Morgan Higdon posted this in the "USAF OTS 1705" Facebook group (click here). This is good info! I posted this with his permission.
You can download the actual file if you are part of that Facebook group. Click Here for the link.
Suggestions & Questions
about Uniforms and Packing
2. How
is everyone packing? Some are bringing one duffel
of personal items and civvies and a backpack with a laptop and some personal
items. Some others are bringing a suitcase, garment bag, and a backpack.
3. Is
everyone planning to bring the "winter months" clothing requirements? Some people are some people aren’t. Reporting instructions cite Oct-April for cold weather
gear.
4. Is anyone
bringing a princess cut blues shirt, just in case? Some said no, but if everyone has one eventually all
females are able to wear them. Note: You can get these and tuck in like the
original blues shirt (with usage of garters).
5. Anyone find any quick tips or hints on
rolling socks and shirts? Shirts... Make sure when you turn over the bottom, do it at 3 inches,
otherwise when you get to the end you will have to little or too much fabric.
Read the OTS Manual…. It is specific.
5. How
many pairs of ABUs is everyone bringing? The consensus was 3 pairs.
6. Does anyone know about how OTS feels
about vibram fingers? As far as I know (and from what I know from 2903) you can wear them. I do
not ever recall reading in there that you cannot. I am active duty and there
are always 1 or 2 people around the base who do in PT uniform.
7. Suggestions: Try to roll your shirts/socks prior to
arrival. As well, it helps to zip lock like items together (for ease of
packing/unpacking as well as keeping the roll “intact”.
8. Suggestions: Females- When we report in on the 29th,
make sure you hair is good to go. And by that I mean in bun (if it's long
enough) even though we're going to be in civilian clothes.
9. Suggestion: Sew everything on prior to coming
(excluding rank). Also, clip and burn your strings. This will save you a lot of
time the first few days and make more time for cleaning/homework.
Officer
Training School Questions and TIPS
General
Questions:
1. Anyone hear any confirmation that OTS is going to be 2
weeks shorter or was that just a rumor? Again, this is just a rumor. The course
syllabus has not changed. This may be affective for FY18 but our current class
will likely do the full 29 March – 02 June 2017 period.
2. Does
anyone know, or heard from grads, if you can wear calf compression, knee
compression type devices during PT?
I've heard if they
can't see it under PT gear you are good.
3. For
those who wear steel toed boots everyday, are you planning on buying some non
steel toes and breaking them in prior? If so what kind? Ordered the Nike boots. Super light and comfy but not
sure how durable they are. Only wore them a few days but I have custom
orthotics so I don't usually have to break boots in. They don't come in steel
toe though so not sure how much I'll get to wear them after OTS. I have been
told the under armor are nice also. I don't think you can go wrong with either.
I got a pair of rocky C4Ts
4. Since
the skill badge was mentioned in the clothing list, are you having them sewn on
to your ABU tops along with your name tapes and USAF tapes? Most people say yes.
Remember though, if you get wings, those always go on top. Also, do not to
sew on officer's badge (unless same as enlisted) until completion of the course
and/or tech school.
5. Has
anyone actually started to study?
Some have some have not. If you are going to study anything, study the OTSMAN
first. It is higher on the priority list than the HAWK.
6. Do you know what documents I need to
bring to OTS to enroll in join spouse? Husband is AD and I know instructions to
enroll civilian spouses in DEERS says to bring marriage/birth certificates. I'm
currently in DEERS if that matters. Bring copy of original marriage/birth certificates and of
his ID.
Helpful Links
From Prior Grads
1.
What time should I report in? 1500-ish is a good time
2.
Comment: USE THE CROSSWALKS WHEN GOING TO REPORT
IN!
3.
How much luggage may I bring? As much as you need (you do not have to
carry your bags BMT style; you can roll your suitcase if needed). If possible,
leave blues items in the car
4.
What should I wear to report in? Khakis or nice pants, tucked in button up
or collared shirt, belt, no watch or jewelry (other than a wedding band), tuck
in your shoe laces
5.
Comment to Prior Es: Do not stand at attention when the
instructors are lining us up after check-in
6.
How much civilian attire should I pack? What you arrive in will be okay for a few
weeks (we won’t be wearing them) -If you have a car you might want a couple of
outfits stashed there for phasing up
7.
The checklist says pajamas… any specific
kind? They
suggest sleeping in PT gear. There are times where instructors will come into
the dorms and tell you to be outside in one minute and you cannot be in your
civilian pajamas outside. -Also, they suggested not changing into PT gear right
away after the duty day (wait until all instructors are gone), because they can
call you outside at any moment and you would need to put your ABUs back on in
less than a minute.
8.
For females, can we bring things like hair
dryers, curling irons, make up? Yes, and there is time to put make up on in the morning.
9.
Suggestion: They highly suggest bringing your own
pillow with a white pillow case. I asked about a blanket and they suggested not
bringing that because they don’t know where you would store it. I asked because
I am ALWAYS cold. They said the AC is blasting all the time so bring a sweater
to sleep in and/or the PT sweatshirt.
