BootCamp

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by NavyDads Admin (Paul) on April 6, 2017 at 1:22pm

you'll get a form letter typically 7-10 days after he arrives at RTC with all his PIR information. 

Permalink Reply by Renee Lancaster on April 6, 2017 at 2:46pm

Thank you very much

NavyDads Admin (Paul) said:

you'll get a form letter typically 7-10 days after he arrives at RTC with all his PIR information. 

Permalink Reply by Dan Mountjoy on April 6, 2017 at 8:37pm

Apparently there are a few variables that can cause the PIR date to vary a bit (hence the most accurate answer is as Paul says).  To get a "guestimate" you might count 9 Fridays after he reports -- that's at least how my son's situation worked out.  But, it could be earlier or later under certain circumstances.

Permalink Reply by NavyDads Admin (Paul) on April 6, 2017 at 9:00pm

Typically the first 4-10 days after the new recruits arrive at RTC are called Processing Days or P-Days. Around holidays and sometimes for unforeseen issues (flight delays, severe weather, etc.) P-days can last up to 14 days. Although recruits are assigned to a ship and division upon arrival, these assignments are not final and they do not move to their designated ship until P-days are over. Unplanned events may change that ship assignment. Your sailor's recruiter may give you an address a day or two after your recruit arrived at Great Lakes with a particular division that may not be final. This is why NavyDads always advises you to wait for your sailor's form letter with his or her correct address. That letter typically arrives 5-10 days after they have shipped to RTC.
When a group of new Recruits arrives at the RTC, they go through a simple sorting provess - those with a Musician (MU) rating and those with music or flag/drill experience are assigned to a 900 division (if those are needed) and those going into Special Ops are sent to the 800 division. There are usually only 25 or fewer 800 divisions a year, so not every TG will have one, but some TG's have one or two 800 divisions. The remaining recruits are generally assigned randomly, mostly as they arrive, to additional divisions. Generally a TG has 10 or fewer divisions currently. Seldom are more than four divisions filled on a particular day. In that case, recruits with similar ratings will end up in the same TG, but not necessarily in the same division. Once one division is full, they start filling another, so divisions often end up with groups of recruits from only a few areas. The Recruits' ratings do not influence which division they will be placed in except for those placed in an 800- or a 900-series division. Females are placed in integrated divisions, containing both males and females, or in an all female division. Males are placed in either an integrated or all male division depending on the sort as they arrive. 800-series divisions are all male most of the year, but can also be integrated divisions at times when there are female candidates for AIRR and/or EOD. Beginning in the summer of 2013, each TG will have one all female division, which will be the sister division to an all male brother division.

There are occasions when a division may fill and a few unplaced recruits remain. Those "leftover" recruits will be placed as the first recruits for the following division. There are also times that a division is not quite filled with the normal 88 recruits and that division must wait for the next group arriving in Great Lakes to fill to division compliment. When a division is held waiting to fill the division with the next group of arriving recruits, they will placed in what is called a PUSH Division.
Because that division formed "late" it is composed of recruits arriving typically over two different weeks. Some of the recruits in that division will be at RTC for 7 1/2 weeks (8 Fridays) rather than the typical 8 1/2 weeks (9 Fridays) that most of the divisions in that TG (Training Group). To stay current with the projected PIR date for the TG, that division is "pushed" thru some accelerated training- hence the term PUSH division.
This may happen more often for those recruits arriving at the beginning of a week. Recruits who are unlucky enough to be held over may be placed in a TG for the following week. These recruits are at RTC 9 1/2 weeks (10 Fridays). That happens more frequently for recruits arriving at the end of the week. This happens more around holidays or when there is a week without a PIR. Weather or severe storms may result in extra recruits being shipped to RTC when others are delayed. This may also occur if a large number of recruits are shipped to RTC in the summer and early fall due to enlistments that happen during a high school student's senior year.