IFF starts Tuesday, finally!

OK, my last post on 20 Nov 07 covered my graduating from Undergraduate Pilot Training and pinning on my wings. Since then, not a whole lot has happened unfortunately, but here is a quick summary:

Basically, what should have happened in two months got spread out over the last seven months.

After you are done with UPT, you go to "Grad Flight" with the other people who are in-between training. It's supposed to only have about 10-15 people sitting around that are waiting to start IFF (Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals) but with all the backups in training here and at the other follow-on training bases, we now have over 80 people sitting around from the last 5 graduated classes. Basically once my class graduated there has been such a backup that people are expected to sit around for 6-12 months waiting for their next training date.

While in Grad Flight, we are expected to fly one front seat "BIT" (Break In Training) sortie, one sandbag (backseat ride in an IFF sortie to watch the IP) and one Simulator flight per week. As you can see, doing three things over a period of five days leaves for some down time.

So, since I graduated I've been doing this up until this point. Along with that, I've been TDY (Temporary Duty) a few times for different training courses. I've gone back again to the centrifuge which I wrote about in the last post (I think) where I had to do the F-16 profile of 9Gz. I also went down to Pensacola, FL to do 3 days of Water Survival Training. We learned how to survival ejection over the water and then how to use all the tools that would be available to us in the water. We also had classes on how to eat and drink while waiting to be rescued, and then did alot of on the water training. We parasailed 3-4 times working on different things each time, and once after getting up to 500' were released and had to perform actual water landings, followed by getting our one man life rafts set up and then waiting there for about 4 hours until they dropped everyone. It was actually alot of fun and with the 80 degree December warm front, made for a pretty nice vacation. The only down side was on the second day we tried to get on the water there was a really thick fog that prevented the boats from docking. But the next day we got everything done so all was well. Here are a couple pictures, not of me, but of what we did...

After water survival, I spent the holidays with Anna and her family in NC for a few days during Christmas since Dad was flying on a trip, and then the two of us flew to WA to spend New Years with mom, dad, erin, and ryan. Both NC and WA were a blast, and it was actually really cool seeing NC again after so long. While we were there we spent alot of time with her parents and brother, and her relatives for their Christmas celebration. In Seattle we spent New Years in Alaska snowboarding on Mt. Alyeska for two days. It was a great vacation and Anna and I had a great time together with each other's families!

The next thing on the agenda was leaving on my 25th birthday for Combat Survival Training for 19 days in the freezing Washington wilderness. I arrive to -15 degree snowing weather, with 3-5 feet of snow already on the ground and no chance of letting up in sight. The first day was Land Parachute Training where we actually get to get hoisted up in an old Huey while it hovers about 15 feet off the ground. Then we started a week of classroom academics learning all there is to learn about survival after ejection in all parts of the world. We learn what is and is not safe to eat, drink, how to build shelters, signal, communicate, make fires, and how to be rescued safely.

After all the classwork, we spent four days out in the Spokane, WA mountains actually using everything we learned. I think I was one of the few who can say they actually had fun hiking around the mountains learning this stuff carrying the 70 pound ruck sack! We had to wear snowshoes the entire time which was a pain and I didn't have a Gortex jacket so I had to wear a poncho the entire time preventing the falling snow from soaking my jacket and then freezing. We made tents out of parachute, learned how to catch, kill, clean, cook, and eat a rabbit (we ate two of them!!! and they really do taste like chicken. I even ate the lungs, heart, liver, and kidneys) The whole time we were up there we were in a simulated senario as if we actually ejected over enemy territory and were navigating our way out, each day having objectives to complete. The instructor was with us until the third day in which he leaves and we as a group (of 3) had to navigate to certain checkpoints and then to a rescue point meeting friendly forces. Our training was actually cut short by a full day due to a bad storm that was approaching and supposed to drop 24-36 inches of snow on the mountain so they pulled us off, something that has only been done twice in the history of the program. Here are a few pictures I took with a disposable camera while in the woods:

After the survival portion was over, we spent a week in academics for Resistance Training and then spent 3 days in the Resistance Camp. Pretty much everything we did there is classified, so if I told you I'd have to kill you. Really. All I can say is that it sucked.

After finishing Survival Training I flew down to FL to spend time with the family. While I was down there I got to spend alot of time with my grandparents, more specifically Grandpa Curt who hadn't been doing so well lately with his cancer treatments. While I was in FL Grandpa Curt passed away. There was a very nice service and the family, mainly Grandma and mom (and her sisters and brother) were extremly strong throughout the entire time I was home.

Unfortunately I had to make my way back to TX and back to work, back to my one flight, one sandbag, one sim per week. I did this for the next two months. Anna came a visited a couple times and I finally was able to make my way to visit her in Nashville, TN! We had a blast and she showed me what her town was like. We also decided that she will be moving out to AZ with me when I go out there for F16 training which is awesome and I can't wait!

The past month has been a pretty rough month around the flying community here in the Air Force. Multiple accidents, unfortunately, multiple fatalities, have put a pretty large holdup on the flying. The two that affected us were a crash at Columbus AFB, MS and a crash here at Sheppard AFB, both resulting in fatalities for all four crew members. 2Lt Alec Littler and Maj Brad Funk will be missed, as will the two from Columbus AFB.

This spawned inspections grounding the entire T38 fleet for two weeks as the Air Force tries to figure out the causes of both accidents. Slowly but surely they have began flying again and the last count of flyable jets here at the base as of Friday out of the 120 we have total is 16. Those 16 are split, 10 on the UPT side and 6 on the IFF side. This haulted all the Grad Flight guys from flying, but we still get our one sim per week.

Finally, the day has come that I will start my next phase of training, IFF. I am starting on Tuesday with three German students that just graduated, who were actually in the class that replaced my class in T-37s and T-38s. We will have a week of ground school and then a week of sims before our first flight, but I cannot wait to get back in the jet. Wish me luck!

That's it for now, I don't think I forgot anything but it's late and who knows...enjoy!