PIR Stories

[TxLadyJane(ET Nuke Mom)]

Well I wanted to give my account of our PIR weekend. First off, it was amazing, EVERYONE should try to go, it will mean A GREAT DEAL to your Sailor and you will always remember that weekend for the rest of your life. Lessons Learned:

1. If you are a “Debit Card” user, then make sure you understand both the hotel and rental cars will charge your card for over what was quoted for some new federal mandated card requirement. It’s ok if you plan on it but we hadn’t, so just beware of these fees. Hotel was $100.00 extra Rental Car was $200.00, it is no problem but remember it takes your bank time to reconcile the funds.

2. The Residence Inn in Waukegan is GREAT. It has plenty of room for everyone. To include once your Sailor wants to hang out in the room. The Breakfast’s are good, and they have a buffet style dinner the night before the PIR. The facilities are GREAT, they even have a large guest laundry one on each floor. Also dishes/pot and pans in their small but functional kitchen. The room was 740 square feet, with 2 bedrooms and two bathrooms, with a pull out sofa bed in a small living area. Both bedrooms have queen sized beds, my husband is 6’6” so it was a little tight for us but we managed.

3. Use the PIR Shuttles WORTH IT, as you only have to walk through the gate, just inside to the PIR Hall, less than 100 yards, no long lines to deal with trying to get onto Base. Sailor’s directing your way once inside the gate and outside.

4. From what we were told only use the yellow and orange cabs/PIR Shuttles as they are not going to rip you off with a “long ride around.”

5. If your Sailor is a Saturday Departure, GO WITH THEM TO THE AIRPORT, if at all possible. We were able to see him interact with his new Shipmates and hear more stories about his Boot Camp experience. My husband did not go, but me and his Fiancée did. I wouldn’t trade this time with him for the world. He had to be there at 0100 hours, we got there about an hour later, they were still dividing up into departure groups so we had plenty of time before we all had to go through security which opens at 0500, the security was no problem either, they let us though with a GATE PASS. This was at Midway. Once our Sailor was handed his boarding pass, we just handed the Ticketing people our ID’s (must be a driver’s license or STATE ID card). The reason I mention this is because we had “military ID’s” and they didn’t want us using these. I also was able to get photos of the people that he hung out with during Boot Camp. This is a MUST. Please do this if you can even if you get little or NO sleep. His Fiancée and I only got 3 HOURS sleep, but we did this, and it was worth every moment.

6. Book the extra day on Sunday even if you have to be back at work early on Monday, stay AS LONG as you can “just in case” they get longer on liberty. You may think that the RTC is trying to prevent you from seeing your new Sailor, but they are trying to save the government money, by shipping them out as quickly as they can. It costs the military more money when they are in a training environment. I had to be back to work on Monday at 0700, and got back into my house Sunday at 2330, but again it was worth the LACK OF SLEEP, to see my new Sailor.

7. We used Budget Rental Car Service, after we returned the car, they gave us a discount but they didn’t tell us about it up front as it is not advertised. Shhhhhh LOL.

8. Don’t make plans, let your new Sailor lead the way on what he/she wants to do; this after all is their weekend. Do have options for them. If their favorite food is let’s say Korean Food, well have the directions already for these places it makes it easier to make “quick” plans and to adjust.

If I can think of anything else, I will let you know.

[Mary Garner]

In addition........the front desk at Residence Inn told us that we wouldn't need to be at the base any earlier than 7 am because the gates do not open until then. So we took the 7 am shuttle but did not get good seats. We had to sit up in the balcony and try to take pictures through the railing.( I got told to return to my seat when I tried to get up and take a picture at one point) I strongly recommend taking the first shuttles over. I believe they begin at 6:15 am. BUT the problem may have been worse for us because we were with the 900 division.

[bobbie (ht mom)]

so u are saying on that graduation day we need to be on the earliest shuttle to get better seats?

[TxLadyJane(ET Nuke Mom)]

Mary I agree, I think it was because we were in the 900's!  

 

And the Residence Inn has a GREAT PIR packet full of information on places to eat directions and all plus directions to the airports as well.

[Mom2aSailor]

What does being in the 900 division have to do with it? My daughter is in the 900 division, should I know something? :)

[Mary Garner]

Jenn..........from where we were sitting I could never get a good picture or even view for that matter of the choir and band. 900 divisions do not come out with all the other groups and are spread out all over since they have various jobs. I think it would have been better if we would have been able to sit on the floor level. Just get there early, know what job your daughter has and look for her. But be careful, you can get in trouble if you make a fuss over her and hug her for too long.

[cocojazz]

Thanks for all the great info.  Us moms need those details.  Keep em coming.  We're staying at Residence Inn as well.  So glad to hear that it was a good place to stay.  I can hardly wait til April 8!!!

[TxLadyJane(ET Nuke Mom)]

Yes find out what your new Sailor will be doing at their graduation if they are a 900, Division.  We had gotten there at about 0715, and most all of the ground floor was already taken even the 900 Division seating, I am thinking that a lot of people "just sat down" didn't matter what Division their new Sailor was in. 

 

We had a woman whos daughter was an usher (in our section) and she was sitting on our row, and she was getting up every few moments to hug her Sailor and fawning all over her, (to include several other family members) well the RDC's saw this and MOVED her to another place.  All's I was thinking about was I sure hope this new Sailor didn't loose ALL of their LIBERTY over her families actions and really her own, as she was allowing her family to hug her like that.

 

When I hugged my son, when I saw him on the ground floor after the Graduation, once the "hug" had gone the "alloted" time he patted my back and I knew that I had reached the time of the embrace needed to stop.

 

Please keep in mind anything they do during the PIR they can still loose their liberty or part of it. Or be put on watch while another Sailor gets to take more time away from the Ship with their family.

[Mac5]

I am very new to all of this Navy stuff so I apologize for my ignorance. I see from some of the posts that there is talk about "900 Division" and finding out what job the recruit will have during graduation. My son is in Division 231, whatever that means. Are there some recruits that do not participate in the ceremony due to job responsibilities? Wow.... a lot to figure out!

[Johnsmom-CynSeel(Ship 03Div 156)]

This is a wealth of info LadyJane :-) thank you for taking the time to composite this list. Can you please tell me about the "Meet & Greet"? Did you attend?

[TxLadyJane(ET Nuke Mom)]

Yes I did, it was pretty good, and they have information about the Meet and Greet on the Event's Tab on this page, up top...just look for the "day before" your PIR group graduates and your Meet and Greet will be that day! And just join the event, then RSVP with how many will be coming!

[jdmom]

Thank you for sharing this information, it is wonderful having an idea what to expect and problems we can encounter.

[TxLadyJane(ET Nuke Mom)]

idmom:

 

You are very welcome,