General field training info

[Odium]

Anyone know when we can expect to get our camp dates? I'm trying to schedule summer classes, etc, but I obviously can't finalize anything until I know when I need to be at Maxwell.

Also, I'm curious to know who's gonna be wearing ABUs...our det won't issue them to us, despite the fact that a) they're authorized, and b) we have like 100 sets in the storage room.

I wouldn't want to be the only guy in a flight wearing ABUs, all it's going to do is make you stand out from the rest of the group and earn you extra attention which you don't want. I think the thinner material of BDUs would be a lot better in the AL and MS heat and humidity anyways.

[Jenkspaz]

I wouldn't want to be the only guy in a flight wearing ABUs, all it's going to do is make you stand out from the rest of the group and earn you extra attention which you don't want. I think the thinner material of BDUs would be a lot better in the AL and MS heat and humidity anyways.

Yeah, but you're also the only guy that doesn't have to polish his boots or iron his uniform, leaving more time for you to help your flightmates out, get DG, and become the next CSAF.

[-Roll-]

Are there any other detachments out there that have run out of black boots? A few of our cadets might be getting the ABU ones just because there is such a limited availability.

[silverwolf0911]

Yup. And some new rule says we can't purchase BDU items.. so it's a huge charlie foxtrot trying to get our FTP cadets outfitted properly. So we'll have to send some to FT in ABUs.

Regarding camp dates.. I saw a memo that says 31 mar is when the dets find out. and may 2nd? ish is when the PSP Ii boards meet. if i find the memo i'll post.

[Archa3opt3ryx]

^^ Why are you issuing boots? Shouldn't you have gotten those last year? Or did you wear through them already?

Yeah, but you're also the only guy that doesn't have to polish his boots or iron his uniform, leaving more time for you to help your flightmates out, get DG, and become the next CSAF.

Well, we don't have to do any of that at BT or JFTC anyway.

I think that if you talk to your NCOs you can work it out to get you an encampment that works with school. I'm not taking summer classes, but have other things that I need to do at certain times and I'm told that I can get an early encampment.

I asked...they can schedule it around your required classes (ie, they're not going to give you an encampment that starts before your exam period ends or ends after your classes start in the fall), but not around anything else. You can do intra-det swaps between two cadets, but you can't straight up request a new encampment date. Supposedly you can also do inter-det swaps, but that requires a lot of coordination and paperwork...hey, maybe if there's two guys here from different dets that want to switch, they can send each other PM's and coordinate...

Yup. And some new rule says we can't purchase BDU items.. so it's a huge charlie foxtrot trying to get our FTP cadets outfitted properly. So we'll have to send some to FT in ABUs.

Regarding camp dates.. I saw a memo that says 31 mar is when the dets find out. and may 2nd? ish is when the PSP Ii boards meet. if i find the memo i'll post.

Please do post that if you can find it. Also, what is PSP Ii?

Does anyone know how you're assigned into flights? Do you find out ahead of time or do they tell you after you show up?

Edited March 24, 2009 by LoneWolf121188

[silverwolf0911]

Found the memo.

PSP II is the 2nd cycle of EAs that go out. There are 70 (or 71, I forget) slots that have yet to be given out. More details in the memo below.

Ref. SUBJECT: ARMS – AFROTC -09-062 - Field Training (FT) 2009 Assignment Preparation

1. … FT 2009 cadet assignments will be released to detachments on 31 Mar 09.

2. WINGS: WINGS will consider the following factors when assigning cadets with Enrollment Allocations (EAs) to FT 2009:

a. Spring 2009 term stop dates and Fall 2009 term start dates

b. EAs from FT 2008 that were deferred to FT 2009

c. Contract Status

d. DOC/DOG

e. Cadet need for a Standard or Extended FTU.

4. Extended FTUs: Cadets who have not completed both semesters of AS 100 and AS 200 prior to Field Training must attend the FT academic sessions scheduled for Maxwell 3 or Maxwell 5. FT academic sessions will be conducted one week prior to Training Day 1.

