PIR FAQ

[Arwen]

Public Display of Affection

In the Navy physical forms of affection such as hugs, kisses, and holding hands while in uniform are known as a "public display of
affection" (PDA) and as such are forbidden.

There is one exception: families saying goodbye to a sailor before a deployment or
greeting a sailor returning from deployment or long separation. Boot
camp counts under this exception, with limits. One enthusiastic hug
of greeting and a quick kiss are acceptable. French or extended
kisses are not. Nor are extended hugs, hanging off your sailor,
etc.

Hand-holding at any time is forbidden. There is a compromise, and I consider it to be a fairly romantic one. A sailor
may offer his arm to his girlfriend/wife/mother, she lays her hand in
the crook of his LEFT elbow in formal escort fashion. Likewise, a
female sailor can take the RIGHT arm of her husband/boyfriend/father
with her left hand. In a truely romantic gesture, men may lay their
right hand over their lady's hand (to keep it warm, or for
skin-to-skin contact). The sailor must ALWAYS have his right arm free
to salute an officer or flag, should one show up.

Also, just because you aren't on base, don't assume they aren't looking. RDCs
and other boot camp personnel also go to the mall, out to
restaurants, to Chicago, etc, and they will be looking for new
sailors breaking the rules. Some may actually be assigned this job in
popular venues. Even if they run into the recruit by chance and are
just out with their own family, they will report the new graduate.
You won't likely see them because they will not be in uniform, but
they will see you.

And no, they won't punish YOU. They will punish your sailor when s/he returns to barracks. The most common
punishment is to have their liberty revoked the next day.

About uniforms

Your sailors will be wearing their dress blues on Friday. If you wear something light colored, be
sure to bring a lint brush for your recruit to "clean up"
his or her whites. They're made of black wool and pick up just about
anything. If you are bringing a pet, bring one of those sticky-tape
rollers to de-fur your sailor.

Friday is the day to do something clean. This is not the day to risk going to an Italian eatery. Going to the IMAX or  to Chicago art
museums are "safer" choices to keep their blues
perfect.

On Saturday and Sunday they will be wearing their service uniforms, which is a khaki shirt with black slacks or skirt.
This uniform is more forgiving and is a better choice for hair
appointments, spaghetti or other possibly messy accidents.

They will already have one or two ribbons. The first (red and yellow) ribbon is for being in the military during time of armed conflict. Many earn a navy-blue and green Marksman ribbon for
accuracy during pistol training. Some may earn Sharpshooter or
Expert, which are distinguished by a small letter (S or E) pinned on
the ribbon.

Dress for the day
PIR is a formal military event. As such, please dress to show respect for your sailor's accomplishment (not every recruit makes it through boot camp) 
and to the Navy for hosting the spectacular event. Your sailor will
be wearing his best uniform, the equivalent of a suit and tie. There
is no "dress code" but consider the situation. You don't
have to wear formal clothes, but please, no micro-minis, no beat-up
jeans or sweatshirts. When I went, most ladies wore slacks, denim
slacks (dressy jeans) or skirts with sweaters or blouses. A few wore
dresses.

Wear whatever shoes you prefer. If you are used to wearing heels, wear
them, if you prefer flats or other shoes, those are fine as well. The
walk is relatively short on sidewalks that are very well maintained.
I went in the middle of winter and the walkways were clear and ice-free. There is no need to wear "comfortable walking shoes." Most
of your time on base you will be seated.

Come prepared for the weather, if you arrive early you may be waiting outside for a while.
Watch weather forecasts and be prepared with whatever is appropriate,
from sunglasses and sunscreen to raincoats and umbrellas.

Getting on base
There are two options for getting on base, driving your own car (you will need your parking pass) or take a shuttle
(taxi) from your hotel to the front gate.

If you drive you will check in at the gate using your gate pass. You received the
password to get your gate pass in the form letter your recruit sent
the first week. This will be available to download and print out 11
days before graduation. Plan on getting to the base between 5:30 and
6:30 to get a place in line. From the gate, drive about 1/4 mile to
the parking area, then go to the guest check-in. Then they will
escort you as a group to MCPON Hall, where the PIR ceremony will take
place.

Your gate pass is also good Saturday and Sunday to pick up and drop off your sailor. You are allowed to go as far as the end
of the parking lot used for PIR parking.

If you choose to take a shuttle, the shuttle will drop you off just inside the gate, at the
taxi/shuttle staging area. This is also where you can catch a taxi at
any time during PIR weekend. From the staging area, check in at the
front gate. From there you can walk to MCPON Hall, which is the first
building on the left.

If you need assistance, there are recruits waiting with wheelchairs or other assistance to get you to
MCPON Hall, and special seating areas - right up front. Only one
guest can accompany a disabled person in that seating area.

When you leave, if you took a shuttle, you can either take the shuttle
back to your hotel or walk one block to the train station and take
the train to Chicago. You can buy weekend (3-day) train passes for $7
each. This is an inexpensive option, considering the cost of parking
in Chicago is about $20 for each location.

