Sunday, July 14, 2013
Lower Class Arrival, TD-31 tomorrow
Its been a while since my last post. Its Sunday, 14 July. The lower class arrived on Tuesday the 9th. Its hard to believe it, but we were in their shoes about six weeks ago.
I'll explain a little bit about their arrival day, and then share my thougts and observations.
OT's (officer trainees) start rolling in at about noon. They park their cars and are greeted by an upperclassman. They are directed to a tent where they recieve an attache case, and are instructed on appearance (shirt and shoelaces tucked in, etc). They are treated politely at this point, and the stress is low. They then take their belongings to the "dojo." This is an artifical turf field covered by a roof, and provides some relief from the sun and heat. This is where the upper class inprocesses them. They proceed to a series of tables and get checked in, issued name tags, reflective belts, camel backs, apply for a STAR credit card if they need to,are given a pocket sized OTSMAN (OTS manual containing rules/regs and guidance) and a HAWK (a booklet of things that have to be memorized) etc. They also get instructed on the position of attention, etc. It was very visible that their stress was increasing. At this point they would be corrected by the upper class on things they were doing wrong. If these corrections came from commissioned staff, they were yelled at. One of the best yellers of the commissioned staff happened to be walking around, and as bad as I felt for the new OTs, it was amusing watching them get lit up for something they probably didnt even know they werent supposed to do, but thats all part of the game.I was amazed at the visiblly increasing stress levels these people were under. I don't think I was nearly as scared as they looked, but its hard to tell.
Finally, after visiting all these tables, they were rushed over to stand in line. We remind them why they are here, and let them know that it is about to get intense. Once forty of them were lined up, they were walked (very quickly) the 1/4th mile to the dorm. I was one of the people who walked them to the dorm. This job sucked because it was hot- we were under black flag conditions.
Anyway, once they got to the dorms they were met by the MTIs (miltary training instructors). These are the guys that people often refer to as drill sergaents in the flat brimmed hats. The OTs are lined up in front of the doors while the MTIs find a few to yell at. This serves to let them know that they are not special, and it doesnt matter what you were before you got here.
They are then rushed up the stairs to their rooms to drpo their stuff off. they are then rushed back outside where the MTIs begin to teach them about drill (marching). Below is a video my room mate took out of the third floor laundry room window of such instruction taking place. I apppoolgize for the picture quality, as the video was texted to me, but the audio is good and thats really all that matters.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBXmAPdLRyY
Its nice having a lower class here since they are now the focus of attention. There is some added work, however, we now have to correct deficient behavior we see. We can't simply walk by and let it continue. So far this has not been too bad. I choose to use a constructive approach, and always treat the OTs in a professional manner.
I'm still amazed at how scard/nervous they are around upper class. Last week we were briefed on how we should interact with them. It was explained to us that we were not supposed to create stress for them, but it was explained that we still would. This is definately true.
I am the Squadron One mentorship officer. I solicited upper class volunteers to be mentors, and assigned 15 of them to the 45 lower class Goldhawks (I have to report 100% contact back up to the wing). We had our first mentoring meetings on friday. I also provided some tasty snacks and candy purchased with squadron funds since I think they deserved it. The sessions were well received. I filled in as a mentor for an upper classman who had family in town and cojuldnt make it. It was nice to put the mentees at ease and talk to them about how things have gone so far, answer questions (about stuff I could talk about- theres some stuff they shouldnt know about) about whats coming up, give them tips that might help them, and get to know a little bit about where they're from and what they are going to be doing in the AF. Since I was in charge of mentoring I gave myself three reservist pilots. One is flying C-5s, another KC-10s, and the third was C-130s. All airlift/tanker guys.
Upcomming events:
This week we have advocay briefs. These are briefs where we must take a position on an issue, write a position paper on it, and then present to the class. I chose an issue not on the list we were given; protests at military funerals. As repugnant as the individuals of the Westboro Baptist Church are, I feel they should be able to freely express their opinions and peacably assemble on public land. To target a group just because its message is unpopular is very dangerous. What if you had an unpopular message you had to share at some point?
We also have Leadership Reaction Course at Project X. This is a graded measure were we are graded on our performance for one scenario where we are a leader, for al other scenarios we are either team members or safety observes. This is a site on the OTS campus that has a bunch of of "obstacle courses" in a 20ftx20ft cement "room" where we have to work as a team to move ourselves and our supplies from start to end. When we first got here we did two project X scenariosou. I was leader for one where we had to move from start over water to a 4 fot tall cement piling that was 1ft x 1ft about 6 feet away using a plank and some rope, to another piling about 6 feet away, and the onto a big pipe, and then go through the pipe. If you touched the water, or anything painted red it was a 30 second penalty and all members and equipment had to return to the start. This may not sound like much, but when you only have 20 minutes it is.
Next week we have our second written test on monday. This is the last graded measure we have that goes into our overall grade. On tuesday we leave for AEF. This is our mock deployment where we live in tents, and have other graded leadership evaluations.
