electron_si Posted December 20, 2012 Report Share Posted December 20, 2012 I graduated from Ft. Rucker last month as a 153D Uh-60 pilot. I'm in the Kansas National Guard. I've been reading quite a few people post with questions about what flight school is like and WOFT questions. I did have to get an Exception to Policy for vision (20/25 near vision and required to wear glasses) so I can answer questions on that stuff too. I don't see too many recent grads posting so if you have questions just let me know. I've also been a 15T UH-60 crew chief on flight status, and I worked full time for the guard as a UH-60 Technician. I was also a 15G sheetmetal mechanic so I have quite a broad knowledge of aviation specific to UH-60 mission set. I have an A&P too that I got while I was down at Ft Rucker so If anyone has questions on any of that feel free to ask and I'll help wherever I can. Glad to see a lot of guys looking at the military for flight training. Please dont just see it as a "free ride" for flight training. Remember to visit www.armyaircrews.com as a reminder of just what you are volunteering for when you sign on the line to be an Army Pilot. Hope to meet some new aviators and some ones that have been at the controls for a while as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P40 Posted January 5, 2013 Report Share Posted January 5, 2013 I'm new here as well. I've been lurking for months and have found the information on this site to be invaluable. Thank you all for sharing! It has been really helpful to learn from all of you who have been through this process. I finally decided to register once I saw your post, electron_si. Maybe you could PM me when you get a chance. I'd like to talk to you about the ETP concerning near vision. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RagMan Posted January 6, 2013 Report Share Posted January 6, 2013 Congrats! Hell of an achievement. You picked a good airframe. Your crew chiefs will keep you sane' and sometimes will even drive you insane Take care of them, and they'll take care of you guys. Have a hell of a ride! -Former -60 crew chief from the 101st Airborne. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yamer Posted January 6, 2013 Report Share Posted January 6, 2013 Hey electron! Congrats! Its better to post a question than to pm so that maybe someone down the road can benefit from it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electron_si Posted January 7, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2013 Yammer, I agree with that. I've had a couple people send me PM's about ETP and other things so just post them in here and that way everyone can see them. In other news I start RL progression next week. I'm planning to study a few hours every night to be ready when I show up and we'll see how it turns out. I've been off the controls since Nov 2nd and need to review everything for oral knowledge just so I'm well rounded when I start flying again. Any other aviators have any topics that came up during an APART that they had trouble with. I plan on looking at: AR 95-1FAA Airspace5 & 9chapter 8 Runup W, C, Nlittle things in chapter 7 like fuel flow and trq for anti ice/heaterfamiliarize with expanded procedures for msn eqptsystems-good overall study (parts and pieces inside the nose, electrical, etc..) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P40 Posted January 8, 2013 Report Share Posted January 8, 2013 electron_si and Yamer, My apologies. You're right, there are probably lots of others out just as curious as I am about the Exception To Policy situation/procedure. You'll have to excuse me I'm fairly new to this, I've never joined a forum like this before. electron_si. If you are willing might you possibly tell us about how it was that you came to need an ETP? Was it at your initial flight physical? You're National Gaurd, did that change anything or was it largely the same process that active duty folks would go through? Any light you could shed how this ETP thing works would be very helpful! The reason I am so curious is that during my initial flight physical I felt like I was really struggling to read the 20/20 line in one of my eyes... like almost guessing. I've had this uneasy feeling ever since, knowing I'll be doing it again and maybe next time I might not be so lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velocity173 Posted January 8, 2013 Report Share Posted January 8, 2013 Yammer, I agree with that. I've had a couple people send me PM's about ETP and other things so just post them in here and that way everyone can see them. In other news I start RL progression next week. I'm planning to study a few hours every night to be ready when I show up and we'll see how it turns out. I've been off the controls since Nov 2nd and need to review everything for oral knowledge just so I'm well rounded when I start flying again. Any other aviators have any topics that came up during an APART that they had trouble with. I plan on looking at: AR 95-1FAA Airspace5 & 9chapter 8 Runup W, C, Nlittle things in chapter 7 like fuel flow and trq for anti ice/heaterfamiliarize with expanded procedures for msn eqptsystems-good overall study (parts and pieces inside the