Logistics Readiness Officer Course (LROC)

The following was sent to me by a recent graduate of the 21R Tech School, the Logistics Readiness Officer Course.  I left this in his voice but made minor edits to formatting and grammar.

21R Tech School – Course ID J3OBR21R10L1B-I

I went through LROC from May to July of 2018.  You get to spend your time in beautiful/not so exciting Wichita Falls, Texas.  When I went through, it was roughly 45 academic days/365 contact hours.  We were the first class going through; kind of like a beta version.  We were told that three courses need to be taught in order to validate this course.  As of the time of this writing, there were six testable sections (also known as blocks), each taking about a week or so to cover.  The capstone of the course was completed during the final three days.

In the order it was instructed, we covered:

• Block I – Organization, Roles, and Responsibilities
• Block II – Base Supply and Materiel Management
• Block III – Fuels Management
• Block IV – Ground Transportation and Distribution
• Block V – Air Transportation and Distribution
• Block VI – Logistics Plans and Contingency Operations
• Block VII – Capstone

Each block was composed of multiple lessons.  Each lesson was concluded by a small Progress Check (PC), which required a minimum of 80% to pass.  Each block is concluded by a final exam, which required a minimum score of 80% as well.  The typical class structure had about 16 members.  In our class, we had one Lt Col, two Majors, one Capt, and the rest of us were Lts.  We had a class Chain of Command that stemmed from that (flight leader, shred leaders, etc).  Like any other AETC course, no tobacco use throughout the day, you can have your phone on you and use it on breaks, and there is a computer lab to access government email, AF Portal, and print needed items.

Dining

There are two dining facilities you can use:  the Mesquite and the Tumbleweed.  You can use them for breakfast and dinner on weekdays, and are supposed to used them for all three meals on weekends.

Lodging

The LROC course has rooms reserved at billeting for all students to use, but they are on the opposite side of the base from the schoolhouse.  You WILL NOT be able to get a non-availability letter because if it.  However, the governing regulations do allow you to find off base lodging, and will pay you up to the amount the on base lodging rate would have been ($60 for Sheppard AFB).  I ended up getting a crash-pad three minutes off base (which I would recommend to anyone instead of lodging) since you will get a house with amenities such as kitchen appliances, good WiFi, and the joy of not being on base.  Many of my classmates complained about on base lodging for a myriad of issues including:  roaches in their bed/in their room weekly, A/C that didn’t work (they would set the temp to 70 degrees and it would still be 85 degrees in their room), the laundry rooms were always packed, and the overall cleanliness was sub-par.

Class Logistics

Class times typically ran from 0730-1500 with a 1.5-2 hour lunch break right at 11.  It is a very relaxed environment, but everyone in our class was very respectful of the instructors and others in the class.  Lectures typically lasted 45-50 minutes with a 10 min break.  UOD was ABUs every day, but we were told to bring our service dress which we ended up wearing on graduation day.  We wore PT gear once for our first PT session, but after that it was always civilian gear.  We were required to PT three times a week (once as a class per week) which we would normally play volleyball or basketball.  Seriously though, you will have plenty of time before or after class every day to hit the gym if you want.  You will get holidays off, and expect a couple of AETC Family days as well.  For example, being there for Memorial Day weekend meant we had Friday and Monday off.

Off-Duty Time

Wichita falls ain’t exactly your blooming metropolis.  There are all the modern amenities of a small city (Wal-mart, sporting goods stores, etc).  There are lots of good restaurants that aren’t chains, plenty of activities in the local and three-hour driving radius.  I recommend places like the Wichita Fall Brewery.  They have a trivia night every Wednesday, you can visit the wrestling museum (I know, it sounds exciting,) or the world’s smallest skyscraper.  Like I said, not a blooming metropolis…  but there are plenty of things to keep you busy if you look for it.  A lot of people end up taking off on the weekends to bigger cities like Austin, Dallas, or Oklahoma City just for a little variety over the nine weeks.  Personally, I spent time in Lawton, OK hiking and Abilene, TX visiting old friends I had been stationed with back in the day.  On top of this, several of us took the time to knock out a class for our Master’s degree (you will have plenty of time to do homework).  I knocked out one six-week course and made it halfway through another before graduating.  Another guy actually drove down to the University of Oklahoma to take an in-person class (it was his last class) to finish his Masters.  Moral of the story, you have more than enough time to do whatever.  The course load is not overwhelming and the tests are fairly easy for you to take 30-60 minutes a day to review all the info covered.

Volunteer

Because of all the free time you will have, take advantage of the volunteer gigs they offer, or seek out your own info.  Opportunities we took part in included “Texas Pit Crew” which is an animal adoption agency we spent a couple of hours with every Saturday; Special Olympics bowling every Monday; and Food Bank support (donated money and canned food).

Religious Activity

If you are into the church scene, there are plenty of churches and other religious services offered throughout the area.  Several members in my class (including myself) attended a small protestant/non-denominational church of about 400 called One Life Community Church in downtown Wichita Falls.  Others attended on-base chapel services, the First Baptist Church of Wichita Falls, and more that I did not get all the information on.  On top of that, we did personal Bible studies in the morning with about 4 or 5 of us a half an hour before class started every couple of days.