Differing OTS Experiences

Hey everyone, 1804 Cadet here.  We graduate next week and there’s one thing I’d like to mention to the group that I don’t think I have seen, or at least not very prominently and I think it’s worth noting.

Many people have varying experiences here at OTS.  24 TRS and Det 12 operate quite differently, and the advice or information you may be receiving could be much different than the experience you have.

Additionally, there’s a wide range of experiences within the student squadrons themselves; at least that has been my experience in 24 TRS.  Just because a Hoya experienced one thing doesn’t necessarily mean that a Tiger or a Spartan had the same experience.  I believe that is probably why multiple grads have given conflicting or differing information on some items, especially new content such as the student reader or PRQ.  Just something I would have liked to be aware of before starting this.

– B.L.

This is great advice. There is SOOO much information out there about OTS now that as a prospective cadet it is easy to take it all in as gospel.  The thing is, everyone’s experience is going to be different.  In addition to major differences between how Det 12 and 24 TRS executes the curriculum, much of the experience will be dictated by the staff and cadet leadership for your specific class.  The purpose of this post is to give you a general understanding of how OTS is organized so you can better understand these differences.  Hopefully this understanding will help you to see how advice you receive about OTS fits into the larger picture, which will in turn help you to achieve a greater level of success.

Disclaimer:  I attended OTS in 2015 so this knowledge should be used as a baseline for comparison against more recent sources.  Feel free to comment with differences and I will update this post accordingly.  Also, PLEASE correct me if the details in this post are all jacked up.

24th Training Squadron (24 TRS) vs. Detachment 12 (Det 12)

As I understand it Officer Training School is composed of three different units:  23 TRS, 24 TRS, and Det 12.  In the past they each had a separate function.  23 TRS trained “Commissioned Officer Training (COT)” which is what doctors, nurses, lawyers, etc. attended to finalize their training before they went operational.  24 TRS trained “Basic Officer Training (BOT)” which is what civilians and enlisted attended to become rated or non-rated officers, and Det 12 trained “Academy of Military Science (AMS)” which was the Air National Guard version of BOT.  Now 23 TRS still trains AMS, but BOT and AMS has been converted to Total Force Officer Training (TFOT).  This means that both 24 TRS and Det 12 now train the same course, TFOT.

24 TRS and Det 12 are separate squadrons, both with a different Lt Col as their commander.  TFOT courses are divided into eight classes per fiscal year, (e.g., 18-01 through 18-08).  24 TRS trains the even courses and Det 12 trains the odd courses.  They teach the same curriculum but because they are led by different commanders, each squadron may have their own flavor of the training.  Keep in mind the flavor may also change if a commander transitions from one commander to the next.

Training Organization

Squadron

I attended the 24 TRS so I will speak primarily to that perspective.  Like I said if someone wants to contribute additional or more recent information, send it my way and I’ll update this post.  The 24 TRS is divided four cadet training squadrons:  the Goldhawks, Hoyas, Tigers, and Spartans.  The four for Det 12 are the Mustangs, Phantoms, Warthogs, and Wolfpack.  Each student squadron is led by a staff member called the “Student Squadron Commander or SS/CC.”  This person is typically a Captain.

The purpose of the squadron is to break up the cadet wing into more manageable groups for training purposes, and give the cadet leadership opportunities to lead or get a taste of “command.”  An example of this is on that training day Goldhawks and Hoyas need to be here, Tigers and Spartans need to be there.  It also facilitates the mass transfer of information from the staff to the cadet squadrons.

I am pretty sure Student Squadron Command rotates every class.  There are a lot of other positions such as Course Director which are also in the mix so I think they try to give the staff a well rounded leadership experience at OTS by rotating them around.  Seniority may also play into this, but bottom line each squadron may have a different flavor from class to class.

Flight

The most basic unit during OTS is the Flight.  Each flight will probably have 12-14 people, and when I was there I was closest to the members of my flight.  Each Flight is led by a staff member called a “Flight Commander or Flt/CC,” also usually a Captain.  When I went there were four Flights per squadron, numbered 1-10, 1-11, 1-12, 1-13 for Golkhawks, 2-10, 2-11, 2-12, 2-13 for Hoyas, etc.  (I removed Hoya and Tiger Flights on the diagram for simplicity).

The purpose of the Flight is for the more individualized training purposes such as academics, open ranks, drill, etc.  We did pretty much everything in OTS as a Flight.  Academics, drill, wargames, graduation, etc.  I will mention that some things such as academic briefings were conducted in what we called “chalks.”  A chalk was just like a Flight but all of the cadets in the squadron were randomized and placed in different chalks.  It mixed it up a little bit; for example it gave us a different audience than our normal flightmates when we did our briefings.

Your experience in a flight is going to vary greatly by who your Flight Commander is.  Some may give hundreds of demerits while others only give a few.  Some Flt/CC personalities may be more strict, others may be more casual.  It really just depends on who you get.

Cadet Leadership

This is how the 24 TRS cadet wing was organized while I was there.  The Squadron, Group, and Wing leadership positions were selected by the staff during the “wing boards.”  Flight Director of Operations (FDOs) were selected by Flight Commanders.  The purpose of the cadet wing was to give people an opportunity to lead.

I was part of the cadet leadership so I had a lot of insight for how senior cadet leadership could impact the quality of life of the cadet wing.  There is a lot that is delegated to the cadet wing by the staff, and thus a lot is determined by cadet leadership.  Standardizing at the wing level is one example of how a small decision can impact every cadet.  We tried to keep wing policy at ‘all attache’s shall be marked’ for example, and then let cadet squadron commander’s determine where and how.  In my opinion this worked.  An example of something which didn’t work would be if the cadet wing decided to do wing commander’s calls every other day at 1800.

Summary

I don’t know if this post is going to help anyone.  In addition to OTS itself being a highly dynamic curriculum, transitioning leadership at every level has an impact on the quality of life of the cadets.  When you get to OTS and it is different than what you read about online, take it for what it is.  When you are there it is what it is, all you can do is roll with the punches.  Conversely, if you are there and have the opportunity to impact change on some of these quality of life decisions, use what has worked from the past and apply it to the present.  The cadet wing will appreciate the decisions you make even if they don’t even realize it.