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Happy Fourth of July
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Tips for Future OT's, Part I
I'll try to post an entry with all the tips I have for future OTs that I've learned in the last 5 weeks at Basic Officer Training (you will see me referring to the program as OTS and BOT. Both are correct. BOT is the program at OTS that commissions air force officers). A few that I can think of now are below. They will be random and not organized in any logical manner. Maybe some day I will organize them.
-Live out of your laundry bag. Dont waste time folding, rolling and displaying clothes when you only have to have one of each item in your drawers/closet for room inspection. No one will look inside your laundry bag.
-Don't go without caffeine for longer than you need to. Know what the OTSMAN says. Also know that OTS commissionsed staff (namely your flight commander) can't approve caffeine for you until two weeks have passed. Conclusion: do something good as a flight, and get caffeine privledges early.
-Shirt garters- get the ones that only clip once to each sock. Dont get the ones I got that reqiure two for each leg. Worst of all, dont get none. You will look like a slob.
-Keep DIRTS towels handy in your dorm room so you can use them to wipe things clean before leaving , and as a shower bath mat. You can't put them in the laundry bin in the morning because if the laundry room gets inspected your entire floor will get a demerit. They can be stored during the day by hiding them under your laundry bag, or you can shove them behind the desk hutch thing. Just make sure they dont hang down to where they are visible through the holes that the cords for your computer run through. I suppose you could also hide the above the ceiling tiles in your room, but we've never had the need to do that. Also, if they ever looked up there you would have a hard time convincing anyone that they've been there for a long time if they are still damp.
-Taco Bell at the base exchange closes at 3pm on Sunday. Get there before that.
-You won't have much time for meals. I tried to make all food into a sandwich. This let me eat enough food to survive in the short period of time you are intially given to eat.
-If you bring food with you, like I did, you might be told you can't have food in the dorm past TD-2. I don't think this is true. Read your OTSMAN and figure it out, OT. I just put my food in my civilian luggage, which gets locked up in a storage room, and got it later when we reached phase 2.
-DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, unless you really like ants, put open food or food wrappers in your CamelBak at any field excersizes, to include the confidence course, BELPS, blue thunder, ropes course. They will find your food or empty wrapper (complete with tasty snack residue) and they will colonize the inside of your CamelBak. They are everywhere.
Tips for the first few days:
-Lights on is 4:30. Get up before this, put a towel under your door to block the light, and shave and get dressed. You door WILL be pounded on at 4:30 and you will be expected to be outside almost immediately.
-Your room wont be inspected the first week. Don't waste time trying to set it up. Wait until the weekend for that. Also, only make your bed once. Sleep on top of it. Often times you won't have time to make it in the time you have between physical training and breakfast and/or class. This is true for all of OTS, not just the first few weeks.
-Make sure to know chapter 1 of the OTSMAN and Section 1 of the 24TRS supplement to the OTSMAN by TD-3. If you don't know it fully by then, know it by TD-6. Trust me. You will be tested on it. Also know your knowledge that you are required to memorize out of The Hawk. Know it cold. Trust me on that one too. You will be asked to recite that, and it wont be in the clam setting of your dorm room.
Other Tips:
-Demerits don't mean that much. Don't get too upset when you get them. Just don't get more than 150% of the flight average, or 5 or more if the flight average is less than 5 or you will lose privlegdges. (also, know that rule- you will be asked about it).
-OTMRs on the other hand, you don't want. Too many in one category can get you recycled.
-
-Live out of your laundry bag. Dont waste time folding, rolling and displaying clothes when you only have to have one of each item in your drawers/closet for room inspection. No one will look inside your laundry bag.
-Don't go without caffeine for longer than you need to. Know what the OTSMAN says. Also know that OTS commissionsed staff (namely your flight commander) can't approve caffeine for you until two weeks have passed. Conclusion: do something good as a flight, and get caffeine privledges early.
-Shirt garters- get the ones that only clip once to each sock. Dont get the ones I got that reqiure two for each leg. Worst of all, dont get none. You will look like a slob.
-Keep DIRTS towels handy in your dorm room so you can use them to wipe things clean before leaving , and as a shower bath mat. You can't put them in the laundry bin in the morning because if the laundry room gets inspected your entire floor will get a demerit. They can be stored during the day by hiding them under your laundry bag, or you can shove them behind the desk hutch thing. Just make sure they dont hang down to where they are visible through the holes that the cords for your computer run through. I suppose you could also hide the above the ceiling tiles in your room, but we've never had the need to do that. Also, if they ever looked up there you would have a hard time convincing anyone that they've been there for a long time if they are still damp.
-Taco Bell at the base exchange closes at 3pm on Sunday. Get there before that.
-You won't have much time for meals. I tried to make all food into a sandwich. This let me eat enough food to survive in the short period of time you are intially given to eat.
