heard much from them? I have 2 letter but they don't talk much about what they are doing?

I am so proud of my grandson. He is in the 900 Division and will graduated on March 12th, 2010. It is my understanding he will be leading and marching ahead of the band. He had played several different instruments in Middle and high school He said they asked him if he could read music and he said yes, they tested him to see if he really could read music. I believe all the one in the 900 division are exceptional people, with high test scores. I am very proud of my grandson. I will be there to see him when he comes through those doors leading the band... Arlene Murrell

Arlene, congrats! I would love to know how it all goes for your grandson. I am so excited that my daughter is in this division too. The funny thing is, she has no musical, or dance, drill experience. Just kind of interesting. I wish she would have told me in her last letter what her current "roll" was:) Woo hoo!!!

akayzfam: This is exciting. Maybe she just had good test scores. You know in the group there are lots that are carrying the flags and all kind of things.. Everyone was posting on another site to tell you child to ask for the 900 division and we did not know why or anything about it etc. but when he wrote the first time he said he had been assigned to the 900 Division for us to look it up and it would tell us what it is about etc. But then the next time he told us that they had him as the conductor etc. So the last time we talked about it that is what he will be doing. When he leaves Great Lakes he is going to San Diego. Do you know where your daughter is going? At first they said Pensacola Florida which I was so happy but then they changed it. I have another Grandson in the national Guards and he was stationed at San Diego over a year and he loved it there. He is now at Yorktown VA in another school but if they give him a choice he probably will go back to San Diego.. I think he met a college girl there he is liking... I told him he could not date while away... Of course he told me he wouldn't and grinned... He only has about 2.5 years now.. It really has bothered me with my grandchildren in the service... I cried till I got sick.. I'm turning 70 years old in April and I just cannot stand these kids bein away from home. I have a grand-daughter also in the Navy, just finishing up her 1st year. Was in the Middle East for 6 month, got back in October and they are redoing cleaning and supplying the ship and they will leave out again in a month or two. She is now in Norfolk VA she is assigned to the James E Williams Nuclear Ship.

Oh my gosh! You have a lot of experience in all of this! A wealth of information!!! I will be excited to be your friend! K

To join me on face book a couple things.. my email address is: arlenemurrell@att.net my name that shows up is Arlene Robinson Murrell like that but then you might try arlene.murrell (notice the period). if you cannot find me then please send me your email address and I will try to find you. Thanks!

My son is in division 920 ship 06!

proud dad ~ My favorite, and highly recommended is the Navy Lodge. They are run by the NEX. I have included the link in this post. Click "Find A Lodge" to select the Great Lakes location. You can reserve online OR call. I have stayed at two (2) Navy Lodges and I called both times to make reservations. The rate was $65/night when we stayed there in November. The also understand a Grad-N-Go status may change your plans and will not hold you to the nights you do not want to use, as long as you meet their cancellation criteria. The driving distance is very close to GL RTC. The Navy Lodge is located within the military housing suburb very near base. : ) ~ kk

https://www.navy-lodge.com/index.html

proud dad asvap 99 ~ I also wanted to Amtrak it. But the connections were not good. In addition, we would have to rent a car anyway.

Now it is only 6 days and a few hours when we will be leaving Auburn, GA headed to Great Lakes. I can hardly wait. This grandmother will be riding with my daughter and her family by automobile. Don't remember where we are staying but she made reservations from Wednesday to Monday. We are going to drive straight through leaving here at 4 AM in the morning. almost 800 miles to drive. I just pray the weather is good. Today it is beautiful here and noticed it was a nice day at Great Lakes too. I am praying that the weather all over the USA will stay good so we can all get up there safe and no rain and snow... When you see this little White haired 69 year old, you will know it's me... I will be holding on to my other two grandsons and my daughter. Life is Good and I look forward to my many travels to see my grandchildren that are in the Service. Two in the Navy and One in the Coast Guards, and another plans on joining the Army in June...wow, how will I manage to accept this. I know they are doing something good and I am proud...but this Grandmother had rather her grandchildren be at home... But will see you all at Great Lakes. My grandson I believe will be the director of the band... He is in Ship 06, Division 917.

proud dad asvap 99 ~ I found the Navy Lodge in GL clean, but yes - older fixtures. I found the Navy Lodge in P'Cola a bit more updated - but not as clean.

