USAFAPS Questions

Can anyone shed some more light on the priors roles in BCT at the prep school?

My big worry is that non-priors will not like us for our roles in BCT.
 
Arizona said:
Can anyone shed some more light on the priors roles in BCT at the prep school?

My big worry is that non-priors will not like us for our roles in BCT.
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You assumptions could be correct. The priors role during basic was to teach drill, proper uniform wear, proper room set-up and details. This was to be accomplished mostly in the dorms with the exception of time set aside to teach drill.

Keep in mind that the staff has barely 18 days to expose the non-priors to the military culture and training environment. Just remember not to be an a**hole about correcting or teaching people. Explain that you only want to help them succeed.

YOU ARE NOT MILITARY TRAINING INSTRUCTORS OR CADRE. If you act like one, expect some harsh words from the Prep School Training staff.

Peer leadership is the most difficult kind of leadership. At the AFA the four class system helps allifiate some of the issues with cadet leadership. At the Prep School there is only one class, no one is better than anyone else.

My advice to you is to build friendships, work alongside the non-priors, don't talk about "when I was enlisted/deployed. . ." or "at lackland. . ." unless they specifically ask. Once you gain their respect then you can impact them in a positive way. Don't forget to recognize their value as leaders as well! Placing trust and responsibility in the directs will help greatly!

And finally, you must also realize that there will be some that simply will not accept the military way of life. You will see people blatantly disrespecting the uniform, NCOs, and even officers. I urge you not to give up on them, because once they realize that people stop caring about their advancement, they will check out completely. I've seen many turn it around, though!
 
^^

Some pretty insightful advice there. You sound like the type of high speed Airman that LEAD was designed to identify and cultivate. I'm sure you will do well at USAFA and in your future AF career as an officer. Best wishes for continued success.
 
AFrpaso said:
You assumptions could be correct. The priors role during basic was to teach drill, proper uniform wear, proper room set-up and details. This was to be accomplished mostly in the dorms with the exception of time set aside to teach drill.

Keep in mind that the staff has barely 18 days to expose the non-priors to the military culture and training environment. Just remember not to be an a**hole about correcting or teaching people. Explain that you only want to help them succeed.

YOU ARE NOT MILITARY TRAINING INSTRUCTORS OR CADRE. If you act like one, expect some harsh words from the Prep School Training staff.

Peer leadership is the most difficult kind of leadership. At the AFA the four class system helps allifiate some of the issues with cadet leadership. At the Prep School there is only one class, no one is better than anyone else.

My advice to you is to build friendships, work alongside the non-priors, don't talk about "when I was enlisted/deployed. . ." or "at lackland. . ." unless they specifically ask. Once you gain their respect then you can impact them in a positive way. Don't forget to recognize their value as leaders as well! Placing trust and responsibility in the directs will help greatly!

And finally, you must also realize that there will be some that simply will not accept the military way of life. You will see people blatantly disrespecting the uniform, NCOs, and even officers. I urge you not to give up on them, because once they realize that people stop caring about their advancement, they will check out completely. I've seen many turn it around, though!
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Thank you for this advice, it will definitely be hard for me to deal with people disrespecting the uniform or NCO's/officers, but I will do my best. The part about not being an MTI/cadre definitely seems like extremely good advice and definitely gives me an idea on our role in BCT.
 
AFrpaso said:
You assumptions could be correct. The priors role during basic was to teach drill, proper uniform wear, proper room set-up and details. This was to be accomplished mostly in the dorms with the exception of time set aside to teach drill.

Keep in mind that the staff has barely 18 days to expose the non-priors to the military culture and training environment. Just remember not to be an a**hole about correcting or teaching people. Explain that you only want to help them succeed.

YOU ARE NOT MILITARY TRAINING INSTRUCTORS OR CADRE. If you act like one, expect some harsh words from the Prep School Training staff.

Peer leadership is the most difficult kind of leadership. At the AFA the four class system helps allifiate some of the issues with cadet leadership. At the Prep School there is only one class, no one is better than anyone else.

My advice to you is to build friendships, work alongside the non-priors, don't talk about "when I was enlisted/deployed. . ." or "at lackland. . ." unless they specifically ask. Once you gain their respect then you can impact them in a positive way. Don't forget to recognize their value as leaders as well! Placing trust and responsibility in the directs will help greatly!

And finally, you must also realize that there will be some that simply will not accept the military way of life. You will see people blatantly disrespecting the uniform, NCOs, and even officers. I urge you not to give up on them, because once they realize that people stop caring about their advancement, they will check out completely. I've seen many turn it around, though!
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So another question on this. According to this is sounds like we are not either Cadre (understandable) or 'trainees' (for a lack of a better word and again understandable), so are we (as in priors) function as a sperate thing in the middle? Do we even do BCT like the directs do?
 
Tman910 said:
So another question on this. According to this is sounds like we are not either Cadre (understandable) or 'trainees' (for a lack of a better word and again understandable), so are we (as in priors) function as a sperate thing in the middle? Do we even do BCT like the directs do?
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I'm assuming you are referring to BMT? The priors do everything exactly like the directs do. The priors just get element leader/flight commander positions and help out with inprocessing day. At no point will you correct a direct like cadre/staff does. You're primary goal during basic is to teach the directs military standards (uniforms, making beds, etc.) and customs and courtesies.
 