-If you bring food with you, like I did, you might be told you can't have food in the dorm past TD-2. I don't think this is true. Read your OTSMAN and figure it out, OT. I just put my food in my civilian luggage, which gets locked up in a storage room, and got it later when we reached phase 2.
-DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, unless you really like ants, put open food or food wrappers in your CamelBak at any field excersizes, to include the confidence course, BELPS, blue thunder, ropes course. They will find your food or empty wrapper (complete with tasty snack residue) and they will colonize the inside of your CamelBak. They are everywhere.
Tips for the first few days:
-Lights on is 4:30. Get up before this, put a towel under your door to block the light, and shave and get dressed. You door WILL be pounded on at 4:30 and you will be expected to be outside almost immediately.
-Your room wont be inspected the first week. Don't waste time trying to set it up. Wait until the weekend for that. Also, only make your bed once. Sleep on top of it. Often times you won't have time to make it in the time you have between physical training and breakfast and/or class. This is true for all of OTS, not just the first few weeks.
-Make sure to know chapter 1 of the OTSMAN and Section 1 of the 24TRS supplement to the OTSMAN by TD-3. If you don't know it fully by then, know it by TD-6. Trust me. You will be tested on it. Also know your knowledge that you are required to memorize out of The Hawk. Know it cold. Trust me on that one too. You will be asked to recite that, and it wont be in the clam setting of your dorm room.
Other Tips:
-Demerits don't mean that much. Don't get too upset when you get them. Just don't get more than 150% of the flight average, or 5 or more if the flight average is less than 5 or you will lose privlegdges. (also, know that rule- you will be asked about it).
-OTMRs on the other hand, you don't want. Too many in one category can get you recycled.
-
Half Way There! TD-24
Today was TD-24 of a 46 day training program. This means that, curriculum wise, we are half way done! On a calendar day basis, we are not quite halfway there because of the 4th of July Holiday, (two weekdays that aren't training days). I'm not concerned about that, however, because the time off will be nice.
First, I'll discuss phasing up to Phase 3, and what’s happening next week. Next week, on July 9th, the lower class shows up. This means that, per the OTSMAN (the OTS manual that essentially governs our lives) we (the OT wing; that is all of class 13-07) can request Phase 3 status no earlier than 7 days prior to the lower class arrival. The trainee wing staff submitted that memo last week, and it was approved effective today. This means that we are now Phase 3. This gets us off-base privileges. We are all looking forward to getting off base this weekend for a few meals, and some beers (in accordance with the guidance published in the OTSMAN, of course) at some point over the 4th of July weekend. Unfortunately, we were denied temporary Phase 4 status for the holiday weekend, which would have let us leave the local area, and would also let us wear civilian clothes while off base.
Phase 3 also gets us one other nice privilege. No more tight meals. Ever. This means we can eat in significantly more comfort in the dining facility. We still have to follow dining facility protocol for lining up, getting food, sitting down, and getting up, but at least the actual act of eating can be relaxed and we can converse quietly among our table.
I mentioned that the lower class shows up next week. This means that we will be where class 13-06 was when we showed up. I know that sounds obvious, but it really isn't because our transformation has been gradual over the last 5 weeks, so I guess I didn't really notice it. Stated differently, we are almost equivalent to the point where our upper class was when we met them....and they seemed pretty sharp. We had a dry run for their TD-0 (the day they show up). It went pretty smoothly. My job is to move them quickly through the dorms, to their rooms, and get them to drop their stuff off and get back on the wall as quickly as possible. This will involve things like yelling at the group (we are not supposed to yell at individuals, however we are expected to correct them) Once they finish putting things in their dorms, they get turned over to the MTI's (military training instructors; or drill sergeants). That’s when things will get real for them. They will be yelled at by people who are extremely good at making themselves scary. The astute trainees will realize that this is all part of the game, and the yelling isn't personal and to go along with it, act professionally, and make corrections. The trainees that don't realize that this is a game might have a tough time adjusting at first. Again, the upper class doesn't really do any yelling (don't confuse talking loudly with yelling). It's our job to be mentors and set the lower class up for success for when they face certain stressful evaluations that will come their way in the first part of their training.
Anyway, this week we have started the combatives program. We drill and fight for 2 hours each morning, from 5 to 7. This means that I am sore and bruised today. So far all of the sparring has been from the ground (no standing), no striking, no small joint manipulations (fingers, etc), no slamming, etc. We do submissions, however, and those can hurt. Being a former wrestler definately helps when we go live. My go to move in high school, the roll, works real well here because opponents often put their weight high my body (i.e. make their CG high) when I'm in the down position, making them easy to roll.