COTOBIRD Ship 06 Div 923 ~ We are a proud bunch! haha Now you know the 900 series divisions have ALL the boot camp requirements and MORE! He will probably let you know what performing group he is part of soon. My son was part of the flag performing group. They were great. The drum corp was also awesome! They start with 88 in the division (44 males and 44 females). Another great point; Since the division will perform at their PIR and the two (2) prior, this exposes them to more SRs. Once they move on to A School, they are recognized and sometimes taken under the wings of others. When my son moved on to Corry Station, he gained a lot of friends because of his performing exposure. It is a good thing! Congratualtions COTOBIRD! : ) ~ kk

My daughter is ship 06 Division 920. They have gotten 1 phone call since the initial "I am here" call. I haven't talked to her if 4 weeks. Needless to say PIR 4/02 can't come soon enough.
Just by the luck of it all, she is carrying our WA state flag. I am sooooooo excited for Friday! Actually Monday, when I get a call saying she is an official sailor!

I finally got several calls today:) Division 920 won the Captain's cup...and my daughter passed her PFA. Battle stations are tomorrow night and then I will have an official "sailor". What a journey this has been. I found out the differences in the different 900 divisions in case anyone wants to know. I should say I kind of know:)
I feel 20 years younger after the calls today. I am just so excited. They had 3 hours to call people and I think they were all in shock. 3 hours of free time?

I don't know what 925 would be. I think there are 3 groups that rotate. The choir and drums is one....the performance which is flags and greeters is one, and the group in charge that acts as ushers, and catches fainters is another. They rotate through at least 3 PIR's. When Taryn performs at her own it will be her 4th time I think. Then the next group of performers are ready. Right now the 920's are the senior division. Does any of that make sense?
I am sure there are people that know a lot more. I was just so curious. Prepare for your journey....breathe and pray....that's the best advice I can give you.

Trust me, my daughter had NO experience in anything either. This was a big surprise for both of us!

PIR...The performance rotations vary. My son's division had the state flags and drum corp. The division after his had "triple threat" - but I can't remember which three. It is also my understanding that an RDC (no names) was moving into the position of being in charge of the flag performers after my son left. I do not know how long he/she was going to be in this position. You will so enjoy PIR! They work so hard. : ) ~ kk

My son *PIR 4/9* is Ship 06 Div 921 - And is part of a triple threat division. It is Band (which is what he's in), Choir and Rifles. He has performed at the last two PIR's (Not sure if he will also perform at this Friday's PIR (4/2) or not since I believe they will be doing their battlestations this weekend. (Please keep him in your thoughts, his last letter said he had the flu and had been SIQ (Sick in Quarters) for two days!

Congrats to all the new sailors! I bet you are still walking on air after receiving that call! I can't wait to get it myself!! It is my understanding that some recruits are put in the 900 Divisions if they were ROTC in high school, or also if they are Nuke's.

I'm so proud of them all! I was lucky to get an emailed picture of my son performing at the 3/19 PIR as my friend was there watching her daughter graduate! I can hardly stand it I'm so excited to see him perform at his graduation!!

Kayzfam, I 'Woot'ed when I red your post then realized you said Div 920 and I realized your daughter's PIR is Friday 4/2! Congrats to both!!

Deanna, your son will be performing at my daughter's. She has done 3 others now I think. Does your friend have a picture of the girl with the WA state flag? What does your son do in the band? When I was on the phone with my daughter I said "oh my gosh, the guys that drum at PIR are so cool" and she said I am looking at one of them right now:) I have watched the videos so I can de-sensitive myself for my daughter's PIR:) She said at the performance Friday they lost the cadence and all of them were off with their flags. She said she was expecting to get in trouble at the next practice.
That is what is so cool about these divisions. They do ALL the other things they have to do in bootcamp and learn the performance part.
I thought I would sleep so good last night knowing that we are a "go" for Friday....oh no....now I am just super excited and can't keep the smile off my face!

Kayzfam,
I'm not sure if she has a pic of the flags or not. I'll email and ask. Her daughter wasn't in a 900 Div. It just happend that she was on N4M's chat to let us know how the PIR went and I said "Oh, then you saw my son today. He's in band and performed at his first PIR today!" She said "Oh, we took a picture of the band." She only had the one. (Even though she said they ended up in the stands right next to them and thought about taking another picture!) I'll take what I can get. I didn't get a letter that week and had been hoping for a phone call (only have had 1 since the first "I'm here. and I'm ok." call. He had thought he would get to call on the weekend of the 19th. But, no luck. So, getting that picture made me feel like a kid at Christmas!

