TFOT FY2019 – An Insider’s Perspective

Here are some notes from the first few days of TFOT.  If you have questions or want something elaborated, post a comment on this post and I’ll do my best to funnel them back to the cadet.

• Steve Rogers (SR)

Week 0, Day 1 (Arrival Day)

You can show up at anywhere between 1200 – 1600 hours.

• No questions posted yet (SR)

Be prepared to do a lot of standing.  Wear good shoes that are good for standing.

• Imagine you are in a group with 50 other people.  A boss person tells your group that you have to do something but it takes a while for everyone to get through.  While you are waiting your turn you can either all stand around like a gaggle, or you can stand in an orderly fashion such as a military formation.  As a brand new cadet who just showed up for OTS, the staff instructors there will be watching for order and discipline.  Additionally, they will be watching for those individuals within the gaggle who can not only be orderly, but can inspire order from their peers.  You don’t want to go out of your way to make it look like you are trying to suck up, but it is reasonable to subtly inspire your peers to follow the instructions of the staff.  Lastly, a military formation does not sit down and look lazy, they stand in a professional manner and use the time wisely.  At this point of training a wise use of time would be studying whatever paperwork they have given you so far, learning to march and follow the OTS protocol, and preparing your dorm for the first inspection.  It is never okay to sit down or just “chill out” because you were given no instructions.  We aren’t training Army grunts, we are training Air Force leaders.  (SR)

There is a lot of yelling, but it wasn’t too bad.  Nothing like Army Basic Training.

• No questions yet.  (SR)

We ate an MRE for dinner on the first day.

• When I went to OTS we went through the DFAC on the first day and it was a nightmare.  We were all stressing to get through before the DFAC closed so it was very chaotic.  Nobody knew what we were doing yet so it was just a hot mess.  I am glad that they have been doing MREs for the first day.  It relieves the time burden and allows everyone to get their chow for the day.  (SR)

Have everything rolled before you arrive.

• I didn’t do this and I stressed out about trying to figure out how to follow the inspection rules.  Each thing you prepare for will be one less thing you have to do or figure out when you arrive.  That said, if you do absolutely zero prep it is going to be alright.  I did almost no prep in 2015 and I DG’d the course.  (SR)

We found a room on the floor we were assigned to; probably will change rooms once flights are cemented in.

• There is going to be a lot of chaos the first week or so.  You will almost certainly not start in the same room you are going to graduate in.  In fact, don’t be surprised if you have to move rooms 2-3 times throughout the course.  (SR)

The black hydration system and the attaché were provided to us.

• No questions or comments yet.  (SR)

Start hydrating a couple weeks in advance so your body is used to the water intake.

• This is a good point.  While you are standing around you will be doing nothing but studying and hydrating.  While you aren’t standing around you will be marching around or rushing through the challenge of the day, all the while sweating all of your water away.  (SR)

We marched to AAFES to pick up uniform stuff that we needed.  It is best to have as much as possible before you come.  Getting your uniforms on your first day would suck.  There won’t be really anyone to help you, you’ll be rushed, then you have to carry it back, while marching.  Just bring everything with you, as much as possible.

• This is sound advice.  On the flip-side if you aren’t able to arrive with all uniform items it isn’t the end of the world, it will just be one more challenge that you will have to overcome before you get there.  There are a lot of priors on Facebook who are more than willing to help you wrap your brain around everything you will need prior to your arrival.  (SR)

Week 0, Day 2

Today we did some in-processing:  uninalysis, blood draw and medical, getting your personal profile built, and getting family into DEERS (I think)

• Question:  What all did they do for the blood draw and medical?  Paperwork and shots?  (Anonymous)
• Answer:  They just drew approximately 10 vials of blood for all sorts of tests.  I think they are just seeing what shots they need to give us later, but they haven’t given us any yet.  (TS)

For the non-priors:  We selected our top 5 CONUS and top 5 OCONUS bases.  Make sure you know what you want; use the list on WINGS.

• This is a great thing for you to start thinking about BEFORE you get to OTS.  The list this person is talking about is an excel spreadsheet which lists all of the base options for each AFSC.  Reach out to the prior-service selects on Facebook to help you figure out where you will want to go.  This is an important step because it will be your only chance to express your assignment desires to the Air Force Personnel Center (AFPC) team until you are ready for your next PCS 3-4 years after you commission.  (SR)

We did lots and lots (and lots) of marching and learning drill and ceremony.

• No questions or comments yet.  (SR)

We had an MRE for breakfast.  For lunch, we learned dining procedures.  It is not difficult, just lots and lots of things to remember.

• No questions or comments yet.  (SR)

We got our permanent flights tonight.  I assume we’ll be changing up rooms to be closer to our flights tomorrow or this weekend.

• No questions or comments yet.  (SR)

We haven’t officially been given the dorm manual yet, so we haven’t set it up to standard yet.

• There is an important lesson in this one.  Either this cadet hasn’t heard that he/she has been given the dorm manual yet, or he/she heard straight from the staff or MTI that they have not been issued the dorm manual yet.  Either way, the takeaway in this is that they are not required to have their rooms in inspection order yet.  This does not mean they should completely ignore the dorm manual requirements, it just means they won’t be held to it yet.  The ideal cadet would already know the requirements and proactively help his/her roommates with setting up their dorm room and understanding the “inspection order” rules.  In other words if you have the opportunity to get ahead of something, take it.  If you are just too crazy busy to tackle your room yet, then you know you have a little more time.  Prioritization of your time is key.  There are two potential extremes of outcomes with this one.  Either the staff will notice that the entire class started putting their rooms together in inspection order without asking, OR the staff will be extremely frustrated that no-one took the initiative and rooms still look like a “bag of ass.”  Being proactive is one of the easiest and most effective ways to demonstrate leadership, if executed without stepping on someone’s toes.  (SR)