Last week we did BELPS and M9 qualifications. BELPS stands for Baseline Expeditionary Leadership Problems. In this exercise, which is a graded measure, we go to a field and are given a mission to accomplish that requires us to use land navigation skills and leadership skills. Each flight member has to be a leader once, and is graded on their performance. It was exciting because not all the rules were told to the participants, so something might get you killed that you didn't know about. When I was leader, I instructed the team to move with a low profile. One kid stood up, and he was incapacitated. I then had to drag him to the next waypoint. At this wayoint, our mission was to repair a radio receiver (i.e. reconnect some wires on an old DVD player). Also unbeknownst to us was that if anyone touched the red wire, they would be incapacitated. The two guys I assigned to repair the equipment both did this and were incapacitated. Now we had three people out of our original 8 that had to be carried. Anyway, I wont go into too much more detail, but the exercise put emphasis on leadership, and not really mission completion (which is only worth 1 point out of 28), so I still did pretty well.
We also did M9 qualifications. For those not familiar, the M9 is the standard military sidearm. I qualified, but missed expert by 4 shots to the body. I got the requisite number of head shots for expert, and should have stopped aiming for the head when I knew I had met that requirement. I'll go for expert when I requalify.
-
First, I'll discuss phasing up to Phase 3, and what’s happening next week. Next week, on July 9th, the lower class shows up. This means that, per the OTSMAN (the OTS manual that essentially governs our lives) we (the OT wing; that is all of class 13-07) can request Phase 3 status no earlier than 7 days prior to the lower class arrival. The trainee wing staff submitted that memo last week, and it was approved effective today. This means that we are now Phase 3. This gets us off-base privileges. We are all looking forward to getting off base this weekend for a few meals, and some beers (in accordance with the guidance published in the OTSMAN, of course) at some point over the 4th of July weekend. Unfortunately, we were denied temporary Phase 4 status for the holiday weekend, which would have let us leave the local area, and would also let us wear civilian clothes while off base.
Phase 3 also gets us one other nice privilege. No more tight meals. Ever. This means we can eat in significantly more comfort in the dining facility. We still have to follow dining facility protocol for lining up, getting food, sitting down, and getting up, but at least the actual act of eating can be relaxed and we can converse quietly among our table.
I mentioned that the lower class shows up next week. This means that we will be where class 13-06 was when we showed up. I know that sounds obvious, but it really isn't because our transformation has been gradual over the last 5 weeks, so I guess I didn't really notice it. Stated differently, we are almost equivalent to the point where our upper class was when we met them....and they seemed pretty sharp. We had a dry run for their TD-0 (the day they show up). It went pretty smoothly. My job is to move them quickly through the dorms, to their rooms, and get them to drop their stuff off and get back on the wall as quickly as possible. This will involve things like yelling at the group (we are not supposed to yell at individuals, however we are expected to correct them) Once they finish putting things in their dorms, they get turned over to the MTI's (military training instructors; or drill sergeants). That’s when things will get real for them. They will be yelled at by people who are extremely good at making themselves scary. The astute trainees will realize that this is all part of the game, and the yelling isn't personal and to go along with it, act professionally, and make corrections. The trainees that don't realize that this is a game might have a tough time adjusting at first. Again, the upper class doesn't really do any yelling (don't confuse talking loudly with yelling). It's our job to be mentors and set the lower class up for success for when they face certain stressful evaluations that will come their way in the first part of their training.
Anyway, this week we have started the combatives program. We drill and fight for 2 hours each morning, from 5 to 7. This means that I am sore and bruised today. So far all of the sparring has been from the ground (no standing), no striking, no small joint manipulations (fingers, etc), no slamming, etc. We do submissions, however, and those can hurt. Being a former wrestler definately helps when we go live. My go to move in high school, the roll, works real well here because opponents often put their weight high my body (i.e. make their CG high) when I'm in the down position, making them easy to roll.
Last week we did BELPS and M9 qualifications. BELPS stands for Baseline Expeditionary Leadership Problems. In this exercise, which is a graded measure, we go to a field and are given a mission to accomplish that requires us to use land navigation skills and leadership skills. Each flight member has to be a leader once, and is graded on their performance. It was exciting because not all the rules were told to the participants, so something might get you killed that you didn't know about. When I was leader, I instructed the team to move with a low profile. One kid stood up, and he was incapacitated. I then had to drag him to the next waypoint. At this wayoint, our mission was to repair a radio receiver (i.e. reconnect some wires on an old DVD player). Also unbeknownst to us was that if anyone touched the red wire, they would be incapacitated. The two guys I assigned to repair the equipment both did this and were incapacitated. Now we had three people out of our original 8 that had to be carried. Anyway, I wont go into too much more detail, but the exercise put emphasis on leadership, and not really mission completion (which is only worth 1 point out of 28), so I still did pretty well.
We also did M9 qualifications. For those not familiar, the M9 is the standard military sidearm. I qualified, but missed expert by 4 shots to the body. I got the requisite number of head shots for expert, and should have stopped aiming for the head when I knew I had met that requirement. I'll go for expert when I requalify.
-
Sunday, June 23, 2013
23 Jun 13. TD-18 tomorrow
I want to appologize in advance for the typos and seemingly random topics in this post. I don't have much time to write it so I'll get down whatever I'm thinking about now and maybe come back and fix it up in 43 days after graduation.
