Your Flight Commander and IPs

AIR FORCE T-38 TRACK INTERMEDIATES

CHAPTER 1

Someone who is struggling in one area might be able to help you in another area where you are

weak. Remember, your Tweet brethren have been raised in this culture for six months, they have

their own group chemistry, you are being thrown in with them, hopping in at "halftime." Use

your time wisely before your T-38 training begins and try to meet and get to know as many as

you can in your class. Attach yourself to someone in the class and get the "gouge," practice

standup EPs, and ask about daily life, they will be more than willing to help you out.

b. Your Flight Commander and IPs

Your T-38 Flight Commander is the person in charge of all students and instructors in your

flight (equivalent to the Flight Leader at Whiting). Once you start flying at Vance, you will only

fly with instructors in your flight and a few guest IPs attached to your flight. Your Flight

Commander is your immediate supervisor and if you have any problems, that person is the

person to contact. Many of your IPs at Vance will be former fighter or bomber pilots. They all

have a wealth of knowledge about how to fly the T-38 and what it is like to fly in the tactical Air

Force. Pick their brains during your training about what weapon system to put on your

Assignment Sheet. The IPs in your flight will have several responsibilities in addition to flying

student sorties. The most "notorious" job that you will become intimately familiar with is the

flight Unit Stan Eval Monitor (USEM). The USEM conducts all standup EPs during the

morning brief and is the "hatchet man" if you screw that up. Other jobs in the flight include the

Gradebook Officer and the Scheduler. Some say it is not you that graduates from pilot training

but your gradebook. You are responsible for the upkeep of your gradebook and like your Navy

ATJ for Jacket Reviews, you better have all the signatures required, otherwise you will get to

know the Gradebook Officer real well; attention you do not want. Another job is the Flight

Scheduler; this person is right in your flight room and "slings the pucks" for the student flight

schedule. If you have a scheduling issue, you talk to this person. Some cultural differences

between the Navy and the Air Force arise with how your schedule is written. You might as well

forget "sniveling," it does not exist; your schedule is easy to remember, you will be on the

flightline all day.

c. The Duty Desk

The Duty Desk is like the FDO Desk here at Whiting. There is a senior IP at the desk that

oversees flight operations and the execution of the day's schedule. The Duty Desk is going to be

important to you because that is where you will get weather, sign off your Flight Crew

Information Card (FCIF), and sign out airplanes. You will have to go through the Duty Desk

before the morning brief to get your weather and NOTAMS and you will have to go by there to

get your aircraft assignment before you step.

d. The Squadron Command Structure

Since this is your first exposure to an Air Force flying squadron, you should be familiar with

the command structure; for the most part, this same structure is consistent through all of the Air

Force flying squadrons with the exception of the Check Flight.

INTRODUCTION TO USAF T-38 TRACK INTERMEDIATES 1-5