This site is for mothers of kids in the U.S. Navy and for Moms who have questions about Navy life for their kids.

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Choose your Username.  For the privacy and safety of you and/or your sailor, NO LAST NAMES ARE ALLOWED, even if your last name differs from that of your sailor (please make sure your URL address does not include your last name either).  Also, please do not include your email address in your user name. Go to "Settings" above to set your Username.  While there, complete your Profile so you can post and share photos and videos of your Sailor and share stories with other moms!

Make sure to read our Community Guidelines and this Navy Operations Security (OPSEC) checklist - loose lips sink ships!

Join groups!  Browse for groups for your PIR date, your sailor's occupational specialty, "A" school, assigned ship, homeport city, your own city or state, and a myriad of other interests. Jump in and introduce yourself!  Start making friends that can last a lifetime.

Link to Navy Speak - Navy Terms & Acronyms: Navy Speak

All Hands Magazine's full length documentary "Making a Sailor": This video follows four recruits through Boot Camp in the spring of 2018 who were assigned to DIV 229, an integrated division, which had PIR on 05/25/2018. 

Boot Camp: Making a Sailor (Full Length Documentary - 2018)

Boot Camp: Behind the Scenes at RTC

...and visit Navy.com - America's Navy and Navy.mil also Navy Live - The Official Blog of the Navy to learn more.

OPSEC - Navy Operations Security

Always keep Navy Operations Security in mind.  In the Navy, it's essential to remember that "loose lips sink ships."  OPSEC is everyone's responsibility. 

DON'T post critical information including future destinations or ports of call; future operations, exercises or missions; deployment or homecoming dates.  

DO be smart, use your head, always think OPSEC when using texts, email, phone, and social media, and watch this video: "Importance of Navy OPSEC."

Follow this link for OPSEC Guidelines:

OPSEC GUIDELINES

Events

**UPDATE 4/26/2022** Effective with the May 6, 2022 PIR 4 guests will be allowed.  Still must be fully vaccinated to attend.

**UPDATE as of 11/10/2022 PIR vaccination is no longer required.

**UPDATE 7/29/2021** You now must be fully vaccinated in order to attend PIR:

In light of observed changes and impact of the Coronavirus Delta Variant and out of an abundance of caution for our recruits, Sailors, staff, and guests, Recruit Training Command is restricting Pass-in-Review (recruit graduation) to ONLY fully immunized guests (14-days post final COVID vaccination dose).  

FOLLOW THIS LINK FOR UP TO DATE INFO:

RTC Graduation

**UPDATE 8/25/2022 - MASK MANDATE IS LIFTED.  Vaccinations still required.

**UPDATE 11/10/22 PIR - Vaccinations no longer required.

RESUMING LIVE PIR - 8/13/2021

Please note! Changes to this guide happened in October 2017. Tickets are now issued for all guests, and all guests must have a ticket to enter base. A separate parking pass is no longer needed to drive on to base for parking.

Please see changes to attending PIR in the PAGES column. The PAGES are located under the member icons on the right side.

Format Downloads:

Navy Speak

Click here to learn common Navy terms and acronyms!  (Hint:  When you can speak an entire sentence using only acronyms and one verb, you're truly a Navy mom.)

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Navy.com Para Familias

Visite esta página para explorar en su idioma las oportunidades de educación y carreras para sus hijos en el Navy. Navy.com

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My Boot camp/Graduation experience as a mom.


My son left June 14th 2012 for Great Lakes, he classed up right away, and maybe 3 or 4 Processing days and was put in a division to graduate on August 10th. (so 8 weeks and 1 day there)

I got the “I’m here call” about 10pm eastern time on the 14th.   Got the box the following Tuesday, and the first mail didn’t come till July 6th.   It was 17 days until his division could write, so literally 3 weeks before my first letter.   Then the next week was week 2 day 5 and my son called early in the morning, but this was not the halfway call, it was the information call about his clearance. I got to talk to him about Info only for about 30 minutes, never getting to chit chat at all.  I was able to ask him some yes no questions, and one was,  “is today your first phone call” he said yes, and I posted in our group so everyone knew.

