Chartered Flight, what to expect....

[Lala Ribbon Queen PIR Ribbons]

I wanted to to try and help the families of those who are grad and go with a charted flight. This is a new area and I guess the Navy doesn't charter flights very often. In fact the nice man at the USO said that this is the first time that he knew about. All I can do is share our experience and maybe help others to know what to expect. We expected, like other grad and go parents to be able to spend time with our sailor at the airport. That did not happen. The bus left the base and went straight to the chartered jet. The sailors did not come into the building at all. Even when the flight was delayed for lightning they simply stayed on the bus. There were a lot of families waiting to see their sailors and a lot of those families left in tears. They did end up sending someone to the USO to get the sailors belongings from the parents who were still there but you have no guarantee that they will do that. So what do you do? Do you wait and see? Do you leave your sailors stuff with someone at the airport and not know if your sailor will ever see it again? Do you even go to the airport in hopes of seeing your sailor if they are to be on a chartered flight? Only you can decide what you should do.  My advice would be to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. I will add: Say your goodbyes to your sailor when you drop him/her back off at the base because this could really be goodbye for the duration of A-school. We just dropped our sailor off with a hug and a kiss and expected that extra time at the airport to really say goodbye. No hugs, no "I love you" no "be strong, be careful" no nothing. It was completely heartbreaking. If you go into this experience knowing that you may not get to see your sailor at the airport I think it will be easier on you when you don't get that extra time and a great joy if you do. I hope this helps and I am sure some of my friends who went through this with us will add some comments and their own experiences as well. Lora (aka Lala)

[NH MOM]

Thanks, you are probably right it costs alot less for them to charter a flight to Pensacola rather than buy 150 tickets for a commercial airline. Thanks so much for your info, sorry I assumed your child was a guy.

[Lala Ribbon Queen PIR Ribbons]

Oh don't worry about that lol. We get that a lot. I think people are still just used to sailors being guys. It's no big deal really. The trash mouth she learned at boot camp makes her sound like a guy anyway. Now she has to learn not to say all those yucky words lol.

[SOBE,PIR 6/4/10 IT Mom, Italy]

NH Mom - you will be able to see him on that Friday for the whole day (usually 8pm is when most divisions are required to be back at RTC). Just know that you may or may not be able to see him at the airport. If it's not a chartered flight, then you will see them near the ticket line and most likely be able to get a pass from the airline to go through security to sit with him inside the airport. Notice I said most likely. From all the parents I've heard from, none of the airlines have refused to do this, but you never know! So... hope and pray for a normal flight, not a chartered one - but no matter what, you will have lots of time on Friday with your son!

If he is a G&G to Great Lakes, you will even have more time with him that weekend - but please read the description on the main G&G page for that info.

[NH MOM]

Thank you for your input, can't wait to see my boy!!

[Binker & Bro: 2X Nuke Mom]

Hey ladies! I had a discussion with my brother and a lady at the train station that seems somewhat apprapo (sp) here. When my brothers and I went through basic training, our family didnt come to graduation. The only families that did were the ones close around. Instead, my mom and dad came to where our tech school was and spent a week end or so there with us. The only graduation they ever came to was mine from Officer's Training School and that was a bit of a different story. I think these massive family trips for a couple of hours is the product of a tourist economy. I know for non military people who have never seen a military ceremony, the PIR is impressive--it is. But really, most military parades are about the same. If fact, I would go so far as to say, because this one is held inside, its almost not as impressive as some of the others I have been to. All I know is I spent over $1000 (which I would gladdly spend) for 7 hours with my boy alone and a few more in an airport.

As a teacher, I have a theory that seems to fit into all this. Our generation is the first to truly have disposable income. We therefore, spend a lot of this income giving our kids things our parents could not afford. Attending graduation seems to be another of those things. I left for basic on July 23 (how ironic), graduated and didnt see anyone until my moma and daddy came to visit me in October. I didnt go home until Christmas when my school shut down. I doubt anyone came to see my daddy when he finished basic or tech school, or even went to his duty station. I think it helps to keep these kinds of things in perspective. I wouldnt have done anything different and I am already looking into heading to SC but it does do good to look at things from another point of view. -- especially in a time when money is not so easily spent on a 7 hour reunion.

[SOBE,PIR 6/4/10 IT Mom, Italy]

Well said Binker! My son told us not to come because he knew it was a lot of money for a short visit, but we chose to do that - and I am glad I did. My husband's business is booming (why? because he is a foreclosure officer), so when everyone else was making money, his business was down (but mine was up). No one should ever feel pressured into going to PIR, but if they are able to and want to, it is a trip worth doing. Thanks for reminding us to not put ourselves into debt for this awesome, yet normal occassion for military personnel.

[Pat (MP)]

am in agreement w/ what Hoppi said as PIR was the most impressive ceremony I've ever been to. When my daughter PIR'd 3 yrs ago we had a total of 45 min w/ her and another 2 hrs at the airport. Would I do it again, heck yeah!

[ilovelucy]

I am glad we changed our minds, Lora, to fly ourselves! I am sure that was a hard trip driving! We are still in Chicago exploring, even though my sailor is getting settled in Pensacola right now. We have non refundable tickets....so we are here till Tuesday. Feels strange to be here and he is gone! Wow this naval base is huge. We have explored it more. Fun speaking to new sailors seeing them out on Liberty. They are all enjoying liberty from boot camp. Yeah!

[SailorMom44]

I am in complete agreement with Hoppi. I went to bootcamp in December 1983, Orlando Florida. I did not have anyone come to my graduation after 11 weeks of bootcamp. But a nice sailor and his family invited me to come and spend the weekend with them. That sailor is now my husband of almost 25 years. Believe me the pride and accomplishment you feel at the end of training is a once in a life time experience. Not having anyone in the stands to look forward to was hard.

My son is a grad&go and his brother took leave from his deployment so that he could come. The graduations ceremony is the BEST. It is about pride, honor and sense of accomplishment. It made me so proud when I watched my first son graduate last year and this time next week we are all going to be there cheering on my youngest. Makes you proud to say GO NAVY!!

[ilovelucy]

Yes, GO NAVY!!! Very special accomplishment for our new sailors! Proud times! Grad and Go is disappointment, but glad we were blessed to be able to go to PIR!

[Lala Ribbon Queen PIR Ribbons]

I know that being a grad and go is disappointing. We have been away from our sailor for 8 weeks and we really wanted more time to just sit and talk and hear all the stories about bootcamp. But even if I only got to spend 1 hour with her I still would have gone. The only thing I would do differently is the mode of transportation. Coming from so far away I would fly. We had a great time with her after PIR and hearing her voice singing with the choir was nothing short of amazing. I loved every second of PIR.

[Heart Broken]

Just got off the phone with my son, DIV 254. he told me if your going to Pensacola, then it will be a chartered flight. So any one that has A school there will be on a chartered flight. He said don't bring my backpack mom I can't take it. They each got 1 hour call and shopped at the NEX for Candy and stuff.