SRO (Senior Ranking Officer) at UPT

[tankerhawk]

How about an Army commissioned officer AND helicopter pilot? I have not seen that dynamic covered on any forum yet. I should be going to UPT this year in a Guard slot for -135's and have 8.5 years of service and have been commissioned for 4 years. Any advice there? I suspect I will be a likely candidate for SRO considering my times. Any advice and/or expectations?

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[Seriously]

How about an Army commissioned officer AND helicopter pilot? I have not seen that dynamic covered on any forum yet. I should be going to UPT this year in a Guard slot for -135's and have 8.5 years of service and have been commissioned for 4 years. Any advice there? I suspect I will be a likely candidate for SRO considering my times. Any advice and/or expectations?

Posted from the NEW Baseops.net App!

Resist the urge to feel like your experience has built you a platform from which to quibble and gripe. Shut up and color like every other student and you'll be fine.

There was a guy with similar credentials that went through a year or so ago. He could be a little over confident at times, but mostly an ok dude. Someone told me he washed out, but I didn't hear the full story.

[Azimuth]

There should be a thread about FAIP's that go to the FTU/RTU for their follow on MDS.

[tankerhawk]

Resist the urge to feel like your experience has built you a platform from which to quibble and gripe. Shut up and color like every other student and you'll be fine.

There was a guy with similar credentials that went through a year or so ago. He could be a little over confident at times, but mostly an ok dude. Someone told me he washed out, but I didn't hear the full story.

Anything aside from the obvious? I think that is good advice for anyone; don't quibble and gripe, don't be over confident. I am imagining the most important thing to be keeping a low profile in general. On a side note, why every time I ask about helicopter pilots at UPT does someone always say "Yea, I knew a guy, I think he washed out." Literally every time I bring it up, someone says that. Can anyone shed any light on the trend, or is it not even a trend?

[HossHarris]

We had a fixed wing qual guy once upon a time. He did fine in the end, but struggled a bit initially. Helicopter flying and army flying didn't transfer seamlessly to airplanes and AF rules. Weird. Once he got his cranium wrapped around the AF and airplane ways of things he was fine and his previous experience helped some.

Navs were much worse. Wsos were slightly better and tended to go out into the CAF and do fine. Hard to unfuck a nav though.

[HuggyU2]

There should be a thread about FAIP's that go to the FTU/RTU for their follow on MDS.

Great idea!

We can start with the FAIP that came to U-2s for 3 years... then to F-16s, where he was a DG at FTU... then onto Shaw where he was a below the zone promotion... to Australia where he flies Hornets now.

[Seriously]

Anything aside from the obvious? I think that is good advice for anyone; don't quibble and gripe, don't be over confident. I am imagining the most important thing to be keeping a low profile in general. On a side note, why every time I ask about helicopter pilots at UPT does someone always say "Yea, I knew a guy, I think he washed out." Literally every time I bring it up, someone says that. Can anyone shed any light on the trend, or is it not even a trend?

There are plenty of successful helo pilots flying fixed wing, so I think that's probably just confirmation bias.

As for the SRO part: recognize that the SRO has a tremendous impact on the performance of the class as a whole. The best classes I ever saw were led by SROs who did their job keeping all the cats running in the same direction. The weakest classes I saw were always led by SROs who were really nice guys, but did nothing to guide the class. When I was in UPT, I was fortunate enough to be in a class with a strong SRO. He had a level head, studied his butt off, and immediately quashed any bullshit us dumb 2Lts tried to pull. He was a role model even as a student and you should strive to be the same.

Edited May 8, 2014 by Seriously

[TreeA10]

How about an Army commissioned officer AND helicopter pilot? I have not seen that dynamic covered on any forum yet. I should be going to UPT this year in a Guard slot for -135's and have 8.5 years of service and have been commissioned for 4 years. Any advice there? I suspect I will be a likely candidate for SRO considering my times. Any advice and/or expectations?

Posted from the NEW Baseops.net App!

Had several Army hello guys as students in the T-38. As a group, they did well in the program but they all were former Warrant Officers and none were the SRO.

[Lord Ratner]

There should be a thread about FAIP's that go to the FTU/RTU for their follow on MDS.

It would be a boring thread for your FTU. You get put into a transition class with 2-4 people, and every sim and flight is 90% talking about different bases/assignments, and 10% being told "you already know this stuff, you were a FAIP/C-17/F-15/MC-12/C-5/whateverelse pilot before."

[Ravens52]

Seriously got it right.

Standup for your dudes, and standup to your dudes. Create a team that plays hard and works hard... Competition is good, but squash the douche baggery. Be the guy you would want to approach and have looking after you as your leader/shit filter with the instructors. Remember not to get too involved in the SRO deal and let it effect your flying. Find that balance, that's why your the SRO...

