PIR Reference Information

Enjoy your time with your Sailor!  It is emotional, fun and energizing all at the same time!  Bring lots of tissues!

Hi Everyone! Just got back today from my daughter's PIR. It was beautiful. She looked so great. She was in Div 901 (chorus). They did such a nice job, all of them! We are so proud of our sailor. All she did was sleep in our room though. She was exhausted and was not feeling well. We did get to talk a lot though.

We attended Sarge's Meet & Greet at the Sundance Saloon. It was very nice and very informative. There was lots & lots of food. If you need someone to drive you around call Sarge 847-212-0246. He goes above & beyond. If I didn't have him over the weekend, I would have been lost. Several incidences came up with my daughter and thank God we had him to help us out. He likes to adopt 1-2 families per PIR weekend and dedicates his time to them as well as his other drivers. He is the best. For those sailors who are not fortunate to go home for Thanksgiving, he invites to his house. This year he will have 30 sailors join his family. How wonderful is that? I cannot say enough about him. He genuinely cares for these kids. Below is a pic and me and Sarge.

@wanda Thank you for the info. Great picture!!

Your welcome Jam's mom.

I wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

Restaurant Review.  Joe's Seafood.  Corner of Rush and Grand.  Near the Navy Pier in Chicago.  Absolutely fabulous food!  Reasonably priced.  Friendly and good wait staff.  I ordered the steak sandwich and I never eat steak.  This was the most tender, perfectly seasoned and cooked piece of steak I have ever eaten.  The desserts were wonderful.  "Melt in your mouth".  Definitely worth the trip!

Thanks for the review. No phone call for me yet.....

WHERE DO I FIND THE THING TO PRINT THE GATE PASS??????????

LoveMySailor08,

http://www.bootcamp.navy.mil/upcoming_grads.asp

although they are not availiable to print until 11 days prior to PIR

Is there more than one Meet and Greet ?

1 at the Ramada and 1 Sarges

it was 10 days that day. and yea i found it. thanks!

Hello Everyone! Sarge asked that I try to reach to everyone who has someone with a PIR coming up. His iphone was recently stolen and he just got it replaced. He's lost all his information with folks who sent him info on picking them up or any arrangements that were made.

So please contact Sarge again if you made any arrangements with him so he can get your information. And please spread the word to your individual PIR groups. It's imperative that no one is left hanging.

Thank you all from Sarge for your assistance in this matter.

Does anyone know the link to purchase NEX gift cards to send my son? Thanks and Happy Holidays...

@Redfly try here

https://www.mynavyexchange.com/command/customer_service/gift_card.htmlfly

I just ordered a gift card too.

https://shop.aafes.com/scs/

Exchange Gift Card, Can you use them at the Nex?

Yes, you can.  It's for all military.

https://www.facebook.com/NavyRecruitTrainingCommand

Just returned from PIR.  Spring Hill Suites - Waukegan was a very good place to stay!  Enterprise Rent-a-car tried to overcharge us by almost $20 per day - watch your car rental invoice when you return your car. Check them closely.  I gather this happens often.

I just attended PIR and let me say, do NOT stay at the Super 8 on N. Greenbay rd.   It is a dump and it has to be a huge drug operation.  My Son's dad said  3 times in the middle of the night people were trying to open his hotel room door.  This place was filthy and reeked of marijuana.

Also know that if you stay on that stretch of road and need to get back towards Sarge's Meet and Greet be careful of missing the 43 towards Waukegan.  If you miss it you will end up on the 120.  The easiest way to get there from N. Greenbay is to travel down Greenbay to Pulaski, (you know you are headed the right way if the White Castle is on the right side of the road when you pass it) make a right onto Pulaski and a right on 43(waukegan rd).

If you are planning on staying and touring Chicago after your SR leaves for A school then it is actually easier to stay in Chicago and drive to graduation once than it is to drive back and forth from Waukegan to Chicago multiple times.  If I had to do it over again that's what I would have done.  that or stay in Waukegan for only one night and then stay the remainder of the time in Chicago.

stephanie They can invited four but if there is room more may come in to the PIR

going crazy work this week then RIP next week. I can't wait to see my baby! lol...

I have a quick question, for children under 12, do you need their birth certificate AND SS card or one or the other?

Le Shelby, either one will work.

SH 11 Div 167 got my call today I was so happy to hear his voice!!  He sounded great upbeat and excited!!  He got my letter and completed the his questionnaire I sent him!!  Can't wait to get it back.  Keep your phones near by God Bless to all!!

Those phone calls are like gold, aren't they?  Congrats, TJ'sMom.  PIR comes sooner than you think.  I hope he does really well.  My son did his PIR 10/21/11and then A school.  Now he's off to his ship!

My son leaves for BC in 3 days.  How long after they get there do we get the letter than shows when the PIR will be?

tatmom4rc, the form letter can come within a week to about 2 weeks after his arrival at the RTC.  It all depends on how quickly the division forms.

Thanks everyone for the info.  It is so nice to have a place to post and read what everyone is doing for/with their SR.

1/2 way there Ship 11 Div 167 GO NAVY!!!

I have a question about the train... I am considering taking the train to Union Station, and renting a car.  Is it easier to rent a car at Union Station, or should I take the Metra to GL, and then do it?  Any help is appreciated.. Thank you...