6. Out of Cycle EAs: On 4 May 09 the Registrar will conduct a second PSP Board to award out of cycle EAs and the board will conclude on 8 May 09. Cadets awarded EAs for this board will be assigned to FTUs NLT COB 11 May 09. AFROTC/DOT will assign these cadets to FTUs based on their school end and start dates. Once the assignments are loaded, detachments may submit trouble tickets in WINGS to request assignment changes.

8. c. … … Note: Universities with a Sept start date may have the majority of their cadets assigned to M6.

[XL0901]

Does anyone know how you're assigned into flights? Do you find out ahead of time or do they tell you after you show up?

Disclaimer: May have changed since I went through

I don't think you find out til you get there. But I seem to remember finding out about a week prior by asking the Cadre. May be situation dependant.

[Prefontaine]

I just found out from a cadre member that you all will be spending more than twice as much time at JFTC and hardly any (or no) time at BT. And, JFTC has been expanded...have fun!

[USAF Pirate]

I just found out from a cadre member that you all will be spending more than twice as much time at JFTC and hardly any (or no) time at BT. And, JFTC has been expanded...have fun!

This is great for both the cadets going through FT and the staff evaluating the cadets. Cadets get a lot more free reign to exercise their leadership at JFTC and the FT staff can better evaluate their leadership potential.

-USAFJosh

[Odium]

I just found out from a cadre member that you all will be spending more than twice as much time at JFTC and hardly any (or no) time at BT. And, JFTC has been expanded...have fun!

This is probably a win for cadets unless they significantly restructure it. JFTC was the closest I came to enjoying FT since it actually seemed like useful training instead of playing housekeeper making beds and folding clothes doing dorm maintenance in garrison.

[jjfly]

While there are only 6 true days of "in-garrison" stuff, the cadets will still be in the dorms more than 6 days. Instead of doing the BELPs, LRC, etc from BT, they'll now just go back to the dorms to sleep. That is a lot better. Not sure exactly how long that part is, but I think BT is 3 days of "deployment prep" before "deploying" to MS

[Guest spooky33]

FT will be mixed uniforms this year...ABU's and BDU's...Detachments are not being authorized to purchase any more BDU items therefore there will be a phase in for ABU's beginning end of this year beginning of next....i.e. bigger detachments will get them first...****heres another thing, if you think wearing ABU's is going to give you an upper hand you WRONG...trust me the FTO's and CTAS are well prepared for that, uniforms will be less important but they'll get on you about something else...its field training honestly what do you expect (but if it makes you feel better then believe what you want)***

[Guest AirForceZip]

Field training encampments are out!

Max 6

Edited April 3, 2009 by AirForceZip

[Archa3opt3ryx]

Max 1! 23 May, only 7 weeks away!

[Guest GFYHUA?]

FT will be mixed uniforms this year...ABU's and BDU's...Detachments are not being authorized to purchase any more BDU items therefore there will be a phase in for ABU's beginning end of this year beginning of next....i.e. bigger detachments will get them first...****heres another thing, if you think wearing ABU's is going to give you an upper hand you WRONG...trust me the FTO's and CTAS are well prepared for that, uniforms will be less important but they'll get on you about something else...its field training honestly what do you expect (but if it makes you feel better then believe what you want)***

I was a CTA last summer. Sounds like they changed up the in garrison quite a bit...good. As far as uniforms go, we didn't really care as long as they were worn correctly. Your uniform is going to look like crap after everything you do in a day, so you are not going to be "special" with one or the other. Basically everyone will look bad, the ones who try to look better stand out. With ABUs getting phased in, CTAs and FTOs will most likely shift their focus to something other than uniforms and how shinny your boots are. Your uniforms do not need to look good at BT or at JFTC and since that is the majority, it's not a big deal.

Personally, I would want BDUs. They are lighter weight (summer weight) and they are darker so they don't appear as dirty. ABUs only come in winter weight, which means you are going to be doing some roasting! Plus you don't want to f**k up your new ABUs at FT and have to pay for new ones.

[Archa3opt3ryx]

I was a CTA last summer. Sounds like they changed up the in garrison quite a bit...good.

Care to expand on this a bit?

