This entry is to give people interested in UPT a general summary of what each phase is like here. As with everything on this web site, it is from my perspective and may not reflect precisely what you experience. Regardless of who you are, however, I am certain that you are in for an intense year.
PHASE I (Academics)
I was pretty intimidated by the whole process before I started. So much had gone into getting here and I had heard so many stories that I wasn't sure what to expect. I distinctly remember taking my first drive up the road and through the gates here. It was pretty surreal.
When asking for information on UPT, you get all sorts of different opinions. Having just been commissioned, I was expecting the program to start pretty hard-core right from the beginning. Instead, you have a week (or much longer, if you are "casual" here) to run around and in-process to the base before you start. The list of things you need to accomplish is not too tasking, and you have more than enough time to get everything done. Generally speaking, I found all the people to be very helpful and I was treated pretty well.
Finally, the big day arrived. The first day of UPT. Twenty-some people showed up, everyone measuring everyone else up, and each wondering how the next year of their lives were going to go. Instead of intimidation, it started with a jovial Major who greeted us and welcomed us to the program. He was very relaxed, and we had nothing but in-processing type presentations and information about the base for the first few days. We then started easing into academics.
The pile of books you get during in-processing is pretty overwhelming. Checklists, aircraft manuals, study guides, and a number of other publications. You receive an academic schedule which details all you are supposed to read prior to each day's class. Some read much more than others, but everyone generally scored pretty high. Busting an academic test is not the way to start off. Overall, the instructors are very good and did a lot of "foot-stomping" when they were on an especially important point. Despite all the reading, we actually had quite a bit of time off.
There were seven tests in six weeks of academics, if I remember correctly. Two of those come in Physiology, where students get introduced to the altitude chamber, life-support equipment, and the "PLF" (parachute landing fall).
Just about the time you're feeling pretty good about yourself and think you're getting somewhere, the Phase II IP's (instructor pilots) come to have a chat to you. They give you a small taste of what the next five months will be like on the flight line and introduce you to an "EP stand-up," where a student will stand at attention in front of the IPs and his/her classmates and take a hypothetical emergency to it's conclusion successfully. The mood changes after that as the students try to prepare for a whole new environment.
PHASE II (T-37 or T-6)
Flight line takes the students from the classroom to the jet. You are suddenly and deliberately taken from the comfort of the books you are becoming familiar with to an airplane that you know much less about than you'd like with an instructor who knows nothing about you but seems to dislike you immensely. It was a very rough period for myself and many others, with many of the class getting airsick and having a difficult time adjusting.
In addition to flying, you also have to conduct a morning brief, which includes weather, NOTAMs, wind analysis, and the EP (emergency procedure). The days will be twelve hours, and you are eligible for three events a day (simulators or jets). You can't know enough to please the instructors initially, and you are beat from the flying and constant scrutiny. It was without question the most difficult period in UPT, both physically and emotionally.
As you grow accustomed to how the flight line operates and you become more comfortable with the airplane, however, things gradually begin to improve. You get to know your IPs, you learn more about the jet every day, and you begin to see that you are succeeding and making progress. Each jet or sim you accomplish takes you one event closer to being complete and builds your confidence just a little bit more. Before you know it, you are taking the jet solo. This was a big milestone and is celebrated with a trip to the dunk tank.
There are four check-rides in Phase II. They are "Contact," "Final Contact," "Instruments," and "Formation." Contact and Final Contact emphasize visual maneuvers and take place mostly at your home base and in the local MOAs (military operating areas). In these phases, you learn to fly the aircraft and eventually find yourself doing advanced aerobatics in the areas by yourself. That was a rush! Instruments is pretty self-explanatory, focusing on instrument approaches and procedures. This is the first time you'll leave the base and head to another airport for something other than landings. The flying is easier, but the procedures and general knowledge (GK) required make it very challenging. The last phase is Formation, which is probably the most rewarding. At this stage, you have finished everything else so are not opted for multiple types of flights like you would have been earlier in the program; you can focus strictly on formation. It was fun working with multiple crews and pretty interesting being ten feet from your buddy in another aircraft while you are both in 90 degrees of bank at 12,000 feet. Formation was certainly the right note to finish on.
Phase II will have some very hard times and some very good times. When you do something poorly, try to learn from it, but don't beat yourself up. Give yourself credit when you do something good as well. You will work hard, but you'll probably play hard as well. You develop a pretty tight bond with your fellow students and with your IPs. I wasn't sure I'd make it through in the beginning, but I stuck with it and finished very strong. Take it one day at a time and try to realize how cool it is to be doing what you're doing for a living whenever you can.
Phase II ends with "Track Select," where the active duty students find out which direction their future will take. Tracks are given out based on performance and desire. The desired aircraft in our class was the T-38, which leads to fighters. The T-1 students go on to heavies; UH-1 students to helicopters; and the T-44/C-12 students to C-130s after training with the Navy. Unfortunately, not everyone gets their first choice.
PHASE III (T-1, T-38, UH-1, T-44/C-12)
T-1 training puts you back into academics for five weeks prior to your first flight, though you interact with the flight room frequently. There is a great deal to learn, as the T-1 is much more complicated than the Tweet (the T-6 students will be happy to know there are many similarities in avionics). Academics, however, is still academics and is a very nice break from the flight line. We tried to make the most of our "time off."
There are three phases in the T-1 program. "Transition" is just that, transition training from your initial aircraft to the T-1. You will repeat all the basics (takeoffs, landings, stalls, etc) to get the hang of the new aircraft. You also start to assume much more responsibility for mission-planning and ensuring you are getting the training you need and continuity for your maneuvers. Whereas your destinations were very limited in Tweets, you can now go a variety of places. You show up and tell your IP where you're going that day. Quite a change. The second Phase is "Navigation," which is what T-1's are all about. The emphasis in this phase is en route navigation, instrument approaches, and low-level flight. The flying in this phase is easy, but the mission-planning is initially very challenging and always very time-consuming. You decide where to go, what approaches you will do (based on continuity on your grade sheets), and how to deal with any weather or NOTAMs. The check ride consists of a navigation ride to an outbase, a low-level on the way home, then a Q & A session with your IP. Twelve hours of bliss. The final phase is "Mission-Familiarization," and consists of basic formation (two-ship), simulated aerial refueling, and air drop. Basic formation is just gets you used to the formation procedures in the T-1 and allows you to have a little fun in the jet. It's nowhere near what form was in Phase II and lasts only three rides, but it's not bad. Air refueling involves meeting up with the other aircraft at a predetermined time and place and making a "rendezvous." Basically, you fly real close and simulate air refueling. The challenge here is mastering the radio calls and successfully managing the autopilot. Lastly, there is air drop, which is a formation low-level. On the route, there are two "drop zones" where the aircraft slow down and then simulate a drop over a geographic point. The checkride will be either refueling or air drop, and is typically an out-and-back with four students with two IPs. You are allowed to use a computer-generated fuel/time log, plus all the bells and whistles on the aircraft, so planning and navigating is much easier.
The end of Phase III also brings assignment night and graduation. Each of these events are planned by the students, which is a small miracle given the daily flight schedule.
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