Preparations for WOFT

af00913 · August 27, 2014

First off, this forum has helped me out tremendously with information about the whole WOFT packet process. I am thankful to the posters on here who have shared there experiences, and I plan to share my own when I ship.

I was selected in July as a civilian, and my BCT ship date is Dec 29. I have been looking over the forums to use the months I have to prep as much as I can for flight school, wocs, and bct.

From what I gather so far:

BCT- not really much to study, just focus on running and keeping apft score up. Prepare to embrace the suck haha

WOCS- some talk about getting ahold of the SOP, but also heard that I will have plenty of time to study it at Rucker. Land Nav worries me the most because it is go/no go and I have never done a military Land Nav course. Anything I can do to prep for that besides the futuresoldier online course?

Flight School- found this site and blog to be helpful http://www.flightschoolstudyguide.com/blog.aspx

Mentions 5&9 should be studied extensively before school begins so I bought an app with those flashcards to get my feet wet and am taking an intro heli flight just so my nickel ride won't be the first time I take the controls.

Is there anything that you would suggest adding to the list?

Lindsey · August 27, 2014

Yeah--go take a vacation. Seriously. You won't have the time (or be allowed) to take a nice long one once you're in flight school. Spend time with family.

WOFT really is a series of 25m targets. People have said it on this forum for ages, and I've learned it to be true. Focus on the nearest goal, attain it, and then move on to the next. Trust me, I was the girl studying 5&9s before I even got officially selected. It's great to be excited, and it won't hurt you (though it won't really benefit you either), so make sure if you choose to go that route that it absolutely does not impede on having fun and enjoying the freedom of civilian life. However, if it keeps your motivation high, have at it. Different strokes for different folks.

It's been nearly a year (11 months) since I got selected and I'm only now starting Primary. It's a wild, wild ride but worth every second. Keep your end goals in mind but focus on the next thing. Perspective is huge. Plenty of people around here complain about the most ridiculous things, and I really don't understand why. Even in the stupidest moments just remember why you came here. That is one constant through BCT, WOCS, BOLC, SERE, etc.

Now go to the beach.

Diesel5187 · August 27, 2014

Best advice ever.

nightmare515 · August 31, 2014

i agree with the above posters. In all reality flight school is pretty much designed for you to go there knowing pretty much nothing. Don't spend weeks before getting to WOCS trying to read the WOCSOP or anything you will have time to learn that while you are there. Same with 5&9s. I'm not saying don't take a look at them to get an idea of what they are but don't worry about it too much. Without knowing what you are looking at you won't understand it anyway so it makes it that much harder to just learn random numbers without being able to understand and apply it. When you get to rucker you will have WOCS, BOLC, and SERE to keep you busy before you are able to fly anything.

Trying to get "ahead" will likely overload most people. Get to WOCS and pass it. Get to BOLC and pass it, get to SERE and pass it then start worrying about cramming 5&9. A friend of mine whose still down at Rucker said that the bubbles have come back as well so you will likely have some gaps between classes to recuperate and prepare for the next one. When I went through we had no bubbles at all until advanced airframe. It was a straight shot from WOCS all the way through BWS and it sucked.

Flight school is designed for the normal person to get through. It takes a lot of studying but it's mostly rope memorization rather than actually figuring out problems. While you are there you will see what I mean. You'll likely run into "that guy" and wonder how the hell he managed to even get to flight school let alone pass anything. Then you'll realize why.

Go on a vacation and relax. Worry about flight school when you get there. Thats how you prepare for Rucker.

wcropper · November 20, 2014

i agree with the above posters. In all reality flight school is pretty much designed for you to go there knowing pretty much nothing. Don't spend weeks before getting to WOCS trying to read the WOCSOP or anything you will have time to learn that while you are there. Same with 5&9s. I'm not saying don't take a look at them to get an idea of what they are but don't worry about it too much. Without knowing what you are looking at you won't understand it anyway so it makes it that much harder to just learn random numbers without being able to understand and apply it. When you get to rucker you will have WOCS, BOLC, and SERE to keep you busy before you are able to fly anything.

Trying to get "ahead" will likely overload most people. Get to WOCS and pass it. Get to BOLC and pass it, get to SERE and pass it then start worrying about cramming 5&9. A friend of mine whose still down at Rucker said that the bubbles have come back as well so you will likely have some gaps between classes to recuperate and prepare for the next one. When I went through we had no bubbles at all until advanced airframe. It was a straight shot from WOCS all the way through BWS and it sucked.

Flight school is designed for the normal person to get through. It takes a lot of studying but it's mostly rope memorization rather than actually figuring out problems. While you are there you will see what I mean. You'll likely run into "that guy" and wonder how the hell he managed to even get to flight school let alone pass anything. Then you'll realize why.

Go on a vacation and relax. Worry about flight school when you get there. Thats how you prepare for Rucker.

This is great information. Thanks for the post. Reading these just fuels the motivation!

wcropper · November 20, 2014

WOFT really is a series of 25m targets.

When I read this post it actually made me slow down. I have been researching pretty hard and trying to get ahead, but I hadn't been planning as much for WOCS. Now I am primarily focused on that and preparing for my departure from Korea.

Great advice!

USCav19D · November 20, 2014

First off, this forum has helped me out tremendously with information about the whole WOFT packet process. I am thankful to the posters on here who have shared there experiences, and I plan to share my own when I ship.
I was selected in July as a civilian, and my BCT ship date is Dec 29. I have been looking over the forums to use the months I have to prep as much as I can for flight school, wocs, and bct.

From what I gather so far:
BCT- not really much to study, just focus on running and keeping apft score up. Prepare to embrace the suck haha

WOCS- some talk about getting ahold of the SOP, but also heard that I will have plenty of time to study it at Rucker. Land Nav worries me the most because it is go/no go and I have never done a military Land Nav course. Anything I can do to prep for that besides the futuresoldier online course?

Flight School- found this site and blog to be helpful http://www.flightschoolstudyguide.com/blog.aspx
Mentions 5&9 should be studied extensively before school begins so I bought an app with those flashcards to get my feet wet and am taking an intro heli flight just so my nickel ride won't be the first time I take the controls.

Is there anything that you would suggest adding to the list?

Everything you need to know about land navigation you will learn in BCT.

Yes, it can be made really complex (I love me some cloverleaf pattern dismounted recon) but generally it's not hard. It is something you have to do in order to learn it, not much reading can do. You'll be given a set of grid coordinates which you will plot on a map. Given your compass, a map, and your pace count, you will have a certain amount of time to find your points and return back.