My son left to Great Lakes for Boot Camp on 12/14/15...

[mimi75042]

He arrived on December 15th and I only spoke to him for 1/2 a minute.. :(  I heard that the first month is very critical and he has to adjust.  I know that I am trying to adjust because I miss talking to him every day.  He is stationed in Ship 11 Div 101.  I miss him so much.. I just hope and pray that he is doing well. 

[Carly]

My son left the same day and is in div 102 and I'm feeling the same way. I pray every night that God gives him the strength of body, faith and mind.

[mimi75042]

What is the difference between Div 101 and 102? Are they together, but separated?

[Akmomto3]

My daughter is in the same division. I cant wait to hear from her so I know how she's feeling. Is she homesick? Scared? Tired? Frustrated? Anxious? This is truly a big change and that it's happening over the holidays, isn't helping at all. Hang in there. We are in this together and we can give each other strength and encouragement when needed. 43 more days, we are actually very lucky as they have about a week less of bc than most.

[mimi75042]

I know the feeling, I also wonder the same thing.  I wonder how my son is doing.

[rgmac4]

My son is Ship 11 Div 101 too.  I'm feeling the same way as you about the no contact, I just want to know he's ok. We'll just have to hold each other up and that will make the time go faster!

[mimi75042]

I wonder if they know each other, how cool.  Everytime I think about it, it makes me cry.

[rgmac4]

I'm sure they do! My son doesn't know a stranger and talks the ear off everyone he meets, he's blessed with that

[Craig]

Not sure if you guys are part of the NavyForMoms or the Facebook PIR groups, but you will learn so much if you are.  Here is the links:
N4M:  http://navyformoms.com/group/pir02052016
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/pir02052016


*** Understanding the Ships ***

A "ship" at boot camp is truly just a building. They call it a ship just to get the newbie’s to start using that word. 

- Each ship (building) has their own name. For example, USS Triton (ship-12), USS Reuben James (ship-2), or maybe the USS Kearsarge (ship-11)

- Each ship has 3 floors. 

- On each floor they have 4 divisions. So you have 3 floors x 4 divisions = 12 divisions per ship. 

- Each division has ~88 recruits, so you have 88 recruits x 12 division = 1056 recruits per ship. However, during the surge months, they can easily move walls and have ~84 recruits x 18 division = 1512 recruits per ship. 

- What people get messed up on is they think each ship graduates (PIR) on the same date. It doesn't. One a few divisions will graduate. You can a couple divisions from USS Triton Ship-12, a couple from USS Arizona Ship 14, maybe 4 divisions the USS Kearsarge Ship 11, and maybe four divisions from the USS Chicago Ship 7. So at PIR (graduation) many ships are represented.

Attached is what the ships look like. All ships are exactly the same since they were contracted at the same time. These pictures are of the USS Triton Ship-12:

You will see:
The Galley (chow hall) and Training rooms are in the left building, the center is the Quarter Deck, and the right is the sleeping Compartments.

The overall picture of the sleeping compartment.

At the end of the building, right in the middle, is where your recruits will normally enter the building. If they are in a group of 10 or less they will enter the building through the Quarterdeck. There are two divisions per side, so 4 divisions per floor. There are 3 floors. So you have 4 x 3 = 12 divisions per ship.

What are the divisions?
Here is the complete way things work...

Each fiscal year begins Oct 1st. So if your future sailor is placed in the very 1st boot camp division in October their division would be 001. You will see ~10 divisions per week going through boot camp. The numbers vary by the needs of the Navy. Some weeks have no divisions. You won’t see any recruits starting or PIR (graduating) on 12/18/15 and 12/25/15.  The reason is the Navy wants to give maximum time off to their personnel so they can be home with their family.  It takes a lot of effort to train a sailor, and the Navy wants these professionals to be focused and give the best training possible. 

For example:
The last division for FY-14 was:
TG-52 (which means they started boot camp the last week of September, the 52nd week of boot camp).
Divisions 352 thru 362, 952. Division #362 was the very last division for FY-14, and division 952 was the last performance division (band, choir, sticks, body snatchers) for FY-14.
Their PIR date is Nov 7th 2014.

The very 1st division for FY-14 is:
TG-01 (which means they started boot camp the very 1st week of October).

Divisions 001 thru 008, 901. Division #001 was the very first division for FY-14, and division 901 is the first performance division.   Their PIR date is Nov 14th 2014.

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Division 001 thru ??? (usually up to 400's) are the regular (future) sailor going through boot camp. 
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Division 801 thru ???. These are the Special Ops (SPEC-OPS) guys. They go up each number as we need Special Ops guys. Some weeks you don't have any 800's division, some weeks you might have two divisions. They are random based on the needs of the Navy. They start with 801, and the numbers click one up as SPEC-OPS divisions are needed. 
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Division 901 thru 952 is the performance division.  They have one each week and the division number begins at the fiscal year (October) with division 901. Sometimes they double up the 900's division due to holidays...  Remember when I said they had no recruits starting during the Christmas holidays?  Well, then need to double up the 900 division to make up for that.  So PIR 2/6/15 had division 913/914, and PIR 2/27/15 had divisions 915/916. 

There are 3 types of performance divisions and they rotate each week:

Ship’s Staff - They consist of the Sideboys (welcoming distinguished guest), Honor Guard (rifle performance team), & Body Snatchers (walking up and down the rows to catch sailors about to pass out).

Sticks (Flags) - They march in Old Glory (the US flag), along with all the state flags, including its territories (Puerto Rico, Guam, Northern Marianas, U. S. Virgin Islands and American Samoa). This will also include the POW and MIA flags. 

 

Triple Threat - Those sailors that can play a musical instrument, those that can play the drums to keep the sailors in step, and those that can sing. 

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Division 2341 - RCU (Recruit Care Unit) for those that have medical problems, and need to heal.
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Division 2347 - This division is for those that have failed the PFA by less than 1 minute. 
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Division 2381 - This division is for those that have failed any portion of the swim test. 
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Division 2444 - This division is for those that have failed the PFA by more than 1 minute. 
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Lastly Ship 5 - This group doesn't actually have a division number but they are still a division. They are the ones that are being discharged from the Navy....
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Hope this helps...  Does it make sense?

Craig