Its Sunday. Another week down. This weekend was relatively slow. Our student squadron commander, Major Dieter (this guy is STRICT, but fair and very professional), decided to pull our base privledges for Saturday and restrict us to the OTS complex because we've been slacking ever since the upper class left. This whole thing is definately a game, and I think that was all part of it; give us some slack for a few days and then yank the leash back in real hard and jack everyone up for every little thing. Come to think of it, there were a few days where everything seemed too quiet. Usually commissioned staff sharks around on the "bomb run" (the long walkway between the academic building and the dining facility where flights hold and wait to enter the dining facility). They usually quiz flights on their knowledge, watch for flight leaders to make mistakes marching their flights to meals, "correct" officer trainees by "speaking loudly" to them, etc. But not for most of last week. Anyway, we (i.e. all of Class 13-07) were all told on Thursday that everything we were doing was not up to standards in terms of professionalism and procedures, and that it was going to start raining OTMRs (officer trainee memorandum for record). Those are essentially memos that go in your folder that document how you messed something up- and always require you to report to the officer who issued it. Often times this can start what is called an "OTMR Waterfall" where you go in to get an OTMR, mess something up in the process, and have to come back for another one, mess up again, and the process repeats. One kid in my flight got at least five OTMRs this way. Anyway, just my luck- I was on the schedule to be flight leader on Friday (remember we were told on Thursday that it was going to start "raining OTMRs"). I ended up with one OTMR that day for a mistake entering the dining facility- I forgot to call "as you were" when I wanted to cancel an order. Thats the second one ive gotten since being here. Not a huge deal because no OTMR waterfall ensued.
Aside from that, this past week consisted of one day in the field (I think I mentioned that in my last post), 4 days of classes, and our second physcial fitness test. This was probably our busiest week of classes so far. I don't think i've discussed academics that much yet, so i'll briefly mention those. We study three main subjects; leadership studies, profession of arms, and warfare studies. W also have some classes on communication, but none of these are testable so everyone, myself included, ignores them. This week consisted primarly of warfare studies lessons. We covered the history of airpower from Post-WWI through present. We also had some culture lessons geared at making us aware that we will have to go through even more cultural training if we ever deploy. These lessons covered all the combatant command areas of responsibility (i.e. central command, Africa command, northern command, pacific command, etc.). Fortunately (unfortunately?) these lessons are not on the syllabus for the next exam, so myself and many others did not pay attention. Since these were given in a lecture hall to all 130 something members of Class 13-07, rather than in our flight room, this seemed like the right thing to do.
We had a number of leadership studies classes last week that i'm finishing up homework for this week. The leadership studies curriculum contains subjecs geared towards managenemt, supervisison, and obviously leadership. Lessons include conflict management, leadership authority and responsibility (interesting- this dealt with the legality of issuing orders and the sources of an officer's authority), change management, effective supervision, and stuff like that.
The final sylabus area is profession of arms. That includes subjects such as military law, UCMJ, cultural awareness, enlisted force structure, and other topics pertinent to being an officer in the United States military.
As I mentioned, we also had our second (out of three) physcial fitness test. The test consists of abdominal circumference, a 1.5 mile run, 1 minute of pushups and 1 minute of crunches. My score improved from a 97 to a 98.7; the highest in the flight. I increased my pushups from 48 to 53, and my situps from 48 to 58 (58 is the max for situps). My run improved from 8:53 to 8:38, however this did not increase my score because I already had scored the max. Ab circumference was also maxed out. The only place left to improve is pushups. If I can do 15 more in a minute, for a total of 58, I'll max that one out too. We did well as a flight also; our flight average was above 95.
Our flight's PT score was enough to get us Athletic Flight of the Week, again. This is good because our flight commander likes that sort of stuff'- he was a college football player. Some other flight awards are given out such as academic flight and overall flight of the week. Other Goldhawk flights won those ones giving the Goldhawks another sweep this week, making the Goldhawks the squadron of the week, again. The rivalry between us, the Hoyas and the Tigers is healthy but the commissioned staff wants us to come together as a wing since the lower class will be here soon.
This upcoming week will be a busy one, and will be almost entirely in the field. We have M9 pistol qualification on monday. We have Baseline Expeditionary Leadership Skills on tuesday and wednesday (a graded field leadership measure) and a high ropes course on thursday. The week after that we have a graded informational briefing, which I should do well in as long as I follow the standard AF info brieing format, because I'm used to giving presentations at work.