What if more than four people want to attend my sailor's PIR?
Each recruit gets four adults (age 12 and older) at the ceremony, guaranteed. At
large ceremonies (11 or more divisions graduating) getting additional
guests in is almost impossible. For smaller ceremonies it is easy to
get a few extra guests in.

If the graduation is medium-sized (10-12 divisions) and they aren't certain how many guests will be
there, additional guests will have to wait outside until they can
determine how much seating remains. At my son's graduation there were
nine divisions, and there were whole bleacher sections empty. No one
was being held outside.

Grad and Go
First you need to know if they will be "grad and go" (GnG). GnG grads are
scheduled to leave for their A-school as soon as they graduate. Most
GnG graduates are in the first two divisions in a group, though some
individuals from other divisions may be GnG. They may be informed of
their GnG status as early as the first week, others may not be told
until the day before PIR.

Some GnG sailors may have to leave immediately after the ceremony, getting only a short time with their
families. For those who know ahead that their sailor will leave
Friday, some route their trip home to stay for a few days at their
sailor's A-school location for a visit there.

Other GnG grads will leave on Saturday. If this is the case, they can have liberty on
Friday.

Families of GnG sailors can meet their sailor at the USO at the airport to hang out together until it is time for their
flight. You can give them their cell phones and other personal
electronics (mp3 players, handheld game systems or laptop computers)
at that time.

GnG sailors who will got to school at Great Lakes will spend about 3-5 hours transferring "across the
street" to their school at the NTC (Naval Training Center), then
will get liberty the rest of the weekend. For the most part they will
have to live by the same rules as those who are still at the RTC
(Recruit Training Center) but slightly relaxed.

Liberty
Sailors will be released directly from the PIR ceremony. However, many will
want to return to barracks, usually to get something s/he wants to
give you, such as their portraits or divisions t-shirts.

This sometimes takes as long as a half hour, so I recommend that you ask your sailor to give it to you Saturday morning, when you won't lose all that time together.

Sailors will NOT be allowed to stay with you at night. Each night they will have a curfew, which depends on the whims of their RDCs and can change each night. They have to be in their barracks and ready
for inspection no later than one minute before curfew. Drop your
sailors off AT LEAST a half-hour before curfew is up. Plan for 1 hour
early, just in case there is bad traffic or some other unexpected
delay. It is a 15 minute walk from the gates to barracks. Don't leave
anything to chance. If they are late by even 10 seconds they may lose
their liberty the next day.

Liberty and leave are two different things. In civilian terms, liberty is a weekend off, while
leave is vacation, charged against the sailor Like civilian vacation
time leave is requested ahead of time (usually 2 months before).
Sailors may not take leave until they have completed A school.

Cell Phones
You can bring your sailor's cell phone for him/her to use, but there are several rules about cell phones. First sailors may
not "walk and talk." If a sailor wants to talk on their
cell phone, they must literally sit down or stand in one place. They
are effectively "trapped" by the call. They also may not
carry their phone in a pocket. They must hold it in their hand or
give it to you to carry.

They may NOT bring their phones with them back to barracks. You have to keep it. If your sailor is GnG, as
mentioned before, you can bring it to him/her at the airport, or give
it to them once they are "across the street" at Great Lakes
NTC. If your sailor is shipping out later in the week, plan to send
it in the mail in a week or two, once you have his/her new
address.

What to do with your sailor PIR weekend

Your sailors will be required to stay within 50 miles of RTC Great Lakes.
Don't worry, there is a lot to do in the area.

All non GnG sailors get three days, including Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Most
will have to stand watch once. If they have morning watch they will
be released late, if they have mid-day watch they will have to return
to RTC, then can go out again. If they have evening watch grads will
have to return early.

If you don't have enough time to go anywhere before or after watch, you can hang out with your sailor at
Ricky Heaven (just inside RTC gates), which has a food court, arcade,
lounge and a convenience store (with souveneir items available).


Let your sailor pick his/her own activities for PIR. They have been told what to do (even when to go to the bathroom) for 9
weeks. They will want to make their own decisions for a few days.
Send your sailor a list of options and tell them to pick three, one
for each day. It can include:

*Gurnee Mills Mall (includes a theater, a Rainforest Cafe and more)
*Downtown Chicago/Navy Pier/Imax Theater
*Medieval Times (a medieval themed dinner theater with activities)
*Hang out at the hotel and relax, sleep and take long hot showers
*Salon and/or spa: for female sailors, many of them want to go to a spa and hair salon to
repair the damage boot camp does to hair, nails and complexion.

[Tamme]

Great information. When we attended our son's PIR, he was able to stay with us at our hotel all weekend. He transferred over to his Corpsmen A-school which took about three hours and then didn't have to return until Sunday. We went to Chicago by train so I could show him that process and visited the pier. His twin brother is leaving November 15 and while we were discussing possible PIR dates, my son said he would have preferred to stay at the hotel or nearby all weekend. He said he felt very uncomfortable in large crowds after being away from them all those weeks. He said he enjoyed more just sharing our company at the hotel.

[KLP0824]

this is such great info thanks a lot you answered all my questions without me having to even ask any

[Annie]

Thank you so much for the info. You covered many things that I didn't even think about.