We preached bromanship in our class and we were lucky with the people we had. Great dudes! Our SRO was basically mutinied because he did not preach or follow the above principles. However, the ASRO did from day one and was the informal/real leader for the class. Come assignment night the SRO got a pred and the rest of the class got their top 1, 2, 3 choices... So don't suck and not take care of your dudes! PM if you have questions.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Guest LumberjackAxe]

However, the ASRO did from day one and was the informal/real leader for the class.

That checks, and the wisest advice from said "ASRO" was on the first weekend driving back from Starkvegas: "Don't suck your Commander's dick, but at least cup his balls."

Legendary!

[theat6bisasham]

It would be a boring thread for your FTU. You get put into a transition class with 2-4 people, and every sim and flight is 90% talking about different bases/assignments, and 10% being told "you already know this stuff, you were a FAIP/C-17/F-15/MC-12/C-5/whateverelse pilot before."

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

You literally broke my sarcasm meter. That is the dumbest shit i've ever read…so it must be fake.

I can't begin to tell you how many FAIPS who were supposed to know their shit, could untuck a shoelace tangle, much less lead a formation, play with JTACs, put bombs on target or put gas in the tanks…..Like anything, it has more to do with the individual than the label my man. I've seen butter bars make the FAIP look retarded when it comes down to actual CAF shit and not just flying the ILS 15 at KTIK x10 with a chipotle break in between. But then again plenty of FAIPS roll in, shut their mouth, don't pretend to know a damn thing about anything outside AETC, and ing rock the world around them with ease. Again, individual, attitude, etc…not labels.

[Lord Ratner]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

You literally broke my sarcasm meter. That is the dumbest shit i've ever read…so it must be fake.

I can't begin to tell you how many FAIPS who were supposed to know their shit, could untuck a shoelace tangle, much less lead a formation, play with JTACs, put bombs on target or put gas in the tanks…..Like anything, it has more to do with the individual than the label my man. I've seen butter bars make the FAIP look retarded when it comes down to actual CAF shit and not just flying the ILS 15 at KTIK x10 with a chipotle break in between. But then again plenty of FAIPS roll in, shut their mouth, don't pretend to know a damn thing about anything outside AETC, and ######ing rock the world around them with ease. Again, individual, attitude, etc…not labels.

Cool dude. Since we don't do that in KC-135s, you can put your fighter boner back in your pants.

Unless Azimuth recently started instructing at the B course, that is... But I doubt it.

[sky_king]

Guess what, the "10% of people are morons" rule applies everywhere.

Edited May 11, 2014 by sky_king

[Rusty Pipes]

I was a prior rated (Nav) SRO and can tell you that it can definitely have an advantage for your class if you do your job right.

First rule... Being the SRO is about the class, not you! It was said before, but wear the Wings you have already earned if your are prior rated... aside from that you are just another fucking student. We had a few prior rated/aircrew (both O's and E's) in our class and my first rule to them was to put your leather jacket in the closet and don't take it back out until you are UPT complete (they agreed as a group on this). To be honest, it was actually kind of a cool goal for that small group of us to want to wear our leather jackets again and at the same time it was a message sent to both the IPs and the other folks in the class that we were all the same. The Flight CC actually told me it was perfectly OK for us to wear them, but I told him we decided not to as a group.

Behind closed doors with the Flight CC and/or prior MWS IPs you will most likely have the advantage of being a "crew dawg" and you can use that to your class' advantage, but don't ever put any instructor (especially your Flight CC) in a position where they think even for a second they need to take you down a peg in front of other students. Treat your FAIPs with just as much respect as you would a prior MWS IP and let the rest of your class see that... make it obvious! I actually knew a few of the IPs in my Flight from my prior airframe... I helped carry my Flight CC out of the Brit Club in Diego hammered once or twice and remember the Q-3 the Asst Flight CC got for trying to fly over a thunderstorm a few years prior. They are human, just like the rest of us, but you'd better know the difference between the guy you are talking to with the door closed in the office and the Flight CC addressing your class. They are two very different people... treat them accordingly.

Arrange study groups, stomp out any gouge hording, plan weekend class activities that can include everyone... to include those with wives and kids (BBQ at someone's house, camping, waterskiing/tubing on the lake), know who is doing well in the class and who isn't (and know why), stomp on your class before your IPs have to if things even get the hint of going sideways for any reason. Bottom line is to take care of your folks and don't try to hide anything from your Flight CC/IPs... the walls are very thin between the flight room and the IP office and they are never not listening; if something is going on with anyone in the class the IPs already know about it... trust me!

Finally... take care of yourself as a student. Study as hard as you can and be a good classmate. The Flight Commander has enough say in T-6's that he/she can put almost anyone in the top 2/3 of the class flying wise in the top 3 overall at the end of any phase. Someone will finish first and someone will finish last... do the best you can to help ensure that everyone finishes (most importantly, you). If as an SRO you take care of your class (and your IPs) and you finish out well you will most likely end up flying something you are happy with (hopefully one of your top choices)... and you'll look back at UPT as a lot more fun than you remembered while you were actually there!

Edited May 13, 2014 by Rusty Pipes