nose, electrical, etc..) All good things to study. Make sure you know your local area down cold. SOP is one of the most important things to study. Rucker they really don't care if you know the cooridors, freqs, airspace etc. now you're in your backyard and before you progress to RL2 they want to make sure you know your way around without assistance. Also study the base tasks in the ATM. That way you know what's expected of you and you'll understand the grading criteria during progression. It's pretty much like Rucker only you're getting sat and unsat instead of a letter grade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SBuzzkill Posted January 8, 2013 Report Share Posted January 8, 2013 The reason I am so curious is that during my initial flight physical I felt like I was really struggling to read the 20/20 line in one of my eyes... like almost guessing. I've had this uneasy feeling ever since, knowing I'll be doing it again and maybe next time I might not be so lucky. Then you'll get glasses and as long as your uncorrected vision is better than 20/50 you shouldn't have an issue. It's when you get beyond 20/50 that you start to run into problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P40 Posted January 8, 2013 Report Share Posted January 8, 2013 SBuzzkill, I should have specified that I was struggling with the near vision 20/20 line. As I recall, my distant was 20/30 in one eye and 20/40 in the other. With glasses my distant cleaned up to 20/20 no problem, but I believe the regulation states you must be 20/20 near in both eyes uncorrected. That's the part that has me a little nervous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electron_si Posted January 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2013 P40, When I did my flight physical for my packet I "passed" my near vision. By that I mean in the national guard you get sent to a regular eye doctor for the vision portion of your exam, for our state at least, because our med section did not have the necessary equipment. The first near vision test I took was with the "nurse" and I was 20/25. When I told my opto I was taking this eye exam for flight school he congratulated me, and I told him I had to have 20/20 near to pass. He let me retake it and move the sheet as close as I needed to see it. Not saying it was the right thing to do but had he not done that it would have set me back waiting on getting an ETP before even getting my packet completed. When I showed up to Rucker after WOCS I took my "initial" 1W flight physical. I did not pass the near visual acuity 20/25 and 20/30. I got a chance to retake it and same results. They put that down on my physical. Later I was called into the flight doc's office and he told me that he would process my Exception to Policy ETP. Its NOT a waiver, because it was preexisting and I had not passed my initial flight physical. He processed the paperwork, I was very nervous. I asked him if he though I would be approved and he said "f**k yeah". At that point I was a little less worried. My stick buddy had the exact same ETP submitted as me, on the same day, by the same flight doc. His came back 2 weeks later, mine took nearly 6. But i got it and all is good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electron_si Posted January 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2013 All good things to study. Make sure you know your local area down cold. SOP is one of the most important things to study. Rucker they really don't care if you know the cooridors, freqs, airspace etc. now you're in your backyard and before you progress to RL2 they want to make sure you know your way around without assistance. Also study the base tasks in the ATM. That way you know what's expected of you and you'll understand the grading criteria during progression. It's pretty much like Rucker only you're getting sat and unsat instead of a letter grade. I met with my IP last wednesday and took my -10 test and we did a lot of local area admin stuff. He reiterated what you said about knowing where I'm going in the Local Area. He said the SOP stuff would come over time but weather and a few other things I needed to know pretty quick. It seemed much more laid back than Ft Rucker. I was a prior crew chief in the same flight company that I am in now so I have working relationships with all the IP's prior to attending flight school. I think this helps me in some respects, but I can already tell they are expecting a lot of me because I should know most of this stuff from flying before. I'm excited to get back into flying again and being at the controls while my other crew chief buddies are in back. That's one thing I like about the guard, you develop long term relationships with people, and most of the guys im flying with I've been friends with the whole time i've been in. