Relationships and the Military

This is long overdue, but I’m just going to make a note here on relationships and military life. Many shipmates in my division at basic training were in committed relationships when they arrived – including me. Some were married, some just very serious. Many couples grew stronger through long distances. One even got married on liberty weekend at the end of basic. Like many couples entering the military, my wife and I decided to get married shortly before I left. We planned to have a legal wedding to take care of the paper work, and then have a “real” wedding when I returned on leave 6 months later. This would provide a number of extra benefits (extra pay, medical coverage, life insurance, and more) for both of us as well as a sense of security in the relationship.

Please keep in mind, separation affects all couples differently. In the 5 and a half years before I left, we had not spent more than a week without each other. Even then, we were on the phone every day. So I knew my absence would be tough on both of us. Very unexpectedly, on graduation day, my newly-wed wife of 3 months and live-in girlfriend of more than five years told me she couldn’t stay with me. She had difficulty explaining why, but it had something to do with her newfound freedom once I left. Not that I was oppressive, but we just did EVERYTHING together. Neither of us saw this as an issue before, but it was always there. I think we were just blind to it. I’m not trying to scare anyone, but please just take this as an advisory notice: know the status of your relationship when you sign Uncle Sam’s papers. Try to look through the excitement of marriage and your new future. Unless happily married already, I recommend waiting at least until after basic training to do so. Don’t use the military as an excuse to rush a marriage. I’m sure it works for some, but my situation is all too common. If it’s worth it, he or she will wait for you. If they won’t, they aren’t worth it.

RADAR

So it's been a while since my last post. Let me fill you in. I've been working in flight planning since I arrived here at Whidbey Island. With only a couple of weeks of training left, I'm very close to being qualified. My time spent training there is about average for this facility. I know some of my former classmates only took a number of weeks to get through flight planning at their facilities. I think it takes longer here due to the complexity of our airspace.

Now that I'm nearing the end of my training in flight planning, I'm gearing up to go into radar. Tower had a certain appeal to it. Mainly because you can actually see the aircraft you are talking to, and I think it has a prestige factor. However, I was hoping and am happy to be working in radar. There are more positions to get qualified on and, as a new trainee, you really start CONTROLLING aircraft a lot sooner than in the tower. Anyway, I just picked up my headset last week. And now, today, I was called up to perform a few PAR approaches. Luckily, I haven't forgotten much from school, but there are certainly some differences. All in all, it went pretty well. Although, on my second approach, I had to give a traffic call. I was a little slow giving the call, and my pilot started to deviate from course a little. The instructor took over since the approach was nearly complete with little time to correct the mistake. Overall I was pleased with the way my first couple of approaches worked out. I'm certainly looking forward to more.

Graduation Pictures

It's a little late, but better than never, right? Anyway, if you're interested, feel free to take a peek at the pictures taken from my graduation here.

Also, I've removed the comment box I was using before - if you feel the urge to comment, you can do so by following the link below any of my posts.  Thanks!

How It Works

So I've been here a couple of weeks now and I'm gonna give you the low down on what I've learned so far about the way things work around here. First, it's a 24-hour facility, so there are three shifts. Mids (2300-0700) are constant - meaning that the people that work mids always work mids. However, the day (0700-1500) and evening (1500-2300) shifts rotate every week. For example, I'm working days this week. Therefore, next week I'll be on evenings. upon arriving they put newcomers into either the Port or Starboard crew. This determines which rotation they will be on.

Regardless of what crew they are placed in, everyone starts training in Flight Planning. This is really the entry-level position for all air traffic controllers. Although, they ensure proper flight paths for aircraft, it's not done in real time. The level of risk here is very low. This is where I'm at now. Basically, we are given a pilot's flight plan - which they generally write up on their own. We just double check the plan to make sure everything is correct and then forward the information to everyone else who needs to know (other airports, centers, etc.). Likewise we receive plans from other airports and let everyone within the facility know who's coming. It's a lot more complicated than that, but that should give a basic understanding.