10. Should I have cash on hand? Yes, like $20-40-ish
11. Does the color of your undergarments matter? No, no one cares about your bloomers.
12. Are prepositioned items provided upon arrival? If you don’t already have them, they will
take you down to the BX and make you buy everything then and there. They
suggest bringing those items with you (just one less thing to worry about)
13. The dorm manual talks about having an attache for your computer. I'm
assuming we can't carry backpacks to put our laptops and other class items in? No, the attache must be uniform. Purchase
upon arrival. The opening for large pocket is about 15"x12". The
biggest issue is weight, that thing gets really freaking heavy while marching
around.
From
Prior Service (who have not yet attended)
1.
Do I need to pack my clothes they way they
will be inspected? No,
plenty of time for rolling your socks there
2.
Priority for graded items:
1) Academics (SOBs)
2) Research Papers
3) Briefings
4) OTSMAN
5) Room inspection
6) Drill and Ceremony
7) HAWK
8) PT
3.
A few suggested items:
1. headphones,
2. allergy/pain meds,
3. scissors,
4. MOLESKIN (they could not
emphasize this enough),
5. ABSOLUETLY NO SNACKS
From Prior Service (who have not yet attended)
1.
Does anyone know or have you heard anything about the
weekend schedules during OTS? Expect
a Schedule along these lines (week 1):
Assignments/TDY
General Questions
1.
People who have base assignments, how
well do those assignments match up with your requests? Where are you going, and
what was your first pick?
In general, people were not getting the assignments they requested. A few got
assignments that were on their list, but the majority did not.
2.
Did you get your assignment before your orders or did you see your assignment
for the first time on your orders? I got my orders three
weeks after finding out about my assignment.
Career Field Specific
Questions
(RPA specific) Any RPA guys have an assignment yet? I talked to Mr. Coleman yesterday and he
said it should be soon. Some have, some don’t. We will just have to be patient
on this one.
(21A
Specific) Any word on AMOC yet and if the schedule is
posted for the rest of FY17? The Unit Training Manager will send you a rip once
you are ready to go. The assignments POC sent an email to my gaining CC saying
that they do not have slots yet for AMOC for OTS (1705) graduates.
(21A Specific) Do you go to your
first base first, and then go TDY to AMOC at Sheppard? If so about how long
until you actually leave to go TDY? Yes; between 1 and 6 months after getting to your base.
It just depends.
(21A Specific) How is the command
structure in Aircraft maintenance (i.e. who is over and under you)?
Very few officers; Squadron commander
is normally your supervisor. You may have a Capt or Major sitting as the Mnx
Op's Officer (to provide oversight just for the ops side of the house) but they
won’t normally be your rater. Your position will likely be a Flight Commander
or AMU OIC. You will have between 50-300 people under you.
(21A Specific) Is it difficult as a woman in the field? And if you were in a different
career field, is it hard to learn/adjust? Not hard as a
woman. You have to have tough skin though; they are all normally respectful
when I enter the area.
(21A Specific) Do we get to deploy/Do we deploy a lot? We get to deploy,
but it depends on your Command
(21A Specific) What seem to peoples favorite aircraft to work on/with? Usually your
first aircraft
(21A Specific) Do you ever get to physically work with the aircraft or you just do the
management of the people who do the work? We are not signed
off to work on the aircraft but you can go out when maintainers are working on
the aircraft and learn what they do and maybe climb into whatever area the work
is in, but we don’t do the physical work. Just manage personnel issues, EPRs,
and big picture guidance for mx practices, attend a lot of meetings in which we
brief production and aircraft status.
(21A Specific) Is AMOC difficult for those who dont have mnx backgrounds? It is an
appropriate speed and if you have prior service it helps because you dont have
to learn AF stuff as well.
(21A Specific) Do we have to deal with a lot of disciplinary things? Yes. you tend to
write a bit of apaperwork (normally LORs). LOCs should be handled lower than
your level and Article 15s are handled at CC level. But your 1Sgts will have
lots of examples so you dont have to start from scratch.
(21A Specific) Do you recommend keeping anything from when you were enlisted (i.e. EPRs,
resumes, etc.)? Keep what you normally would if you were doing a
PCS/PCA.
(21A Specific) Are officers in that Aircraft Mnx field mainly new accessions or do they
come in through ROTC/OTS? Mainly they are new AF Accessions, so you
already will have a leg up on many people...
(21A Specific) What does a Deputy Maintenance Commander
Recommend in this career field? For my situation, I'll be in for 10 years once I get settled at my first
base and she was saying I need to do a remote ASAP after that. It would be my
first so it's best to get it out of the way on your terms. For you civilians,
you really need to do a remote 1 year tour in your career. Basically you are
filling in a "checked box" to make Major later on. Example locations
are Korea, Turkey or other places in the Gulf region. Then after that you need
to figure out what you want in your career. If you wanna go far, you gotta get
to bases that basically slay you and take you away from your family/deploy. Or
you can be with family and set yourself up to retire as a Major.
(21A Specific) This is a recommendation: Just had a meeting with a 21A Capt and the biggest advice
that he gave was that MX officers get beat up in meetings and not to push that
beating to the Airmen. There is some that will have to be trickled down but
don’t take it out on them. Take it on the chin and move on. There are 3 main
sections of MX, the Maintenance Ops (paperwork side), backshops (fuels,
propulsion, off flightline stuff), and AMXS which is on flightline stuff. Most
of what the 21A's do is briefings about status' and parts on order and stuff
like that.
Labels: OTS Advice, OTS Prep
