SBuzzkill Posted April 22, 2014 Report Share Posted April 22, 2014 (edited) Opportunities for me to track in the next year or two are pretty much gone so I've been looking at other ways I can show some progression as an aviator. Does anyone have experience as a UT and can you tell me a little bit about it? What did you like? What didn't you like? Our AMSO is a UT and recommended that I shoot for it since I can't go to IPC. What do you guys think? I'd like to get some info from other people before I bring it up with the unit since I'm pretty much committed at that point Edited April 22, 2014 by SBuzzkill 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brackac Posted April 22, 2014 Report Share Posted April 22, 2014 Pros - High visibility, more flight time, and a chance to work with new pilotsCons - New pilots will try to kill you, more flight time in the traffic pattern, and it's high visibility without the "IP OER" write up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brackac Posted April 22, 2014 Report Share Posted April 22, 2014 I would do it. Being a UT is a positive no matter how you look at it. First off, your CoC and SP obviously hold faith in your skills, proficiency level, and think you have the proper demeanor necessary to teach. Second, it should put you 1st in line for IP, if that's what you want to track. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe_P148 Posted April 22, 2014 Report Share Posted April 22, 2014 UT is a great position to hold, you fly with more junior aviators and really become more knowledgable and proficient because your teaching guys instead of evaluating them like the IPs. It is also an extra bullet on your OER, which never hurts. Unless you don't like flying and teaching I can't think of any cons for being a UT... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SBuzzkill Posted April 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2014 Thanks for the quick replies. I don't see too many UTs and was wondering if there was something keeping people from doing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velocity173 Posted April 23, 2014 Report Share Posted April 23, 2014 I think the UT can be a valuable tool at the SP's disposal, it just comes down to how busy your stands shop is. In my last unit I noticed that we didn't have any UTs, so while we were downrange I asked our SP if I should interview a few PCs for a UT job. His response was "we don't need any." So, if your stands shop is full up IPs and they're motivated about racking up hours, they might not have a use for you. A lot of the things that you can do (LAOs, range border stuff) is part of RL3 progression and only an IP/SP is going to be doing that. A lot of training flights require EPs as well. Obviously you wouldn't be able to do that so you'd have to have a select, specialized flight that requires no EPs. Where your IPs could make money with you is RL2 stuff. That is if they are backed up with other progressions, APARTs etc. I have a friend who's a UT and that's what they were using him for prior to deploying. A lot of times I had guys up for PC and I wanted to get a feel on where they were in instrument proficiency. I'd send them out with a senior PC almost acting like a UT to give me a feedback on where they stand. That's something they could use you for on continuation flights. That is if your unit has money to do that sort of thing. I'd recommend the UT route, I just hope they utilize you. I don't want you to get stuck as the "simulator / PPT class bitch" while they're all out doing flight training. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akscott60 Posted April 23, 2014 Report Share Posted April 23, 2014 Do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skyreaper Posted April 23, 2014 Report Share Posted April 23, 2014 Whats a UT? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velocity173 Posted April 23, 2014 Report Share Posted April 23, 2014 Whats a UT?It's an acronym that's commonly used to describe a urinary tract infection. Not sure why Buzz wants one but whatever. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yamer Posted April 23, 2014 Report Share Posted April 23, 2014 UTI... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velocity173 Posted April 23, 2014 Report Share Posted April 23, 2014 UTI...The I is silent. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velocity173 Posted April 23, 2014 Report Share Posted April 23, 2014 Whats a UT?UT means Unit Trainer. Basically someone that trains certain tasks but doesn't evaluate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael.scheller Posted April 23, 2014 Report Share Posted April 23, 2014 Every aviator should want to be a Pilot in Command. Every Pilot in Command should want to progress to something bigger; whether that be a flight lead, MP, ASMO, ASO, UT or IP. I was a UT for a year or so before going to IPC and if you want to become an IP, taking on the responsibility and risk of being a UT is the right thing to do. I say risk because, guaranteed, you will get a check ride from DES when they visit; not always a bad thing. Now, as a guy who spent many years as an SP, I rarely needed a UT. Back when we had mandatory 10 hours of NVG mission training, a UT was a valuable tool in the SP's bag of tricks. We handed off proficient pilots to the UTs to complete their mission training. In certain assignments, where there is specialty training, such as No-Fly line or P73 training which can be accomplished by a UT they are invaluable. But, in a normal assault battalion, I never saw a huge advantage to the amount of time I spent training said UT to the benefit I would gain as the SP. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob. Posted April 23, 2014 Report Share Posted April 23, 2014 We had a UT for the same reason, doing P73-518-NFL orientations. He flew a ton. Ended up getting IPC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d10 Posted April 23, 2014 Report Share Posted April 23, 2014 Whats a UT? the "simulator / PPT class bitch" 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael.scheller Posted April 26, 2014 Report Share Posted April 26, 2014 When I made UT, I was relieved of my duties of Movements Officer and Arms Room Officer by two new WOJGs. So, yeah I taught a lot of classes... BTW, the NVG exportable training packages were in slide projector trays with dinosaur crap dust on them back then. Spent a bunch of time in the SFTS also... good news; we were at Bliss and went to Colorado Springs for the SFTS. I'd go for a week at a time with our SP and we'd alternate periods while I did training and he did evals. Golf and beer on the menu every afternoon. Never cleaned another weapon or spent hours tracking down a part for the kneeling pump. Which would you rather do? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rharris Posted April 27, 2014 Report Share Posted April 27, 2014 ^^^ SOLD ^^^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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