Pass In Review - Tips, Hints, and Helps

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Comment by Patrick Cashin on October 5, 2010 at 9:27am

Jim, there is a parking garage along the Oregon St. side. While my son was at basic, my ex lived on navy mom's, and i lived on Google Earth. I pretty much had it pegged, but we were not admitted to the base on Illinois st. We were directed to Oregon st (right next to RR tracks) where we lined up. And wehn the let us in, it was directly to the garage. No vehicle checks, ID checks, nothing. It was pretty surprising. I don't know where the MCPON hall is, but from the air, there is a 500+ car parking lot across from PIR hall. I thought that was where we were to be directed...

Comment by Patrick Cashin on October 5, 2010 at 8:08am

Ok, here is my observations from attending the graduation of my son. He was in division 326 and he graduated on October 01, 2010.
First off, I stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott at 3800 Northpoint. It was a clean room with basic amenities included in the room. Coffee, free wi-fi, cable tv, free local calls, etc… They do have an “adult” channel included in the cable, and they do have parental control available, so if you take young’uns, you may want to set those controls first thing. All movies on pay for view are for a ridiculously high fee of $15.99 per movie. I read several reviews on this hotel before heading up there and one complaint that I saw about this establishment was that the “road noise” was terrible. I didn’t find this a problem. I do know that if you stay on the west side of the hotel, there is a sports bar 30 paces from the side entrance/exit of the hotel. And Friday and Saturday nights are busy. Friday night wasn’t bad at all, noise wise. I did have some butt munch honk his car horn right outside my room early Saturday morning. Fortunately, I was already up, as I was getting ready to go see my son off at the airport. The location of the hotel was fine. We were about ten minutes from RTC, and had no problems getting there. We did not avail ourselves of the “shuttle” service that was available. I understand that the fee for this was $6 for both ways, per person. The hotel was pretty much in-line with the graduation ceremonies. They even posted a “Congratulations Graduates!” banner in their lobby. They also had t-shirts, caps, coffee mugs, bumper stickers, etc., etc. behind the counter for sale. But be prepared to pay a premium for these trinkets. They also had a very informative packet that they gave me, at check-in, with all kinds of good information. Places to eat, who delivered. Things to do while in the area. A list of all the eateries, and clubs, within walking distance of the hotel. Train schedules. And along with the phone numbers of all these establishments, they included the addresses (very helpful, as described below). A warning though, the breakfast buffet was pricey (over $10). A little advantageous of them, especially with a restaurant next door, advertising $4.99 breakfast’s. And then there is a Denny’s on the other side of that! Literally 100 paces from the side exit of the hotel…
We rented a car for this weekend, which made everything much easier. You don’t have to worry about taxi’s , shuttles, or public transportation out of the airport, or even more importantly, during the (very) limited time you’ll have with your sailor. you’ll want to maximize every available minute with them, and we didn’t want to spend time waiting for our taxi or shuttle. The car was also very convenient taking our sailor to Gurnee Mall (a “hot” spot to go) before that money could burn a hole all the way through his leg, and not just his pocket! So, the cost of a rental car would be justified., after all of the cab fees you would have accrued after running around before and after graduation.
One misconception that I wish I would’ve known/thought of was, that if your sailor isn’t going to “A” school in the great lakes area, they will be a “grad-n-go”. But if you’re lucky, you’ll get to spend several hours with them after graduation, and not the dreaded several minutes of the true “grad-n-go” sailors. I think that would’ve just about killed my ex if she only got to see him for 15 minutes after graduation, before he flew out. The set time for him to be back in barracks by was 2000 hours. So we had to make sure that he was back in plenty of time for him to make it back to his ship. Keep your parking pass that you need to have for entrance in the morning, as this will get you back on the base, and spare your sailor those few extra feet.
Driving in before the graduation, we had heard “get there early, as the line is long, and painstakingly slow”. We arrived just after 0530, and we were the 8th car in line. Getting on to the base was a surprise though… There were two cars in front of us that did not have parking passes, and the MP’s re-directed them off to the side (usually followed by a roll of the eyes to the other MP’s), for how long, I have no idea. We drove right into the parking garage. No wait at all. No vehicle search. No document review. A very pleasant surprise.
The navy isn’t anything if not punctual. The times posted were the times that things started and happened. The earlier that you get there, the better seat selection in the bleachers you’ll get. They were packed! When I graduated from boot camp back in 1979, there were all of 15 civilians there… this PIR was packed! It was very nice to see all the support of our sailors. It is a very emotional time here at the PIR. I saw a lot of Kleenex’s and shirt sleeves used that morning. And when the double doors opened, it got loud! I thought my ex was going to burst a vessel with as loud as she got when the division passed in front of our bleacher section! I’d never heard her get that loud in the 24 years I’ve known her! And when your division passes in front of their section in the bleacher, even I started to leak a little, with the pride I felt for all of the sailors.
Bring binoculars! My ex was a little hot under the collar when she viewed all of the pictures she took. She had to delete the majority of them, because she was taking pictures of some other sailor! Fourth from the back, on the left side (them facing bleachers), if this is your sailor, have we got some pics for you! LOL. And for a very minimal charge too! Just kidding… You’ll need to have something to spot your sailor with. They all look alike! Fortunately for us, I was trying to be a little more systematic in my snap shots, and I took “zoomed-in” pictures of all the sailors, knowing that when I got back to my computer, I could delete the ones that my son wasn’t in. Thank God for digital cameras! Everyone pretty much headed to the floor when liberty call was made. I was fortunate, for I am tall, and could see over the majority of the people there. And finding my son wasn’t a problem. But for the vertically challenged people out there, tell your sailor to stay where they are. You’ll come to them (or someone you thought was yours…).
These guys have been on the go since they hit the ground there, getting off the busses. So be prepared if they just want to “veg” in your hotel room. Ours just wanted to hit the mall, because all that money was burning a hole in his pocket. I hear that this is common too. That’s why I think renting a car is the smart thing to do. We climbed in, punched the address of the mall into the GPS, and we were off! I brought my personal GPS, but the rental car companies will be glad to rent one to you, along with your car. They seem to be in-tune with what happens just down the road. By the way, when I left today gas was $2.87 a gallon. The rental car companies try and sell gas for up to $3.50 per gallon, if you pre-pay. This is convenient if you don’t mind spending the extra $$$ and don’t want to take the time to fill it up before you turn it in. If you bring it back with anything less than a full tank, be prepared to have it charged to your credit card at $5.00 per gallon
We also heard that some want to eat. I was prepared to buy all the pizza, or cheese burgers, he wanted. But he came out of there with a greater sense of a healthy diet. Let’s hope it sticks…
We got up early Saturday morning to see him off at the airport. He supplied us with the flight number the previous evening, and with google-ing the airport, I was able to find his flight information (terminal, gate, time of departure). So we were able to enjoy another 2 hours with him and some of his buddies.