Its Sunday. Another week down. This weekend was relatively slow. Our student squadron commander, Major Dieter (this guy is STRICT, but fair and very professional), decided to pull our base privledges for Saturday and restrict us to the OTS complex because we've been slacking ever since the upper class left. This whole thing is definately a game, and I think that was all part of it; give us some slack for a few days and then yank the leash back in real hard and jack everyone up for every little thing. Come to think of it, there were a few days where everything seemed too quiet. Usually commissioned staff sharks around on the "bomb run" (the long walkway between the academic building and the dining facility where flights hold and wait to enter the dining facility). They usually quiz flights on their knowledge, watch for flight leaders to make mistakes marching their flights to meals, "correct" officer trainees by "speaking loudly" to them, etc. But not for most of last week. Anyway, we (i.e. all of Class 13-07) were all told on Thursday that everything we were doing was not up to standards in terms of professionalism and procedures, and that it was going to start raining OTMRs (officer trainee memorandum for record). Those are essentially memos that go in your folder that document how you messed something up- and always require you to report to the officer who issued it. Often times this can start what is called an "OTMR Waterfall" where you go in to get an OTMR, mess something up in the process, and have to come back for another one, mess up again, and the process repeats. One kid in my flight got at least five OTMRs this way. Anyway, just my luck- I was on the schedule to be flight leader on Friday (remember we were told on Thursday that it was going to start "raining OTMRs"). I ended up with one OTMR that day for a mistake entering the dining facility- I forgot to call "as you were" when I wanted to cancel an order. Thats the second one ive gotten since being here. Not a huge deal because no OTMR waterfall ensued.
Aside from that, this past week consisted of one day in the field (I think I mentioned that in my last post), 4 days of classes, and our second physcial fitness test. This was probably our busiest week of classes so far. I don't think i've discussed academics that much yet, so i'll briefly mention those. We study three main subjects; leadership studies, profession of arms, and warfare studies. W also have some classes on communication, but none of these are testable so everyone, myself included, ignores them. This week consisted primarly of warfare studies lessons. We covered the history of airpower from Post-WWI through present. We also had some culture lessons geared at making us aware that we will have to go through even more cultural training if we ever deploy. These lessons covered all the combatant command areas of responsibility (i.e. central command, Africa command, northern command, pacific command, etc.). Fortunately (unfortunately?) these lessons are not on the syllabus for the next exam, so myself and many others did not pay attention. Since these were given in a lecture hall to all 130 something members of Class 13-07, rather than in our flight room, this seemed like the right thing to do.
We had a number of leadership studies classes last week that i'm finishing up homework for this week. The leadership studies curriculum contains subjecs geared towards managenemt, supervisison, and obviously leadership. Lessons include conflict management, leadership authority and responsibility (interesting- this dealt with the legality of issuing orders and the sources of an officer's authority), change management, effective supervision, and stuff like that.
The final sylabus area is profession of arms. That includes subjects such as military law, UCMJ, cultural awareness, enlisted force structure, and other topics pertinent to being an officer in the United States military.
As I mentioned, we also had our second (out of three) physcial fitness test. The test consists of abdominal circumference, a 1.5 mile run, 1 minute of pushups and 1 minute of crunches. My score improved from a 97 to a 98.7; the highest in the flight. I increased my pushups from 48 to 53, and my situps from 48 to 58 (58 is the max for situps). My run improved from 8:53 to 8:38, however this did not increase my score because I already had scored the max. Ab circumference was also maxed out. The only place left to improve is pushups. If I can do 15 more in a minute, for a total of 58, I'll max that one out too. We did well as a flight also; our flight average was above 95.
Our flight's PT score was enough to get us Athletic Flight of the Week, again. This is good because our flight commander likes that sort of stuff'- he was a college football player. Some other flight awards are given out such as academic flight and overall flight of the week. Other Goldhawk flights won those ones giving the Goldhawks another sweep this week, making the Goldhawks the squadron of the week, again. The rivalry between us, the Hoyas and the Tigers is healthy but the commissioned staff wants us to come together as a wing since the lower class will be here soon.
This upcoming week will be a busy one, and will be almost entirely in the field. We have M9 pistol qualification on monday. We have Baseline Expeditionary Leadership Skills on tuesday and wednesday (a graded field leadership measure) and a high ropes course on thursday. The week after that we have a graded informational briefing, which I should do well in as long as I follow the standard AF info brieing format, because I'm used to giving presentations at work.
Monday, June 17, 2013
TD-13
I haven't had a chance to update this blog in a while because we've been pretty busy. Since last time we reached Phase One. We have since reached Phase Two, but first I'll discuss some other stuff we did since then.
The acamdemics are in full swing. We are spending a lot of time on the "Leadership Studies" curriculum. Some of this stuff is interesting, other parts of it are terribly boring. None of this really matters though because we don't really have time to actually learn the subjects. Instead we are concerned only with completing homework assignments so we would be prepared for the first test, which happened last Thursday. I scored a 93.something %. The Class 13-07 average was an 88 I think. I shouldn't have missed the questions I missed, but thats in the past now so I'll have to work harder on studying for the second test. This was the first of two CWTs (consolodated written tests) that we have while we're here. These make up the majority of our overalll grade. Other things that factor into our grade are field leadership excersizes and pysical fitness testing.
