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)

[ilovelucy]

I wish my son had known for sure he was on a chartered flight and was allowed to call us. He says even though phone calls were earned, he didn't get them as promised. When packing for our trip, I spent MORE time on getting a specially prepared back pack for him than I did on my own travel stuff. Ha. I stuck all electronics, chargers, fun little notes, pictures, and just fun stuff in there for him......that was a disappointment for me not to be able to give it to him. He did go through his back pack in our room....and carefully repacked it for us to take HOME with us!

We are still in Great Lakes since we can't change our airline tickets (we are here till Tuesday---had great hopes of spending LOTS of time with him...ha). We are now exploring Great Lakes and Chicago.....but with sadness. On a happy note: my son looked awesome and he is so excited about his future....the ribbons he earned were awesome to learn about. I am truly proud of him. My pictures I took and his professional pictures are priceless to me.

[Lala Ribbon Queen PIR Ribbons]

I did the same thing with her bag and went to the airport but brought the bag home when we didn't get to see her. I just didn't want to leave it there with a stranger and not know if she would get it or not. I guess these chartered flights are going to be more and more common. :( I wish they would make them on Sundays so that parents could have a little more time with their new sailors and so the sailors could have more time to see Chicago. The only part of Chicago my daughter saw was the airport on her way into BC lol. Well, have fun with what is left of your trip. Talk soon, Lora

[Sam (AUX PAC - Groton, CT)]

When I got the "Sailor Call" he didn't know what a charter flight was. He just said, "Some people leave on a bus from BC and don't get any time." So I told him what I knew - to save money, etc. He won't know if he is on a Charter flight or commercial until the day of PIR. He is a G&G to CT.

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

That is correct SDC1291, they often will not know until the night before PIR. Many recruits this past weekend knew they were on a chartered flight a couple of days before - but you can't always count on knowing early. Plan for the worst, hope for the best and just "wing-it" that weekend. And enjoy any and all the time you get with them!!

[Sam (AUX PAC - Groton, CT)]

Thanks!!!! :)

[junjens (DIV 291 PIR 9-2)]

THanks for that, now I will be better prepared to make my goodbyes before the airport!

[momofcurtis]

Thank you for this valuable info.! We just found out our son, who's PIR is 9/24, will be G&G, leaving at 3:00am Saturday. We already made our plane reservations to leave Sunday night but I'm thankful we'll have one day with him. I don't see the G&G questionaire. Am I missing it? Thank you!

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

It's in a different discussion, not this one. Look for "G&G Questions to send your Recruit". FYI: Most sailors are told they will leave the base on the bus at 2 or 3 am, but then it changes to 5am - but not always. Some fly out very early, some not until around 1pm and others even later - but they all leave boot camp on the same bus at the same time!

[momofcurtis]

Thank you so much! I'm encouraged that maybe, just maybe, we'll have a little more time with him.