Pass In Review - Tips, Hints, and Helps

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Comment by Steven S on March 11, 2010 at 4:28pm

That's not a bad idea. Although we did not wait for our taxi. There were some waiting on us. I thought the car would have been handy while waiting on our sailor to walk back to his ship and return. The parking area is right across from the hall and not far to walk to. All in all its not that big a deal. If you've ever been to a pro game of any kind. It's no where near that busy. : )

Comment by Steven S on March 11, 2010 at 1:30pm

FYI
If your son is grad n go, you might think about flying out of O'hare also. It gave us an extra 6 hours with our son the morning after.

Comment by Todd J on March 2, 2010 at 1:01pm

Thanks Mark, too late I bought them already. I did check and it would have been about $175 less for the four of us total BWI to MKE, VS Philly to Midway. Its not really a savings for us adding in the parking $$; gas, tolls and hassle of a 2 hr. drive to BWI vs. 20 mins to Philly with a friend dropping us off and picking us up. I did forget about BWI, so I am glad it wasnt a big difference for I'd have been kicking myself !

Comment by MarkM on February 28, 2010 at 10:59pm

Todd, check on flights from Baltimore to Milwaukee. They had some really cheap rates earlier this month. Might be worth the drive down to Charm City.

Comment by NavyDads Admin, Tim on February 28, 2010 at 7:47pm

Jim I get the oppurtunity to join Paul in the 2 timers dads sometime next year as my youngest son says he wants tofollow his brother into the NAVYand wants to be an M.A.. I do have the privilage to also have my youngest sons best friend joining the Navy also. He ships out for basic in 50 days. and I almost feel as proud for him as I did when Trevor was getting close to his ship date.

Comment by NavyDads Admin (Paul) on February 27, 2010 at 9:18pm

hey Jim and Tim....I've done two PIRs (Oct '05 and Mar '07)...and I still go back and re-read this stuff all the time!!!

Comment by NavyDads Admin, Tim on February 27, 2010 at 8:59am

go back to the last post Tad and start reading there. you'l find that some things are repeated time and time again but these are the things that you will need to know most for your wonderful day with your sailor and their next step in life toward a journey of a lifetime.
My son P.I.R.'d a year and a half ago and I still go back and read all of the old posts just to remember the feelings that I had that day. This will truely be one of those events that you will remember for a lifetime. Everytime I see a new posts from a dad in here about how they just got back from P.I.R. and no matter how many of these posts and how many times they read them there was still an awesome feeling that they had never expected. It is truly an awesome experience and one that I hope I will get to experience again.

Comment by NavyDads Admin (Paul) on February 27, 2010 at 8:52am

Start reading past posts and you'll know all you need to....

Comment by Steven S on February 26, 2010 at 4:33pm

Photos at PIR: Take your video cameras. My still photos were too dark to see the sailors from the stands. (I'm not smart enough to get the manual settings right) The video camera adjusted itself and did the best job. It may be shaky but its something. This profile picture was taken at the NEX down the street from the Navy Lodge. We had just left PIR, (he whispered the reminder that cameras were not allowed outside of the hall. I thought he was going to hit me.. LOL ) This is the best picture I got the few hours we saw him and it was with my phone. Just saying...... Enjoy your time and don't get so caught up in the camera stuff that you don't absorb all the real time you have together. : )

Comment by Zach'sdad on February 25, 2010 at 11:03am

(Re-post from over on the Boot Camp group) Good morning, everyone. Just a quick comment on our PIR experience from 02-19-10 for our son, Zach. We stayed at the Residence Inn in Waukeegan, after flying into Milwaukee and renting a car there. A very quick trip down the road to get to the hotel; I would recommend the Residence Inn to everyone. We had a suite with two rooms and a fireplace; it's close to many stores and restaurants so we really didn't lack for anything. We did take the taxi shuttle from the hotel (and thanks, Sarge for all your help and advice while en route) to avoid the line at PIR Fridaybut the taxi's were held in line also. We did get to go and assmble in the building right inside the gate before crossing the street at 0700 hrs and taking our seats in the hall. The bleachers were full up and they then opened the balconies. There is food and beverages for sale at the far end of the hall (cash only); they didn't announce this and by the time we made our way down there, the ceremony was getting started and the tables were closing up. The ceremony is really something, very precise and impressive. My son said that they actually begin the process when they first arrive at GL; with marching and assembling. It was over before we knew it; a mad rush once they announced liberty for the recruits and everybody tries to find their kids. The hall empties very quickly and we were off to the hotel for the day. Big, big changes in our son; taller, thinner, carried himself differently. He even apologized to a stranger in the hotel for walking on the wrong side of the hallway, something that floored me. We ended up just visiting and eating civilian food on Friday, taking in a movie at Gurnee and more civilian food on Saturday, then going to Navy Pier and eating more civilian food on Sunday. We saw his shipmates wherever went; the rumour was that the RDC's were out as well spying on them.We didn't see any of them except for one car in the parking lot at Gurnee with an RDC sticker on the windshield. It really didn't matter though; he carried himself in a professional manner the entire time and even gave me some grief for giving him a hug in the chapel parking lot when I dropped him off by car at night , saying that it was against regulations. He seems to have taken to the Navy life wholeheartedly and we commend him for it. So now Zach's off to A school in Chuck-town for the next few months, he's on his way with his Naval career. We'll probably won't see himin person again until this summer but we expect to talk with him regularly once he gets settled in and is able to use some of his devices once again.
Good luck to all of you recruit parents out there; the time really does go very quickly and you can expect big changes. You'll be impressed, believe me. I forgot to mention that I had printed out the gate pass for PIR and took it with us even though we intended to take the shuttle to PIR. Good thing too because a gate-pass is needed to enter the base by car to retrieve your SA the rest of the weekend. No PIR gatepass means no entry to GL by car without having your sailor with you. And have your photo ID handy any time you attempt entry to GL; it is mandatory to produce it.

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