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The Academic Period
or more commonly known as Phase I lasts approximately 6 weeks. During this
time frame, you will take classes on aircraft systems, weather, aerodynamics,
aerospace physiology, etc. Most of the lessons especially Systems I,
Systems II, and aerodynamics are done on Computer Aided Instructions or CAIs.
Aerospace physiology is all done in the classroom. At the end or each
course, you're going to take a test on the CAI. The passing score is 85%
and all the questions are multiple choice. If you fail a test, you will be
required to receive remedial training and will retake the test.
The days vary from 5
to 8 hours. It definitely won't compare to the 12-hour days that you'll
experience when you hit the flight line. Take advantage of this period and
hit the cockpit trainers in the sim building. If you have any friends in
the classes ahead of you, pick their brain or have them show you their checklist
flow. Also, start memorizing the departures, arrivals, and pattern
references in your IFG.
 By
far, my favorite time during Phase I was during aerospace physiology. The
instructors were top notch and the classes involved more than just listening to
a lecture. There were a lot of hand-on training to include egress,
hanging harness, parasail, and the altitude chamber. You'll also take the
FACT (see physical prep) on one of the days.
My advice to you
during this period is to avoid highlighting yourself. What I mean by this
is for you not to attract unwanted attention from your instructors. Most
JSUPT bases are pretty small so all the instructors know each other. You
can bring negative attention to yourself by:
- being late to
class
- failing a test
- getting in trouble
for any reason
For example, I had a
classmate who got into a fight at the club on a Friday night with another
student. We managed to break it up before the cops showed up but
unfortunately, the damage was already done. Word spread pretty quickly and
he was wearing blues to class the following week. More importantly, his
flight commander rating took a huge hit. Your final ranking out of Phase
II incorporates a flight commander rating which counts for 20% of your final
grade. This is quite a lot considering all of academics only counts for
10%. Needless to say, this guy didn't do well in his ranking at all
because of this one altercation.
If you have any suggestions or questions, please sent them to the
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message board..
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