LFry94 said:
I'm assuming you are referring to BMT? The priors do everything exactly like the directs do. The priors just get element leader/flight commander positions and help out with inprocessing day. At no point will you correct a direct like cadre/staff does. You're primary goal during basic is to teach the directs military standards (uniforms, making beds, etc.) and customs and courtesies.
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Thanks Lfry. Do you have any tidbits or advice for preppies?
 
Arizona said:
Thanks Lfry. Do you have any tidbits or advice for preppies?
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I have loads of advice, but a lot of it is either redundant or trivial based on what you're looking for. Do you have any specific questions?

For preppies in general:
Drug use will get you kicked out. Zero tolerance. Don't even think about it. (Multiple preppies kicked out for it this year.)
Respect authority. There are a couple preppies who did not receive appointments because they couldn't perform militarily. (No self discipline)
If you struggle in academics, GO TO EI (Extra instruction) Academics are the easiest way to get kicked out, but showing that you care by going to EI looks really good and can prevent this.

For priors: (These are words from a prior here that I asked, so you're getting prior advice.)
Be humble. People are going to do stupid things that you will get beat for. (The same dumb things you did in basic training.)
It's a training environment, not the "big air force." You're going to disagree with some of the decisions made by people here, but you will have to learn to live with it.
The directs are going to give you crap when you screw up, because you're a prior. It's all in good fun, so don't be offended by it.

There's some of the basics. Let me know if you have any other questions. :biggrin:
 
It is designed to be a leadership lab. The staff will sometimes pick the most unsuspecting c/c for a position. They might do a terrible job, but that's the whole point. The staff intend for us to learn just as much through mistakes. Don't become frustrated with bad student leadership decisions. It's better that they make those while in a training environment instead of big blue.
 
AFrpaso said:
It is designed to be a leadership lab. The staff will sometimes pick the most unsuspecting c/c for a position. They might do a terrible job, but that's the whole point. The staff intend for us to learn just as much through mistakes. Don't become frustrated with bad student leadership decisions. It's better that they make those while in a training environment instead of big blue.
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Thats great advice and from my experience so so true.
 
IWDC

Would it be possible to leave USAFAPS for a day or two in order to compete in the ISIS World Drill Championships down in Daytona, Florida. It's in early May every year.

I can recall seeing someone in an USAFA shirt in a montage video a long time ago.
 
AFDrill said:
Would it be possible to leave USAFAPS for a day or two in order to compete in the ISIS World Drill Championships down in Daytona, Florida. It's in early May every year.

I can recall seeing someone in an USAFA shirt in a montage video a long time ago.
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Yes, it is "possible." What it really depends on is whether or not your leadership approves it. You will apply for an ESSS (a request to leave for a short time), and depending on how good your military, athletic, and academic performance has been, they have the option to approve or deny it. However, remember that May is the busiest month at the prep school as you prepare for graduation, so that potentially has the chance to decrease your chances of getting it approved.
 
LFry94 said:
Yes, it is "possible." What it really depends on is whether or not your leadership approves it. You will apply for an ESSS (a request to leave for a short time), and depending on how good your military, athletic, and academic performance has been, they have the option to approve or deny it. However, remember that May is the busiest month at the prep school as you prepare for graduation, so that potentially has the chance to decrease your chances of getting it approved.
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"It's possible." That's all I needed to hear.:biggrin:
 
So another question, I keep reading that academics and self discipline is what most people are having trouble with. What about PT? I understand they can't just 'knife hand' you and tell you to get smarter, but they can tell you to do more push-ups lol. Any advice?

V/R,
Not the most upper body fit guy
 
Tman910 said:
So another question, I keep reading that academics and self discipline is what most people are having trouble with. What about PT? I understand they can't just 'knife hand' you and tell you to get smarter, but they can tell you to do more push-ups lol. Any advice?

V/R,
Not the most upper body fit guy
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The way PT works is pretty simple. When you start basic, you take the PFT and when you finish basic you take the PFT. Whichever one you score higher on is the one you keep as your "first" score for the year. You have to score at least a 200/500 to pass the PFT test. (My first score was 186~) If you don't pass, you will be put in a reconditioning class that you are required to go to every day where they basically give a you a "really really really good work out" (to put it nicely). You will then take it again usually around the end of first quarter classes and try to pass it. (And each quarter after that, if not taking the AFT.)

Your goal: Be able to pass it by the end of your year there. You'll have plenty of time to be able to accomplish this goal. If you get above a 250 score then you not only pass, but you don't have to take the PFT again.

The PFT is timed and consists of:
Pullups (2 mins)
Long jump (2 mins)
Situps (2 mins)
Pushups (2 mins)
600 yard sprint (2 mins)

With about a 60 second break between each.

As someone who went in with little to no upper body strength, I can relate to your concern. I went from being able to do 2-3 pullups to being able to do 9-10 by the end of reconditioning. The highest I scored was 294 if I remember right.
 
now when did reconditioning end? and isn't basic only 8 days? doubt you could make much improvement...
 
basic is about 18 days. my understanding was that recondo ended when you scored above 250 on the PFT.
 
Are we going to be asked for the manual to the calculator we bring. I lost the manual but if its necessary I could buy a copy
 
I doubt it. During most chemistry tests, they will provide the calculator. you are allowed the TI86 for some math tests. check with the head of the math department, and now the new Dean of academics, Dr. Schoof, to see what is allowed.
 
AFrpaso said:
I doubt it. During most chemistry tests, they will provide the calculator. you are allowed the TI86 for some math tests. check with the head of the math department, and now the new Dean of academics, Dr. Schoof, to see what is allowed.
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Thanks AFrpaso, Will do!
 
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