Is your daughter Grad and Go or will you get to spend the weekend with her there in GL? My son is going to A school there in GL so we're hoping we get to spend the weekend with him!!

Good Luck to your daughter! I can only imagine how big (and proud) that smile of yours is and will stay all week!! I'm pretty sure my son will be doing his battle station this weekend (so not sure if they will be performing Fri or not.) But, excited that we may get his "I'm a Sailor" call while everyone is together at my parent's for Easter!

I agree with you, I'm so proud of them. Not only do they have the regular bootcamp stuff to keep up with (and that's enough on it's own for any recruit!) they also have their perfomance duties!! < proud mom smile > Can't wait to wrap my arms around him and tell him in person how proud I am!

I'll ask him in my letter today if he knows your daughter. I'll say she carries the WA flag! I'm not sure, but, I would assume they all practice together. (especially since your daughter mentioned being near one of the drum corp recruits)

Hi, I've enjoyed reading all your accounts of your kids, especially the 900 div ones, as my son is 06/922, PIR 4/16. Does anyone know where I could look for pics of the 3/27 and forward PIRs. I understand that my son may be participating in those and I may catch him in some pics of the event. I would be thrilled to see him there. He said he is the Bosen's Mate (sp?), but not sure what that implies.
Thanks for any input, Colleen

oops, that should have read 3/26 PIR...sorry.
Colleen

Colleen, I don't know but if you find some, let me know. I have looked at PIR groups for those dates and don't see any. A gal that went to her Grandson's PIR 3 weeks ago sent me some pictures. I could see our flag, but not the girl attached to it! I still cried!!!
I have a Dad that went to PIR this weekend that was going to try and take a picture. Hopefully he will:) I should get my "I'm a sailor" call later today. I am so excited!!!

yay kayzfam! sooooo excited for you, i'll keep you and your sailor in my thoughts. my son is on ship 6 div 922. his first performance is 4/2. (he's a Body Snatcher). still waiting for my second phone call.

his PIR is 4/16

Emma, wait patiently for the second call.There was a 5 week span in between phone calls:( I just kept believing what all the Mom's say on here, "no news is good news". We are at the Seattle airport waiting for our plane to Chicago. I am so excited!!!

Kayzfam!!! Oh my gosh, my heart is pounding and I got butterflies when I read your post! Then I realized, again, that your PIR is this week since you're Ship 06 Div 920!! My son is Ship 06 Div 921 his PIR is next week! Good Luck to your daughter! I bet you're walking on pins today waiting for the phone to ring!! Have a great weekend! Can't wait to hear what you thought. (Smile at the band for me !!) I CAN'T wait to see my son perform next week and run out and give him a huge hug when "Liberty Called" is sounded!!

Emma, my son has only called 1 time (not counting the initial 17 second "I'm here, I'll call in 3 to 4 weeks" call. It was 3 1/2 weeks into bootcamp for him. His PIR is next Friday 4/9!! They are so busy and then the 900 Divisions have the extra performance duties to learn/perform too.. Good Luck to your recruit!!

Good morning everyone, and you that are on your way to see your sailor graduated I am so proud for you and I know you will enjoy every minute. I would love to find someone that took pictures of the graduation on March 5th. My grandson graduated on the 12th but he performed leading the band on the 5th also. That was his first appearance etc. He was very excited that they were going to be able to perform on that date as well as their graduation date on the 12th. It is so exciting and I think back and I just cannot get over how beautiful the ceremony was... believe me all military though... Talked to my grandson last night and he had just went and got his first tattoo. Of course I did not like this... he told his mom that he was getting it and I text messaged him, no tattoo, no tattoo and he called me after it was done and I asked him if he got my message and he said no at first but then he said yes but he was about half way through it... as though he would not have gotten it if he had received my message first...(lol) he knew I would not like it...but he sent a picture of it and it is where it does not show with him wearing a short sleeve shirt. It is a cross... They are so in, but I just hate tattoos but that is me... and I bet just as I have heard others after years saying they wished they had never gotten it done... cost him $250. That would have paid my way to see him... am I selfish or whiat... (lol) I am ready to go...San Diego is a long way from GA. and I am so ready... but after the trip to Chicago...have to get my money saved up again... You all have a wonderful day... I told my grandson, tattoo or not, I still loved him the same.... He is the apple of my eye....but all 17 of my grandchildren are.