From there, the command will decide whether the new controller is needed in tower or radar - the two distinct divisions of ATC. Although there are some similarities between them, differences are vast. Far more people work radar than tower. This is due to that fact that radar covers a much larger section of airspace than the tower and also provide more tools/positions for pilots to use.  In each area, there are any number of positions to be qualified on. A lot of people told me that I'd be lucky to make it past "Radar Final Control" (the first radar qualification) in the two years I'm here. However, I'm quickly learning that I really have control over my future here - just like with my career in the Navy. It's all about what I put into it, studywise and so forth. It's difficult for me to set goals on qualifications at this point, just because I don't fully understand how everything works. But I plan to get as many qualifications as I can...period. I can't afford to waste any time here...

Real Life Controller

That's me! Today I actually controlled a couple of REAL aircraft. I went up into the tower for the first time - my first time in ANY tower. I was happy just to be there - then they told me to hop on position. I thought they were joking... Nope. So I was on local control for a few minutes. I had one plane in a pattern - he completed three "touch and go's" while I was on position. I cleared another aircraft for takeoff. He aborted the first time due to mechanical issues, but I cleared him a second time and off he went. I was able to jump in because it was a slow day, but the other controllers still helped out - making sure I knew what to say, etc. I was amazed at how closely our simulators in school resembled real-life. It was probably the most exciting moment for me so far - even better than graduation. I can't wait to do more. Chances are I'm going to wind up in radar, but I look forward to getting more time in the tower!

Beautiful Whidbey Island

Thought I'd post a few pictures. Note: these were all taken on base! The weather has been a little grey and gloomy the last couple days, but I was able to sneak a few great shots during the sun breaks. (click to see full size) Enjoy...


Saturday Evening:





Tuesday Evening - Control Tower and Mt. Baker



Sunset on Tuesday:

From Graduation to Duty Station

I feel bad.  It's been so long since my last post.  Obviously I've graduated by now and I'm even on Whidbey Island!  I took a little bit of leave before driving up here.  Graduation was great - everything went pretty smooth.  It was tough to leave behind classmates and good friends, but on to a new chapter...

I've been here on NAS (Naval Air Station) Whidbey Island since late friday afternoon.  Things are much more laid back and already it seems like a regular nine-to-five.  There was a little culture shock coming from a training command, but not nearly as much as from RTC (boot camp) to Pensacola.  It's certainly a small community.  If it weren't for all of the outdoor activities - hiking, camping, snowboarding, fishing, etc. - I imagine life here would be very dull.  I'm looking forward to making new friends and really starting air traffic control!

Last Days

Waiting.  That's really all we're doing now.  After returning from holiday leave, we finished up our last test: Arrival.  The arrival controllers direct aircraft within close proximity (15-20 miles) to the airport and hand them off to either the ASR or PAR controller for final approach.  The primary goal is to put arriving aircraft into a pattern and line them up for a smooth handoff.  Of course the most important part is maintaining proper separation between aircraft.  I was a little worried about this test (P-Run) due to the fact that we had such a long break right beforehand.  However, the instructors took all factors into account and I pulled out a 100!

Graduation is in two days.  Normally, my class would be in flight planning right now.  I don't know much about it, though.  We had such little time before graduation that we are skipping it.  Instead we tested out a new simulator - it was cake.  Like I said, we're really just waiting around to graduate.  We spend most of our time in the flight planning room - goofing off.  It's nice to be the grad class!

It'll be tough to leave.  It's funny - up until now I couldn't wait to get out of here.  This past week has been so much fun, though.  I'm really going to miss my friends here.  I'm sure I'll be back for C-School (more specific, advanced training) at some point.  I can safely say that I will be looking forward to it.  I have a ton of packing, but I'll keep this updated as I travel to Whidbey Island, WA.  I'll be on leave again for 7 or 8 days before I get there.  See you on the flip side!