PIR Graduation Observations

I was concerned about how to get to the graduation on time and getting a good seat. Directions online seem to be confusing at best and the GPS address given didn’t indicate the proper gate to enter for PIR. Part of the confusion is that the gate on Buckley Road is not the gate to enter. That was the gate used years ago.

The proper gate to enter is around the next corner turning right on Ohio Street, which is across the street from the Metro station. We used the tip about going up to Martin Luther King Drive and entering Ohio Street straight through the traffic light across Buckley to avoid long lines of traffic on Buckley waiting to turn right to enter the gate on Ohio. There were only a few cars in line on Buckley at 7:00am. In the cold weather we had for the graduation on 1/17/14, it would have been very difficult to walk from the Metro station across the street as recommended on the RTC site. We drove onto the base and parked in the garage with very little delay from security. The line of people waiting outside in zero wind chill weather to enter the Visitor Center next to the parking garage to get into the building for the security check was very cold. It took 15 minutes which seemed much longer in the cold. We arrived inside around 7:20am and all the seats in the lower level and most of the balcony were already filled. Not sure where all the people behind us found seats. We had an acceptable view of our son on the angle in the balcony and you can see most of the action on the big screens in the hall. You have to arrive earlier if you want a better seat.

When rushing back to return our son from liberty in the snow and dark conditions, we found that he was supposed to return to the gate on Buckley, not the gate we used for graduation on Ohio. They let parents drive onto the base to the North Grinder parking lot behind the Chapel so his walk back to the barracks did not take so long. We made it with only 20 minutes to spare. It is very important they get back on time. Some new sailors from the class thought they heard 9:30 for liberty return instead of 1930 hours and were late.