Pass In Review - Tips, Hints, and Helps

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Comment by Gary T. on February 7, 2009 at 3:37pm

07/Feb/09. Received my sons graduation letter today. Time is short. There will be fourteen Divisions graduating. Just wanted to put a reminder out for any parents who have PIR date 13/Mar/09. If your coming, book rooms early. Fourteen Divisions times 100 sailors is 1400. If all parents were to come 4 times 1400 makes for a lot of people.

Comment by NavyDads Admin (Paul) on February 2, 2009 at 7:17pm

Thanx Bill----it is totally impossible to describe the feeling of PIR until you have experienced seeing your sailor march through that big door...I am one of the lucky people that have done PIR twice and the second time is just as emotional and moving as the first!! Thanks for the tips and congrats on having a sailor in the family! Paul

Comment by Bill on February 2, 2009 at 5:16pm

We have just returned from PIR on 1/30/09. First I want to say that having traveled much of the world and visited many places that make one proud to be an American, I have never felt as much pride in being an American as when the doors to the PIR hall opened and the Divisions began to march in... If there is any thought in your mind about not going to PIR for any reason, dispel that thought and GO!
What hints/advice can I offer? Some will be redundant from other posts, but here goes:
*If you wife hasn't gotten onto NavyFor Moms, tell her about it. Even if she doesn't "get into" the site, there is a wealth of in formation there and a support base that is phenominal.
*Get a GPS navigation device unless you know the area really well. I bought a TomTom just for this trip and it paid for itself. Get a good one and trust it.
*We stayed at the Marriott Courtyard. Very nice hotel with a very friendly staff. I can recommend it. Plus they have a shuttle to the PIR.
*I would advise taking the shuttle. Personal preference. If you don't know the area, let someone else drive that trip. Take an early one...
*Go early if you want a good seat. We took the 6:30 shuttle & were in our seats by 7:15.
*The Division numbers were posted so you could sit close to where your sailor's Division would be. I assume this is pretty standard procedure...
*Dress for the weather. The day of PIR it was officially 9 degrees with a windchill of God knows what. I saw a lot of folks (both men and women) who had to be close to frostbite. I'd rather be unfashionable and warm than look like a well dressed popsicle...
*Wear comfortable shoes (this goes for the ladies too). You will be doing some long walking. Again, dress for the weather.
*The first letter in PIR is P. Use the head before you go to your seat. If you get there early, you will be sitting a long time. And once the crowd sets in it is difficult to get from your seat to the aisle AND you'll likely lose your seat if you vacate it.
*Be patient. Once Liberty is called, the PIR hall is a madhouse, the NEX will be like a big mall at Christmas, the NEX snackbar will be packed, so just roll with the flow and enjoy the time you have with your sailor.
*Be patient with your sailor too. They may or may not want to do anything specific while on liberty. If you have been able to plan ahead with them, great. If not, remember that they have been in a structured environment for 8 weeks, they might not want to do anything. And that is great too. Just enjoy the time together.
*Take cash. If your sailor ordered photos and/or dvd they have to be paid in cash. Not sure about the food courts, etc...
*Try to find out from your sailor if he/she knows where you can pick them up on Saturday/Sunday if they have liberty those days. When we were there the pick up parking lot was by the church..we didn't find that out ahead of time so our sailor walked all the way down to the gate where we had agreed to meet...had we known we could have saved him a cold walk.
*There a lots of things to do/places to go in the area. If you go into Chicago, make sure to allow PLENTY of time to get back to base. Chicago traffic cannot be counted on to cooperate if you are running close on time.
Remember the GPS nav device.
* No matter where you go you will see other families with thier new sailors. But you will also see some new sailors with no family members with them. Take a few seconds, give them a pat on the back or the shake of a hand and congratulate them and say Thanks! for their service. You will always see the appreciation on their faces if you do this. It means a lot to them.
So GO. You will not be sorry.

Comment by Jamie Daniels on February 2, 2009 at 12:18pm

Hello looking for proud parents with their childs pir date of 3/13/09 would be nice to know someone before we get there.

Comment by ProudNavyDAD on December 26, 2008 at 10:19am

I am looking for any parents of SR's graduating 1/15/2009 send me a PM on my page

Comment by Ivan on December 8, 2008 at 1:28pm

I just returned from my Daughter's PIR 05 Dec 08 and it was GREAT! First of all she first got to GL 12 Oct 08 and had a tuff time passing her PFA. Her extra long bootcamp made the PIR all the more special. The single most important thing to know about going to PIR is CHECK THE WEATHER especially in the fall and winter months. It was 7 degrees and you have a nice walk ahead of you from the parking area to the PIR area. Secondly be familiar with were you are and Google the area around GL. You can stay near there in hotels and by knowing alternate routes which are simple you can avoid tolls and know how to get to area attractions. Gurnee Mills shopping complex has just about everything. Check out route IL 41 which goes from Buckley road to Lake Shore drive. Also some hotels have grad packages. Graduation is not for young kids, I know we took my three grand babies ages 2 1/2, 1 1/2 and two months. Iam sorry if you were near us that day. My daughter had never seen the youngest and this was her only chance. Know what your Sailor wants to do ahead of time if possible because he or she may want to just chill. I wish we had attended church service at the base too because it was 07 Dec and I know it was going to be something to be apart of. But I would not let the grand babies interfer there too. Just soak in all you can with your Sailor!

Comment by NavyDads Admin (Paul) on December 8, 2008 at 7:19am

We haven't seen any updates from recent PIRs...so come on all you dads...you've got lots of stories to share.

Comment by Kathy Baker-Robs Mom on November 4, 2008 at 7:08am

PIR was AWESOME!!! We parked on base with everyone else. Got there about 730. WEwere directed to go straight to the drill hall. YOUmight have to check in at the visitors center check point. Make sure you bring comfortable walking shoes!! And ID for everyone over 18. No smoking on base of course. There are DIV# signs to sit in the vicinity of that! You wait and wait for the DIV to march in. ITS AWESOME WHEN THEY OPEN THE BIG DOORS!!!!After the divisions march in there is alot of blah blah blah THEN LIBERTY is called. You have 10 minutes to find your Sailor and get outside. Your Sailor will then give you the low down on whats in store for the weekend. There is this thing called Military Bearing. Your sailor has strict rules that he must abide by while in uniform and he promptly told us about it. We went to the Gurnee mall( ITS HUGE!!), to a beatuiful beach in Waukegan/ Beach Park. Its off SHERIDAN and WADSWORTH, on Sherdain BEFORE Wadsworth there is a very nice park little kidos will love. THERE IS OVERNIGHT LIBERTY. IT DEPENDS ON WHAT YOUR SAILOR IS DOING!!

Comment by Craig on October 29, 2008 at 8:16am

PIR for daughter next week...!!! HooYah...More Navy stuff to buy!!

Comment by NavyDads Admin (Paul) on October 25, 2008 at 5:11pm

For those you you that would like to set up a Meet-and-greet with other PIR families you may be incontact with, you may want to consider meetings at Flanagan's- a close-by restaurant used to these sorts of events. I've not been there, but I see it mentioned in NavyDads once in awhile and I see it alot in N4M.

Link to Mapquest Location for Flanagans

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