Thanks Jessica.  I think that's what I'll do.  I grew uo in Boston, and am not a fan of weekday driving in big cities. 

Thank you!!

Is it best to stay at the Navy Lodge since it's already on the base or to stay off the base?

We stayed at the Quality Inn; although the pics on the website made it look nice, the only good thing was the shuttle. It was 59 a night, but no recommendations.

Bummer....I am staying at the Quality Inn... 

Once we got the letter with our PIR date (5-18-12), we were so excited to make travel plans but the options and research was a little overwhelming!  So here is what I came up with and how it worked out:

Air - flew Frontier from Ptld, OR to Milwaukee, WI.  Airport was cheaper, very convenient, non-crowded, rental cars are right in the airport garage making pick-up and drop-off quick and painless.

Car - Rented through Hotwire.com, Ford Focus for about $15/day through Enterprise,  Great gas mileage but then we're used to a Suburban :)

Lodging - Through Priceline.com, asked for a 3-star hotel for $50.00 a night and was accepted by Residence Inn!  Wonderful hotel, beautiful clean room, friendly staff, good breakfast, even a free light dinner M-Th nights, used to dealing with PIR families.

Meet and Greet - attended Sarge's meet and greet, good food and helpful information.

Shuttle - took a 7:00 shuttle arranged by hotel to PIR, $3/person each way, drops you right at the gate, seating was already a bit full at that time but we got good seats in the balcony which turned out ok since its easier to pick out your sailor from above.

Overall, it was great weekend.  I know you are all looking forward to your turn.  Definitely an experience you will never forget.  Hope this helps...

My son left 3 weeks ago today.  His PIR date is on 7/6/2012, I have not received a letter other than the form letter giving me his address and PIR date.  I would like to make some reservations for the hotel, air and rental.  Can anyone please provide any suggestions as far as when it's best to make the reservations and where to stay?

We just attended PIR on 5/25/12. Stayed at the Residence Inn  - 2 BR suite with full refrig and kitchenette. $179 a night but a GREAT option if you have muliple family members who want separate rooms - there was a Queen bed in each BR and a pull out sofa in the LR. Free food and beer/wine on M-Th nights starting at 5:30. We ate a bite there before going to Sarge's so we can't comment on Sarge's food = didn't eat any of it! The RI food was stuffed peppers, pasta, chicken teriyaki, rice, salad, desserts and the aforementioned beverages in addition to soda's and water - great deal! We met other families with their div t-shirts on and got a chance to socialize before Sarge's.

Good info at Sarge's but the acoustics were hard to follow - we ended up in the back due to getting there just at 7PM. The most imp thing we learned from him was NOT to try to go into Chicago with our new sailor - it takes up to 2 hours to get back on a Fri night on a good week - and we were on Memorial Day w/e - we took his advice here!

Our sailor wanted to go to eat deep dish pizza - we got together with two other new sailor families and went to Giordano's = great idea! We decided to go to a branch in Gurnee and got the same food we would have in Chicago.

Then the boy wanted to go to the Gurnee mall and get a watch, cologne and an electric razor. We did this prior to joining some of his other division mates to watch a movie at the Gurnee mall theater. The theater didn't offer a military discount and I later saw on their website that they DO offer one, so ASK about it if you do this option.

We only had from about 11:30AM-8:15PM with our new sailor but we did all the above - as well as giving him a little time to relax in the hotel room with a laptop, cell phone and a private shower - heehee.

We then met the boy at O'Hare the next AM to give him his electronics and the civvie clothing, cologne, etc so he could take it on the flight. They cannot take ANYTHING back to their ship on Fri night after PIR. You either have to meet them at the airport or arrange to ship anything to their A-school location.

Overall, PIR w/e was GREAT! Wish we could have spent more time with him but we can now talk/text/email/skype almost daily - weird after the last two months! Enjoy, and please feel free to ask me any questions you may have. I heard most of the hotels were "ok" except for a couple of parents who said the Ramada was a little yucky.

A-MJ's Mom, post your review in the discussion above about places to stay so that it does not get lost for others who are looking for that info.  Thanks.

does any one know - or will the new sailors know - how much time they have when they get to A school to rest and adjust?  This may make a difference as to how you plan to spend your time with him/her

Thanks A-MJ MOM and Beth for info about the graduation. It helps when you are coming from out of town . We are staying at the Residence Inn for 6/29 graduation. There are also many meet and greets but I heard that Sarge's is the best. We might have to go to the mall because my son said he lost weight. I can not wait to be able to communicate with him more at A school. Hope you got great pictures. We are still deciding if to drive or take shuttle. Be proud of those sailors. Congrats

smokie - I would take advantage of Sarge and his wealth of info - his site has his cell number.  Go ahead and call him and talk to him about driving or the shuttle from where you are staying -

Thanks Tatmom, I will call

Hi moms!  Wonder if someone here could give me some help?  I need to see what the current PIR invitation form is that's sent out (it's been since 2007 for me so mine's not current).  Would love to have it emailed/faxed/whatever (name covered up/deleted of course!!  Thanks so much.  You can PM me - really truly appreciate it!!!