PIR (Pass In Review)

C077/K051 Feb 21-Apr25 1990

Coming down to the end.

So, now it is all coming together. Marching with pieces to music and understanding bugle toots.

We slowly had been building up to this moment. As it got closer, we were even under the eyes of everyone. Not a single one of us wanted to stay any longer than we needed to.

I believe it was the day before PIR we hit the field for practice. This would have been April 19^th, 1990. It was a windy yet humid day. Several people were feeling very relaxed and joyful about what was happening. Heck, I know I was. Some of those people forgot one big rule, military bearing at all times. NO MATTER WHAT!

Like I said, it was humid, and it was starting to get hot too. We had been told about locking your knees. Nobody in our company fell out, but some others did. During practice, we had some guys cover to blow off. They reached down to pick them up. We could all feel the sweat trickling down our backs and our from under our covers. One guy in front of me took off his cover and wiped his head. Then casually replaced it.
After practice was over, I had to return to the compartment for watch. It was odd for me to have a compartment watch, I only did it maybe one other time. I recall there was another company covering the compartment while we were at practice. So, I take over. It was really nice a cool in our compartment.

The company returns, and they take off their business in the head. After a few more minutes, they are all gathered in the compartment talking. The door out to the Division was shut, but I could see somebody coming through the crack at the bottom. Before I could say anything, I get a finger pointed at me as an STFU by our CCs.

They start to yell, “On the Line!”
I stand there on watch, knowing they are going to get nailed.

The exact words that were said are totally lost over the years. But, they were yelled at about military bearing.

The guy who reached down and got his cover got a special yelling at.
“WTF were you doing?”

“Picking up my cover, sir.”

F ing leave it tomorrow! Leave it on the deck, it will be returned, or you have another here

Then the guy who wiped his head.

WTF were you doing wiping your head?

The company got cycled for a while. The nice cool compartment turned into a tepid stinky mix of sweat and humidity.

I was never so glad to be on watch at any other time during boot camp than then.

That night we had our big dinner in the south galley. It was a good time. Then, we, with families, got to spend some time with them. So, back to the compartment and down to the USO. My mom and fiance flew down from Illinois to see my PIR.

When I saw them, I did give my mom a hug, and I did give my fiance a kiss. We had been instructed about PDA, and I think I was probably fine with both. It was terrific to see them. It was kind of odd when they each met people they knew.

A guy I worked within the Galley from C078 was from Idaho, but his grandparents lived in Rochelle, Illinois. He found me and introduced me to his mom. Oddly, our moms graduated together all those years ago in Rochelle.

My fiance met a girl she went to high school with. That girl was also in AT Land. I spoke to her after I was back there on hold later on.

As I had mentioned before, some of the ladies from my sister company introduced me to their families. Which drew the ire of my fiance.
During the little time together we had it was decided to go to Epcot on Saturday for my first day of liberty.

Friday came, time for PIR. It was a hot, humid, windy day as we formed up to head out for breakfast.  Then back to get dressed in our dress whites complete with white duty belts and leggings. The pieces were all pretty as we took them out of the whore houses.

We marched down to the end of the sidewalk by the parade ground.

There were seven companies in our training group. C075, C076, C077, C078, K049, K050, and K051. I am lucky here because I do have the video from my PIR. I think the whole ceremony took about 60 minutes. All the while, jets were flying overhead. It was also very windy.

We had guest speakers, and there were awards presented to the honor grads from each company. The overall honor grad for the training group was the RCPO from our sister company. I recently did find out that the bugler was also from my sister company, K051.

The whole time as we listen to the speeches and other activities, we have to also do the right rifle moments. The drill team did their thing, the choir sang its songs, and the honor guard was reviewed by the reviewing officer. Our reviewing officer was an EM1 from NTC Orlando. I believe he was sailor of the year.

Time had come for the final big thing for us to do and show off. Splitting the cones gave us a double salute and an extra hour of liberty! The band played Anchors Aweigh, and we were all off. All of our marching and rifle training was coming into play now. The final call for the RCOP to save us or sink us was about to come. “EYES RIGHT.”

Nearly eight weeks of training come down to that day. 60 minutes standing on the review field and a couple minutes of passing the reviewing officials. I’ve watched that video a couple times since I have had it. I don’t care what any thinks, but it gets me. I actually get tears watching it. Not sure why, but I do.
I will be honest too, I have not wanted to write these last few upcoming pieces because I knew how I would feel. 
C077 strutted our stuff. We had the most flags of any company that day too. We made our mark on the parade ground that day with a double salute and an extra hour of liberty. I do wish I had eaten lunch with the company that day. But, It was back to the USO for family lunch.

We had a bunch of good guys who took liberty on Friday night, so those of us with Families could have Saturday and Sunday.
Although we did PIR, we were still not out of the woods. We had liberty weekend to make it through. Then for C077 and K051, we had to make it through until Wednesday before we got to go home.

So, my big take on PIR. I know there will be people who don’t get this, but this is my own personal point fo view. PIR was a huge deal. We had busted our asses the previous weeks to get where we were. We were a ragtag group of civilians who had to learn everything from scratch. We had two men who gave up a good portion of their own lives to teach us what we needed to know.

The company got it, each individual got it. We gelled together and did it. That short video clip of us actually doing our PIR was what it all came down to. Both K051 and C077 are there for just a moment, then that moment is gone. Seriously, it was a big deal. Roughy 3% of the US population has ever served its country. Think about that. All of the armed services really are the Few, the Proud.
Yeah, I felt a tremendous sense of pride in myself. I never doubted I would make it. Even with the threats of an extra two weeks, I knew I would graduate with these same young men I started with.

Just a few more days!

The video is a short clip of my actual pass in review.
C077/K051 Pass in Review