Getting to Phase One was not easy (we came in at Phase Zero). It consisted of a Phase One Evaluation where the upper class pulled us out of class unexpectedly, lined us up in the hallway and asked us individually to recite knowledge we were suppoesed to memorize, such as the Airman's Creed, OTS Mission, AF Vision, Code of Conduct Articles 1 through however many there are, quotes of the day, and so on. Every so often some of us would be sent into "Cube City" where the commissioned staff offices are. That area was artificially filled with additional commissioned officers and upper classmen to test our knowledge of bracing and passing procedures, and also our procedures for reporting in to an officer. Normally, this stuff would be easy, but all the yelling tended to throw people off their game. I came out of it unscathed, and didn't have to take a second loop through, even though I almost did by accident.
Phasing up to Phase Two was much better than going from zero to one. It happened on Friday the 14th at the end of what is called the "Commander's Run". We went on what I'm estimating to be a 5.5 mile run (not a long run by my standards) stopping at a number of landmarks around the base that had historical significance. When we stopped the historical significance was explained by our Lower Flight Commander and Assistant Lower Flight Commander (These are both upper class Officer Trainees who are selected to mentor and teach, using many techniques not the least of which is "talking loudly," us lower class trainees). After that we would do some sort of excersize that had some relation to the historical aspect of the stop. For example, there is a B-52 static display; we did 52 pushups underneath it. Another example; there is a full size metal sculpture of the Wright Flyer. We did four 120 foot shuttle runs to commemorate the distance of the Wright Brother's first flight (coincidentally, my left quad cramped so bad on the first one I thought I pulled it- muscle cramps have been a problem down here for me probably because of the heat/humidity leading to profuse sweating casuing a lack of electrolytes). Anyway, after all these various stops we ended up at the Air Univeristy (AU) Headquarters. This building was actually where Air Corps Tactical School was located in the 30's. Anyway, in front of that building is a prop & wings statue, which is significant because it was the original insignia of the Army Air Service in 1920, and is now given to Officer Trainees, AF Academy Cadets and ROTC cadets. Anyway, after a speach by the OTS Commandant (hence the event being called the Commander's Run) the upper class pinned our prop & wings on us. These insignia will be worn on our flight cap as part of our blues uniform while we are OTs.
Upon returning to our rooms we found that the upper class also put our Phase Two epaulets on our blues shirts, pinned another prop and wings on our flight caps, and also left a surprise on the inside of our flight caps which I'll discuss on August 6th after graduation.
With Phase two came some additional privleges. We no longer have to brace the wall when passing commissioned staff or upper class. The upper class has also been noticably nicer to us. They now refer to us as "sir/ma'am" rather than "OT." More importantly we can leave the OTS complex (but not Maxwell AFB). This meant a trip to the base exchange. For some reason I ended up buying all sorts of stuff I dont even like and never normally eat, such as cookies and red bull. Another nice thing was getting to wear our "privilege uniform" which is a polo shirt and khakis. That was the first time I've worn civilian clothes in over two weeks.
The acamdemics are in full swing. We are spending a lot of time on the "Leadership Studies" curriculum. Some of this stuff is interesting, other parts of it are terribly boring. None of this really matters though because we don't really have time to actually learn the subjects. Instead we are concerned only with completing homework assignments so we would be prepared for the first test, which happened last Thursday. I scored a 93.something %. The Class 13-07 average was an 88 I think. I shouldn't have missed the questions I missed, but thats in the past now so I'll have to work harder on studying for the second test. This was the first of two CWTs (consolodated written tests) that we have while we're here. These make up the majority of our overalll grade. Other things that factor into our grade are field leadership excersizes and pysical fitness testing.
Getting to Phase One was not easy (we came in at Phase Zero). It consisted of a Phase One Evaluation where the upper class pulled us out of class unexpectedly, lined us up in the hallway and asked us individually to recite knowledge we were suppoesed to memorize, such as the Airman's Creed, OTS Mission, AF Vision, Code of Conduct Articles 1 through however many there are, quotes of the day, and so on. Every so often some of us would be sent into "Cube City" where the commissioned staff offices are. That area was artificially filled with additional commissioned officers and upper classmen to test our knowledge of bracing and passing procedures, and also our procedures for reporting in to an officer. Normally, this stuff would be easy, but all the yelling tended to throw people off their game. I came out of it unscathed, and didn't have to take a second loop through, even though I almost did by accident.
Phasing up to Phase Two was much better than going from zero to one. It happened on Friday the 14th at the end of what is called the "Commander's Run". We went on what I'm estimating to be a 5.5 mile run (not a long run by my standards) stopping at a number of landmarks around the base that had historical significance. When we stopped the historical significance was explained by our Lower Flight Commander and Assistant Lower Flight Commander (These are both upper class Officer Trainees who are selected to mentor and teach, using many techniques not the least of which is "talking loudly," us lower class trainees). After that we would do some sort of excersize that had some relation to the historical aspect of the stop. For example, there is a B-52 static display; we did 52 pushups underneath it. Another example; there is a full size metal sculpture of the Wright Flyer. We did four 120 foot shuttle runs to commemorate the distance of the Wright Brother's first flight (coincidentally, my left quad cramped so bad on the first one I thought I pulled it- muscle cramps have been a problem down here for me probably because of the heat/humidity leading to profuse sweating casuing a lack of electrolytes). Anyway, after all these various stops we ended up at the Air Univeristy (AU) Headquarters. This building was actually where Air Corps Tactical School was located in the 30's. Anyway, in front of that building is a prop & wings statue, which is significant because it was the original insignia of the Army Air Service in 1920, and is now given to Officer Trainees, AF Academy Cadets and ROTC cadets. Anyway, after a speach by the OTS Commandant (hence the event being called the Commander's Run) the upper class pinned our prop & wings on us. These insignia will be worn on our flight cap as part of our blues uniform while we are OTs.