Comment by Chris Jason on October 4, 2010 at 9:06pm

Thanks Rich,
Remember, no news is good news! Your son should finish BS21 at about 08:00 and you will get the call anytime on that Day. Nicole didn't get to call the old man until 6pm that night! I was a basket case waiting for that call. I guess her first taste of pizza came first! :)

Comment by Richard Klein on October 4, 2010 at 7:49pm

Congradulations to you and your daughter Chris. My sons pir is this comeing Friday and we have'nt heard anything about BS. Last time I talked to him he said BS was going to be the day before pir. If that is true I guess he will be one tired sailor on that Friday.
Rich

Comment by Chris Jason on October 4, 2010 at 6:40pm

It is my duty to let everyone know that I am now the proud father of a US NAVY SAILOR!!!! Nicole passed Battlestations 21 on Fri,!!! Way to go Nicole!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) Bravo Zulu!!! Thanks for all the prayers and support! It was a hard two weeks for her in FIT but somehow the Lord carried her over that finish line on Wed. and she ran a 15:09 with a pulled groin muscle! We had a great weekend with her and she looks great in her uniform. She walks,talks, and holds herself different now.. I am so proud of her! I think going thru the two weeks of FIT made it that much more special for her.

Comment by NavyDads Admin (Paul) on September 28, 2010 at 9:37pm

same with my second PIR...the first we were routed through the Chapel where we went though security checks AND a metal detector before walking to the drill hall. There I got the third degree 'cause I couldn't remember Kat's division # and had to go through ID again....

Comment by Chris H. on September 28, 2010 at 8:59pm

Very different, Paul. Back in April everyone had to go through the building where the NEX is housed in one section, provide picture ID (we had drivers' licenses and passports) and be checked before we were allowed to set foot outside the exit of the building to the hall.

Comment by NavyDads Admin (Paul) on September 28, 2010 at 6:12pm

What has been posted has been by individual experience....your experience Thomas was clearly different from many of the other posts. If you are driving on base and have a parking pass you'll be prepared. Likewise if you have your ID handly then you'll be prepared. The Navy states the 4-per-PIR "rule"...generally they will make all efforts to accomodate guests...that is a chance you have to take if you have more guests and a huge PIR. For one of my PIRs I had a pass so no problem getting on base. The next PIR I got smart and took a shuttle. For both my PIRs IDs were checked. For both my PIRs guest lists were checked.

The time you'll get with a Grad-n-Go varies....we have a member that got exactly 5 minutes with their sailor and would not have traded that time for anything in the world. If you go to the airport, check in with the USO...they can arrange the security pass as I understand.

Comment by Jim C on September 28, 2010 at 5:38pm

Greg,
Mt daughter is a grad&go on 10/29. I'm going to guess your son is going to school at Pensacola? I hate to say this but, thier are two groups for the 10/29 PIR on navy moms with sailors going to P'cola. The consensus is, and my daughter is saying the same thing. They are leaving Saturday for P'cola. Some parents are saying they are leaving in the 2 to 3 am range. I'm hoping they will let the sailors off base for at least Friday afternoon. I don't know how acurate the time frame is but the parents and more importantly the recruits are saying they leave Saturday.

Comment by Thomas Hommel on September 28, 2010 at 5:22pm

Just returned from my sons PIR on the 17th and found almost everything to be different than what I have read on this forum. Not saying all the info is wrong, just different than what I expected. First we needed no passes. No ID was checked. No guest list was checked. We got in line ( all 6 of us) and were directed into the PIR hall. We all sat together and there was plenty of room leftover for lots of other guests. Maybe it was the size of the graduating class (700 or so) that made the difference. The ceremony itself was amazing beyond description. Well done. The roar of the crowd when the big door opened and the grads appeared was enough to bring tears to your eyes. The presence of other branches of the military there showing their support was pretty cool in itself. It had to be a proud moment for all family and friends present. It was for me and mine. Our son was a grad and go so we didn't get much time with him but it was quality time. He was fortunate to have his grandfather attending who is a WW II vet and they are very close. We stayed at the Quality Inn in Waukegan and in all honesty I was not impressed with the hotel itself. Needs some renovation. BUT they were great at getting people to and from the PIR and were extremely courteous and helpful. I would highly recommend using a shuttle or cab or something other than a personal vehicle to get to the PIR. The line of cars trying to get on base was very long. This will be a memory you will have forever. Enjoy!

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