 

My son got in trouble on that day, walking on the wrong side of the road (he was actually following another recruit, but it turned out to be a sailor, who was allowed to walk on that side, recruits weren’t) That is when everything went downhill for him.  He got in so much trouble.  He couldn’t call that night, his division lost time off of their call and he was pretty  much told to quit.  He didn’t quit, he did all of his punishment (including heavy Intensive training with the seals—that he was required to pass, and barley did)    His shipmates really supported him, and that helped, but he was so upset that his division lost time off of their call because of him.  From there, he just kept his nose down, did his work and stayed out of trouble. He got a really bad recruit crud cold, but refused to go to medical because so many guys were getting set back.  I got one more 30 second call around week 5 for more info, I asked if battlestations were planned for the Tuesday before graduation, he confirmed.   I was getting regular mail on Thursdays.    Week of graduation, he finally called at 5pm on Wednesday after battlestations with the “I’m a Sailor” call, we got to talk for 30 minutes (our first real conversation in 8 weeks) We were actually already driving to Chicago when he called. 

Just a side note about boot camp in general.  My son was probably more prepared that most kids for boot camp. He is a Navy brat (my hubby and I are both prior Navy and he was born on a Navy base in Japan) he did  4 years JROTC in school, and was drill captain for marine rotc.   There wasn’t much he didn’t know about going in, he passed his PT the first few weeks there, and knows all the cadences and marching.  His major problem was lack of sleep and the emotional roller coaster that bootcamp is.  He was not prepared to get in trouble and have someone else lose a privilege, that almost was too much for him.  But he said he learned a valuable lesson about teamwork and probably some humility since he thought was better prepared than most! He is so happy it is over, proud he did it, and is loving life in A School!

 

We got there on Thursday night, up early on Friday morning and went to graduation.

(wanted to also add, lalaribbonqueen here on N4M’s did my awesome ribbons we wore, and as a gift I ordered him a challenge coin with his ship on it, I am going to buy one for every duty station he has)

We brought 14 people to graduation.   4 on the list, 1 active duty, 3 on the wait list  and 6 kids under 12. 

We left Navy Lodge at 645, got to the base and in line by 7am, maybe took us  30 minutes to get thru all the lines, the never asked for the kids birth certificates, but we had them because you are supposed to bring them.  They did check all of our ID’s.   we decided to sit on the lower section in front of our division, but after we figured out we were crammed in like sardines, with still 90 minutes till graduation started, we decided to move.  We went upstairs to the balcony and hit the jackpot.  We still sat in front of his division, and had a great shot of them walking in, and we had a whole bleacher section to ourselves , and with 6 kids that was awesome they could move around.  

I have seen pix of graduation since, showing the balcony and it was packed up there, maybe because ours was only 9 divisions it was not that packed.   My kids got some snack and drinks at the little vender on the floor and it was all over about 11am.  We met up with our sailor, he had to run back to his division before they were dismissed so we went to the NEX to wait for him.  I ordered all of his pix and the keel book to be mailed home. Paid for them there, and shopped the NEX, there is also taco bell and subway you can eat while you wait on your sailor. He got back about 12noon, and we took off for Pizza Hut in Wakaguean (maybe 5 minutes away)  they were very nice and gave all 15 of us a side room and there was a lunch buffet we hung out for like 2 hours there.  We headed back to Navy Lodge for the afternoon, the little kids napped, I brought civilian clothes for my sailor (he never left the room in them, just hung out in the room in real clothes)  we took the kids to the playgrounds, and walked around outside (even though it was august, it was windy and chilly!)  We got back to the base about 645/7pm and we ate at subway and taco bell at the NEX.   We said goodbye to my son about 730pm (so he had enough time to march back to the barracks)

The next morning he called me from Chicago O hare telling me he was at Terminal 2 USO.  So on our way out of Chicago, my hubby dropped me off at terminal two and sat in the cell phone lot.   When I walked in, I looked up and saw the USO and my son was looking down the big glass window at us, he came down and met us and I gave him his cell phone, contacts, and laptop.  We hung out for about 30 minutes then he went back up (he was leaving at about 1030am) and my hubby drove around and got me.  

My son is in Virginia Beach now, we txt a few times a week, and chat on the weekend, I also see him pop up on facebook once a  week, he txts his girlfriend every night.   We are planning our trip there now to see him in Oct or Nov. 

Views: 410

Comment by BunkerQB on September 8, 2012 at 10:28pm

Thanks for writing and sharing your experience.

Comment by sage on September 9, 2012 at 4:03pm
That was a great story, your son never gave up ,and that's what they are trying to teach them.

Good luck to your son
Comment by Gie on September 9, 2012 at 7:07pm

Thank you so much for sharing this.  It has a lot of good informations.  Have a nice time on your visit.  Take care.

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