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AATTC at St. Joe


FourFans

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Disclaimer: Like a good forum goer, I used the search function, with not good results.

Anyone got any good info on what to expect at AATTC (?Advanced Airlift Tactics Training Center?) at St. Joe? Thanks.

FourFans

[ 30. March 2006, 09:08: Message edited by: FourFans130 ]

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Expect that they hate the J model. (just kidding, but they did)

Overall, great training. I thought the key to success was good CRM. They'll try to overload you with 9 lines and threats at inconvient times. If you have a good crew, it will be great training. Enjoy the LLAT course and don't puke.

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Not only do they hate the J model, they also hate the C-17 too. They have a great bunch of guys instructing. Some of them deployed to Tabuk with us and helped us run Tabuk Tactics.

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It's like most AF training, you get outta it what you put in. It's a pretty decent course for new guys. I hear the new day/night course is pretty intense, but just a tad long. You don't have a hair on your backside unless you call your first CDS slowdown at Rosecrans (I forget the name of the DZ, Pony or some such) outside of 4 miles from 240+ IAS.

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Guest Hydro130

FourFans... Get with OSK or OSS/36 Intel too... St Joe has an awesome SIPRNET site that has many good details on the program...

They should be able to Google the AATTC site if they don't maintain a current SIPR bookmark for it...

Cheers, Hydro

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  • 1 year later...

Thread revival. I'm attending the day/night course with an H3 in early March and am looking for feedback from crews who have been. I've already been to their website and this is the only thread that came up in the search function (and I assume that when this was written no one had yet attended the exact course I am going to since there is nothing substantial here about it). So, does anyone have any feedback on the new day/night course or any good stories or any clue of what I can expect? Anything in particular I should look over before attending? The schedule says to expect a 3-3 test our first day.

One last thing. None of the information I have seen on the website lists a weather backup in Ft. Hauchucha, but weather.com tells me that the ceilings there can drop during these months. So, has anyone had weather problems there? Do they fly any SKE in that case or just cancel the day? Thanks in advance.

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tac airlifter-- stop asking about AATTC -- you'll ruin the fun for your self -- I'll bring my binder for you --

tomorrow

The dudes at St. JOEs ask you not to spill the beans about the course -- because you could be prep for it and ace everything -- but the experience wouldn't be the same

One word of advice for your CoPig when pulling a 60/2 -- since he doesn't have theG meter there to look at

and I quote one of the IP's from St Joes

" Pull until you feel your balls start to tug a bit ( imagine hand gestures as well) -- you know that good kinda of tug..."

this should help with their break turns

see ya at work

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Don't worry so much. On day-one they will give you a schedule of what you will be doing. You don't need to prep anything before hand, they are going to show you how they want you to plan missions. You won't be doing any SKE. The purpose of St. Joe's is to make you better at tac, not SKE.

Other than that, it is guaranteed to be some of the best flying you will ever do in the herk.

Make sure to set it up with the other crews that the worst drop score per run-in buys a round.

HD

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One word of advice for your CoPig when pulling a 60/2 -- since he doesn't have theG meter there to look at

and I quote one of the IP's from St Joes

" Pull until you feel your balls start to tug a bit ( imagine hand gestures as well) -- you know that good kinda of tug..."

this should help with their break turns

I can't resist. What if the CP is a chick?

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  • 3 months later...
Guest bravodelta79
thanks for the replies. I'll let you guys know how it went.

So how did it go?

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So how did it go?

Good call bro, I forgot all about this thread. Well, the course is great, I can't say enough good about the course or the staff. The flying in Arizona is some of the best I have done in my career and definitely the best I have done outside a combat zone. The instructors are great and very knowledgable. Col Westfall was an awesome guy, and they have another dude who is an ex coastie that is also one of their best (name escapes me at the moment). The only part I didnt find particularly useful was their NVG assualt trainer. I think it is a new concept to some of the guard guys in the course (no offense, just my impression from the guys there) and so there is a very basic approach to it. My 2 instructors were WIC guys, and I am not bashing the WIC but they made it much more mathmatical than it needed to be.

The LLAT and red air sorties were the best training, you get a good feeling for how aggressive you can be and still be in complete control. I'm talking mainly from a pilots perspective, the hand training was excellent. But it was also great training for the other crew positions. Loads were probably the least challenged in their job as loadmasters (since we really didnt rig anything special) but they called the entire fight with the fighter and the only reason we survived the gun engagement was because my guys really brought their A game. Nav training was also excellent since there are no 10 mile slowdowns. you are dropping on unfamiliar DZs low level at night into rising terrain with minimal route study and only slowing 4 miles prior (and flying the routes faster than you do normally). Again, this course gives you a huge amount of confidence that you can actually aquire the DZ, and if you meet all your parameters and fly well you'll get the drop off in what would seem on paper to be impossible conditions. You need to bring the best in every crew position to the class, one weak engineer slow on TOLD or a load who can't open the ramp and door at 60 knots on the dirt LZ are going to fail your crew.

There is much I am leaving out since part of the training is how you handle the suprises they throw at you. The graduation sortie lives up to the hype. Like anything, much is what you make of it. I went with the right attitude and they gave me all I asked for. Some guys there (C-17 crew who was non airdrop and CONUS only) brought the wrong attitude and probably didn't learn much. But the opportunity is there and the instructors genuinly want to make you a better combat aircrew. I have noting but praise.

Edited by tac airlifter
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Sounds great and thanks for the update!

I have to agree with Tac Airlifter, some of the best training and flying you'll ever do in the herk... They force you to fly fast on a compressed timeline, but you'd be amazed at what a crew can do after the first sortie or two once you learn what you can really do with out(mission planning wise). We had a class b up at St. Joe after we went duck hunting with the airplane, saw all 4 oil pressures go to Zero on the LLAT, flew vis formation (tfm included) with the German C-160 and pushed the 63 E model to it's limits!!! Luckily we didn't have any 17's in our class and we were day only, no NVG's in they syllabus.

I'd do some pretty nasty things to be able to go back up there and take the class again.

Cheers :beer:

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.... Luckily we didn't have any 17's in our class and we were day only, no NVG's in they syllabus.

Why luckily?

I took a 17 through in about 03, if they hated us they hid it well. Thought it was a great course, learned a lot and had a blast.

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Guest Tacker

Go to this course! Bug your Tactics folks until their ears bleed (unless youre in the 5-0).

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  • 2 years later...

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