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SBuzzkill Posted January 8, 2013 Report Share Posted January 8, 2013 Every progression is different. The one thing you can count on is having a bad time if you show your ass and don't study. As long as you're in the books every day you're good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electron_si Posted January 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2013 Every progression is different. The one thing you can count on is having a bad time if you show your ass and don't study. As long as you're in the books every day you're good. Buzzkill, what's your background or current position for military aviation? Just curious Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SBuzzkill Posted January 8, 2013 Report Share Posted January 8, 2013 Just a joe pilot with no background really. Seen plenty of guys going through progression with lots of different IPs though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P40 Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 electron_si, Thanks for the information... that sounds really encouraging! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electron_si Posted January 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 P40, No problem at all. My wife was sick of me during those 6 weeks waiting to get my ETP back. It's weird to think but my whole Army Aviation career was riding on that one piece of paper. Of course now looking back and meeting others with vision ETP's I realize that it wasn't as much of an ordeal as I made it out to be. Good luck with everything when you get to Ft. Rucker and let us know how it turns out. If you have any Ft Rucker questions feel free to post them here. I'm probably the newest graduate from there so I think that I still have pretty relevant information when it comes to how things run down there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SBuzzkill Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 (edited) My ETP was for being 20/70 uncorrected and took a month for them to approve. Edited January 9, 2013 by SBuzzkill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I3uller Posted January 9, 2013 Report Share Posted January 9, 2013 My ETP was for being 20/70 uncorrected and took a month for them to approve. Dang Buzzkill, you're blind as hell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P40 Posted January 10, 2013 Report Share Posted January 10, 2013 electron_si, Thanks! I'll keep you apprised of how things go at Rucker. I ship for basic next week, so I suspect I'll be pretty scarce for the foreseeable future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electron_si Posted January 10, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2013 Yeah I would imagine so. I went back around this time in 06 and I think I used the phone about 3 times. Once when I got there, once after our last FTX and once to tell my family I was going to graduate. That was a pay phone by the way, which I don't know if they have anymore. Once you get to WOCS you will get to use your cell phone sparingly. I think I went 11 days without it once we got "picked up" and then we got to use it every week on sunday for 30 minutes. The last week or so I used mine a little more because my son was 2 days old when I left for WOCS and he was pretty sick while I was there so my TAC let me use my phone a little more to check up on him. Also, when you go from BCT to WOCS make sure you hang on to your lodging and fuel receipts, if you are driving, when you get done in WOCS they will let you fill out a travel voucher for PCS. I'm not sure how street to seat works but they give you PTDY in there somewhere for you to move your stuff. Anyways hang on to receipts for everything because when you do your travel voucher and DITY paperwork you will be reimbursed for all that mileage and those expenses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SBuzzkill Posted January 10, 2013 Report Share Posted January 10, 2013 IIRC the PTDY was for house hunting and you had to stay in the area. If you wanted to move your stuff you had to take leave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electron_si Posted January 10, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2013 The admin NCO that did our PTDY signed us out and said see you back here in 10 days. I stayed in the area but i know a lot of guys flew or drove back home to move their families. Not sure what the regs say on PTDY but you might be right about taking leave. I dont know anyone in my class that did though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WaterRooster Posted January 10, 2013 Report Share Posted January 10, 2013 Yup, if you wanted to leave the area to get your stuff, you had to take regular leave. My suggestion, take a few days to get your stuff THEN take PTDY. Like electron said, they just say see you in 10 days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JarHead2RotorHead Posted February 5, 2013 Report Share Posted February 5, 2013 My ETP was for being 20/70 uncorrected and took a month for them to approve. This was near vision, correct? For my near vision, I'm 20/70 uncorrected in my left eye, 20/40 uncorrected in my right eye, both correctable to 20/20 with glasses. Distant vision is 20/20 uncorrected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SBuzzkill Posted February 5, 2013 Report Share Posted February 5, 2013 No that's distant vision. My near vision is 20/20 uncorrected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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