Reason #2 I Am Thankful For Missiles

I am hoping reading the subtitle made you take a second look.  No, it's not a gimmick to get you to read my blog because it's controversial, especially coming from me.  Fear not, I am going to explain.  

Before I do, however, I am going to give you an update.  First of all, I had a great Thanksgiving, thank you very much.  I was able to return home to see my beloved family and spend some quality time with my sister, aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins, etc.  It was a great break from the proverbial "grind."  After I made sure to eat myself to death, I had to return to land of oranges and gators to finish up my program.

In order to go through an initial Certified Flight Instructor (hereby referred to as CFI) check ride, you need to be taught by a 2-year CFI.  That means that an instructor has to have been certified for a minimum of 2 years before you can be signed off.  Unfortunately, ATP only offers a CFI program at one of three places in the east: Atlanta, Jacksonville, and Fort Lauderdale.  For me, I was sent down Miami-way to attend the Fort Lauderdale program.  It's a 1-2 week program with full fire hose learning in effect.  As an example, today we were in the classroom from 8 am until 7 pm.  In case you are wondering, no, that's not the reason I am thankful for missiles.  Fear not, I'm getting there.  

So, what do we learn?  Everything.  As you can imagine, as a CFI, you are responsible for everything and the examiners are permitted to ask you to do just about anything, to include teach them a ground school lesson.  We have to go through lessons on aircraft systems, aerodynamics, aviation maneuvers, airport operations, fundamentals of instruction, aviation safety, and the list goes on.  Like I said, fire hose. 

How does this apply to missiles?  Ok, here it goes.  I figure I should explain why this is reason #2.  The first thing I am thankful for isn't really a good thing.  I am thankful that I hated missiles so much that it has almost forced me to chase my dream.  Along those lines, it isn't just that it has forced me to chase it, but the way in which I came to this decision.  To say that I was pretty unhappy in Montana would be an understatement.  I decided that, even though I was paid very well for what I did (especially considering what I'm going to make in the next, oh 10  years), it doesn't equate to happiness.  I had the opportunity to pursue careers in energy or steel but the thought of me sacrificing professional happiness strictly for a decent paycheck made me think back to my time in Missiles.  I knew that the old adage "Money doesn't buy happiness" was alive and well.  It is difficult to sympathize with pilots and instructors who complain about the terrible pay or how boring flight instructing is.  Yes, the pay most certainly be higher for th level of skill required and I'd imagine flight instructing could be monotonous.  Fortunately for me, a former missileer, I can look at these negatives and say to myself, I could be 60 feet underground right now doing something I loathe.  Instead, I'm doing something I love.  I can look down on the world and smile knowing that I am one step closer to living a dream.  

Reason #2:  Today's lesson was all about fundamentals of instructing.  It was about how to create tests, write lesson plans, teach and motivate students, and other various instructional techniques.  So, reason number two why I am thankful for missiles is because of the invaluable instructor experience it gave me.  I felt almost transported back to Malmstrom with Isaac Earnhardt and Alex Courtney teaching me the fundamentals of instructing.  It's so similar it's scary.  What are the first parts of an informal lecture? Attention, Motivation, Overview.  Be sure to summarize at the end and ask PLENTY of questions to assess your students' comprehension of what was presented.  

As I said earlier, I didn't like my job at Malmstrom, but I did find something I loved.  I loved instructing and the best part was, I was good at it. I looked forward to standing in front of a classroom and had fun.  I know when I first started, it was intimidating and I didn't think I was very good at it.  By the time I finished, I had over 400 hours in front of a class and over 700 hours in the simulator.  While it did nothing to prepare me for having the expertise of being a CFI, it sure as hell gave me the instructional experience necessary to be a good instructor; to know how to relay information to all kinds of students.  For that, I am very thankful.  

In the spirit of bringing up missiles (hopefully for the last time) it reminded me of something I came across in my down time.  There is a guy writing a book about missiles and has a bunch of other stuff on his website.  I don't often plug but I figured this would be a perfect time.  His name is Jessen D. Chapman.  The writing is pretty edgy but it is pretty interesting to see his unfiltered viewpoint of the world.  Just click on his name above and it'll take you to some pretty good reading.  Have a great night!