TFOT FY2019 – Week 3, Day 1 and 2

Week 3, Day 1

We had PT this morning.

• No questions posted yet (SR)

We had Assessment 2 today. There were 35 questions and you have to score at least 80% to pass.

• No questions posted yet (SR)

Today there were more briefings.

• No questions posted yet (SR)

We received our Paper 1 back today and received feedback. As I expected, it wasn’t as much about what you wrote but about the mechanics of writing it. You need to check your formatting at least 5 times. Immediately after I submitted my paper, I found a mistake on mine. Then, 5 minutes later found yet another mistake. So, make sure this paper is perfect formatting wise.

• The formatting for the paper is dictated by Air Force Handbook 33-337, The Tongue and Quill, and the Air University (AU) Style Guide. The Tongue and Quill is on the Air Force e-Publishing site and the AU Style Guide may or may not be available on an AU-related site. It may benefit you to be familiar with these documents but the paper formatting isn’t really that difficult to master. Instead of looking at your own paper 5-10 times, another option would be to work with your flight-mates to review each other’s papers. Sometimes a second set of eyes can be extremely invaluable. This however is not always an option because sometimes there is a rule where you can’t look at each other’s papers. (SR)

Immediately after getting Paper 1 back, we learned the requirements for Paper 2. It was due the next Sunday (6 days from now).

• The nice thing about the papers and briefings is that the second ones quickly follow the first ones, so you can quickly implement your feedback. (SR)

Week 3, Day 2

We had another MRE for breakfast (yum…)

• When the schedule is extremely packed the fastest way for everyone to get chow is an MRE. You will likely eat several while you are at OTS. (SR)

Today we had HELPS. HELPS is in the field across the street from the dorms between the paperclip track and the circular track. HELPS is another opportunity to get another Individual Learning Opportunity (ILO). HELPS is similar to the LRC where you have a group of 6ish people and you have a mission that you have to accomplish. These missions include using a compass and a pace count (using a certain amount of steps to move the prescribed distance, e.g., 345 degrees for 75 meters) to get from one point to another. Sometimes your mission is to move an object from one point to another. Sometimes you have to carry team members that are “injured.” Just like LRC, it’s not necessarily about finishing your mission; rather, how the leader manages his people and the circumstance.

• I really enjoyed all of these exercises. (SR)

Today there were more briefings.

• Sooooo many briefings. (SR)

Dorm Inspection: There are two formal dorm inspections in the grade book. Today was one of them. They only checked the clothing drawers. However, they do walk the dorms rooms very often to make sure doors are closed all the way, and nothing is horribly out of order.

• I feel like leaving some of the mystery to this one. No further comment at this time. (SR)