Upon returning to our rooms we found that the upper class also put our Phase Two epaulets on our blues shirts, pinned another prop and wings on our flight caps, and also left a surprise on the inside of our flight caps which I'll discuss on August 6th after graduation.
With Phase two came some additional privleges. We no longer have to brace the wall when passing commissioned staff or upper class. The upper class has also been noticably nicer to us. They now refer to us as "sir/ma'am" rather than "OT." More importantly we can leave the OTS complex (but not Maxwell AFB). This meant a trip to the base exchange. For some reason I ended up buying all sorts of stuff I dont even like and never normally eat, such as cookies and red bull. Another nice thing was getting to wear our "privilege uniform" which is a polo shirt and khakis. That was the first time I've worn civilian clothes in over two weeks.
Phase Two also means that weekend meals are optional, so some of us ate at the golf course on Saturday. Weekday dinners in the dining facility are also no longer tight meals, meaning we can talk, and we no don't have to sit at the modified position of seated attention (we can lean back, feet dont have to be at a 45 degree angle with the heels together, unused hands dont have to be bladed and grounded to the front of the knee, we get more than 3-5 minutes to eat etc).
Today consisted of field lessons where we learned tactical communication, land navigation and small unit tactics. The rest of the week is almost entirely classes, but at least they get more interesting. They are mostly from our "Warfare Studies" curriculum, and occur in a lecture hall with the entire class and are taught by a civilian (retired AF) lecturer (as opposed to most of the other classes, which occur in our flight room and are taught by our flight commander). This week's topics are airpower from pre-WWI all the way through the Cold War.
In other news, the upper class graduates tomorrow. Next week is M9 qualifications and some expediationary leadership excersizes; almost no classes for the entire week, so there is plenty to look forward to.
Its also much cooler this week. Last week it was in the mid to high 90's, very humid and sunny. Apparently that's unusually hot for this time of year, even down here. Needless to say, that heat combined with wearing ABU's (Airmans Battle Uniforms- long pands, undershirts, long sleeve shirts, hat, and boots) is not pleasant. I routinely sweat all the way through them.
Overall things are going pretty well. I was told that the first two weeks really suck, and it gets better after that. We are almost three weeks in at this point. So far, that is turning out to be true.
Today consisted of field lessons where we learned tactical communication, land navigation and small unit tactics. The rest of the week is almost entirely classes, but at least they get more interesting. They are mostly from our "Warfare Studies" curriculum, and occur in a lecture hall with the entire class and are taught by a civilian (retired AF) lecturer (as opposed to most of the other classes, which occur in our flight room and are taught by our flight commander). This week's topics are airpower from pre-WWI all the way through the Cold War.
In other news, the upper class graduates tomorrow. Next week is M9 qualifications and some expediationary leadership excersizes; almost no classes for the entire week, so there is plenty to look forward to.
Its also much cooler this week. Last week it was in the mid to high 90's, very humid and sunny. Apparently that's unusually hot for this time of year, even down here. Needless to say, that heat combined with wearing ABU's (Airmans Battle Uniforms- long pands, undershirts, long sleeve shirts, hat, and boots) is not pleasant. I routinely sweat all the way through them.
Overall things are going pretty well. I was told that the first two weeks really suck, and it gets better after that. We are almost three weeks in at this point. So far, that is turning out to be true.
Sunday, June 9, 2013
TD-7 ?
I think it's td-7. I haven't had a chance to update this in a while because we've been do busy. We had our Phase One Evaluation yesterday. It consisted of being asked our knowledge in a stressful environment (ie getting yelled at by commissioned staff and upperclass OT's. We were also tested on our procedures for reporting to an officer, opening/closing class, and some other stuff. The squadron, the. Goldhawks, passed! That's the first time a squadron has passed their POE on the first try. As a resultof passing we get to wear phase one insignia on our uniforms.
The other two student squadrons failed (Tigers and Hoyas), and have to go through that again, which sucks for them because its really stressful , and there will be nupper class here because they have their mock deployment next week. That means commissioned staff only, which is bad for them.
We were also tested on drill ( marching) which we did not pass, so we have another eval on that next week if we pass,we will be allowed to march as a flight by ourselves, which is good because it takes eyes off us.
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