ACM Complete...Off To Germany

This past Tuesday I finished the ACM phase here at WIC.  The briefs, flying, and debriefs went well and I was able to make it through "unscathed."  Today I had the day off and was able to get a lot done on my research paper (20-30 pages), which has a first draft due date of 5 Sep...not sure when I'm going get the time to type it all, but something will work out.  Tomorrow I have a BFM-5 flight...another chance to get a little better at my job!

This Saturday we're flying to Germany for a week of simulator training at Spangdahlem AFB, about 2 hours from Frankfurt.  The week is filled with 4 v X training, with four 1.25 hour simulators every day.  I'm not sure what the schedule is like, but it's going to be a good week.  Lana and Liam already have their train tickets and will be meeting me on Sunday.  Video chat on Skype is good, but I'm really looking forward to seeing them again!  More when I return from Deutschland...

BFM Complete...On To ACM

The BFM phase is already over and this next week we're moving on to aircraft combat maneuvering (ACM). I flew BFM-3, 4, 4X & 4S this past week passing BFM-3 the first try, and then busted BFM-4 on Tuesday. The flight wasn't terrible, but there were three days left in the phase and I had one BFM flight left...  I then passed BFM-4X on Wednesday, which was the last BFM flight of the training phase. So, on Thursday, I had a chance to fly BFM-4S which is essentially a "free" flight to get better at BFM with less pressure. The next time I'll be talking to / teaching anyone about BFM I will be the looked to as the expert in the squadron. I big responsibility!

ACM is the next building block phase in our WIC training. We fought 1 v 1 in BFM, now we're moving on to 2 v 2. Our two adversaries will be Nellis aggressors, either an F-16 or F-15 as show in the picture below. The goal of ACM is to efficiently maneuver as a 2-ship to quickly "kill" the adversary and bugout in the smartest direction to preserve range from follow on adversaries.

Once ACM is finished this next Thursday, we're catching a flight to Germany for a week of 4 v X (X being the number of adversaries the instructors want to give us since it's simulated) Tactical Intercept (TI) simulator training at Spangdahlem. I'm really looking forward to seeing Lana and Liam again, as they'll be taking the train up from Munich to visit! That's it for now...

WIC BFM-1/2 Complete

Week two of WIC finished today with 10 hours of classroom academics starting at 0700...after finishing a debrief at 1200 am the night prior. It was a good week because I passed my BFM-1 & BFM-2 flights! All the credit goes to God. It's always a battle between the stress and anxiety of an upgrade sortie and resting in the fact that God has lead me to Weapons School; it will work out as planned in the end.  The jets in the picture below are the same configuration we're currently flying...I actually flew 729 on Thursday.  The WA on the tail is the Nellis AFB designator.

BFM-1 was our local area orientation (LAO) flight, giving us a chance to see the local flying area and become familiar with Nellis flying operations.  It was a gradesheet flight (still potential to not pass), but is typically a pretty low threat flight...all 10 of us passed.  BFM-2 was our first flight leading and our first chance to show the weapons instructor course (WIC) instructors a "good act."  First impressions go a long way, and getting off to a good start is the goal.  Thankfully I had a good brief / flight /debrief and I was able to perform well enough to pass.  Four out of 10 in the class passed BFM-2.

Next week we're all flying Mon-Thurs with a 10 hour academics day on Friday. This will be a standard weekly schedule for us, so a lot to do in 5.5 months at WIC.  Some of us are going to catch dinner and a movie tonight and take tomorrow off, then it's prep time on Sunday afternoon for more BFM!

WIC Flying Starts Next Week

Our first week of academics is over and flying starts this next Wednesday. We've had two tests and will have two more on Mon / Tues. Things are going well so far....lots of PowerPoint briefings and coffee to stay awake. Below is a picture of our dorm. I feel like I'm back in Korea again as far as the living accommodations go.

Being here at Weapons School is such a great opportunity. Being here is amazing and humbling. It's great to be a student again and not have to worry about additional jobs we normally do like scheduling, training, and safety; everything is about tactics and becoming a better instructor pilot / leader in the F-16...what we joined the Air Force to do!

The two flights I have this next week (BFM-1 / BFM-2) are exactly like those I flew in my spin-up. They are Basic Fighter Maneuver (BFM) flights, or dogfighting. BFM is one of the initial skills all pilots learn in F-16 training and is one of the basic building blocks used to teach effective maneuvering in relation to another aircraft while employing missiles and the air-to-air gun. This is my first chance to make a good first impression on the instructors, and I'm ready. We have dry erase boards in our rooms to practice our briefings as we prepare as well. Below is my Offensive BFM briefing board.

There have been no pilots (that I know of) that have gone through Weapons School and not busted (failed) any of their flights. I'm expecting a few of these along the way, and it's all to make sure we're the best we can be before going back to a squadron as the tactical expert to lead guys. The tough thing here is to not let it "get to your head." I know God has directed me here, and I'll have confidence in this when things get rough. More to follow...

2,250 Miles, 10 States, 2.5 Days

I'm finally in Vegas at Nellis AFB after almost an East to West coast drive across the USA. The drive was 2,250 miles, took me through 10 states (not including S. Carolina), and spanned 2.5 days. I was expecting it to take longer, but I kept pressing as long as I didn't feel tired at 80-85 mph.

The first night I stopped in Little Rock, AR and the second in Holbrook, AZ. Each morning I woke up "early" because my body was on East coast time as I gained time passing through the time zones. I arrived in Las Vegas at 1100, checked in to my dorm room for the next 6 months, and then went to lunch with one of my F-16 classmates who I flew with in Aviano.

Most of the class arrives tomorrow and we start off on Tuesday morning with inprocessing and academics already. We're anxious, but looking forward to the great flying ahead of us.