[SemperSicEm]

Sorry to steer a little off topic here, but what makes a cadet at Field Training in AFROTC a DG vs. SP or even Top 1/3? What is it that the FTO is looking for in a cadet, i.e. what traits or actions in helping out flight mates can one do to earn the award?

[GearMonkey]

Sorry to steer a little off topic here, but what makes a cadet at Field Training in AFROTC a DG vs. SP or even Top 1/3? What is it that the FTO is looking for in a cadet, i.e. what traits or actions in helping out flight mates can one do to earn the award?

It depends. Obviously good performance on any standardized evaluation criteria (PFT, whatever that marching around test was, etc.) goes a long way. Other than that, generic leadership demonstration through assigned positions, GLPs, and the like. Each FTO brings different experience to the table and will evaluate in their own unique way.

As a former CTA I suggest the following:

1. Don't waste any time between TD-0 and TD-28 (is it longer/shorter now?) thinking about or trying to be a DG or SP

2. Don't be a douchebag

3. Help your bros/hoes whenever you can (it doesn't count if you only do this in order to get an award. . . we can tell)

4. Work hard

5. Do your best

They sound cheesy but these five things will go a long way. I probably spent 70% of my time looking for stuff like this and 30% trying to identify the phonies.

I did a rack-n-stack twice a week with the FTO I worked with and these ended up being pretty stable from start to finish. It doesn't take very long to figure out the top/bottom folks but nailing down the middle third can be a challenge. An added twist is that the flights can exchange their DG and SP allotments. In my case we traded one of our SPs for an extra DG because the sister-flight FTO felt our #3 was a stronger cadet than his #2. I'd like to say it always works out as it should but that is completely naive.

ROTC DETs talk big about awards from FT but it isn't worth stressing over. I've seen some of the worst cadets get them and some of the best not. In the end it is a crap shoot.

Bottom line, DG and SP from Field Training can be nice but are also pretty insignificant in the long run. None of the folks from my DET who got DG at Field Training the year I went got it when they graduated.

[Mav09]

Hey guys,

I had a quick question, are we allowed to wear any ABU certified boot to FT? The boots my class were issued are extremely uncomfortable and I bought my own and was allowed to wear them throughout the year with no problems. In the FTM it just says "Boots, combat, black or sage green w/ ABUs"

Thanks

[Odium]

I was told we had to wear issued boots with BDUs a few years ago, don't know if it's changed with the transition to ABUs.

I'm not sure what boots ROTC is issuing now or what type you may have bought on your own, but I wouldn't want to wear anything that made me stand out from the rest of your flight so you might want to reconsider if your boots look significantly different than issued style. That said, you're going to spend a lot of time in those boots at FT so it's essential you take a pair that fits well or you're going to be hating life and slowing your flight down if you tear your feet up with bad fitting boots.

Edited May 2, 2010 by Odium

[-Roll-]

Hey guys,

I had a quick question, are we allowed to wear any ABU certified boot to FT? The boots my class were issued are extremely uncomfortable and I bought my own and was allowed to wear them throughout the year with no problems. In the FTM it just says "Boots, combat, black or sage green w/ ABUs"

Thanks

Maybe. If you are willing to risk it. I would recommend just breaking in your boots and buying some good insoles. Not doctor Scholls, but Sole Insoles which allow you to mold them to your feet. I bought a pair for my boots and they rocked. Remember, depending on what you are doing, you might end up having to trash the boots after camp. Not really worth it if you buy them.

Second part, is how willing are you to stand out? If you can accept the constant attention CTA's and FTO's for most of camp, do it. You might luck out at a camp where they just don't care.

[Ballman]

Hey guys,

I had a quick question, are we allowed to wear any ABU certified boot to FT? The boots my class were issued are extremely uncomfortable and I bought my own and was allowed to wear them throughout the year with no problems. In the FTM it just says "Boots, combat, black or sage green w/ ABUs"

Thanks

I was a CTA last summer and uniform standardization was impossible. There were mixes of BDUs and ABUs, along with different types of sage boots. So you'll probably get away with wearing your own boots.

Nearly everyone will be ABUs now, so you may stand out. I wouldn't worry about that....the type of boot you wear won't hurt your ranking.

But your boots WILL be destroyed by the end of JFTC.