Woodpeckers and Trainees

We've always had woodpeckers in our neighborhood. Many mornings I've awakened to the machinelike pounding on ours, or our neighbors homes. Most mornings I smile, for whatever reason I like woodpeckers, I suppose they're not doing that much damage to the house, and after all, they're really just marking their territory. Or to put it another way, trying to attract a mate. Something about pounding your head against a block of wood in order to attract a mate strikes a chord with me. I'm just sayin.....

Speaking of pounding your head against a block of wood... For years, we've had a developing shortage of controllers nationwide, national management kept assuring us that "trainees were in the pipeline, don't worry." Well, they're here. 15 trainees, brand spanking new out of the academy at Oklahoma City. Most of them have gotten two years of associate degree work from one of the aviation related universities before going to the academy. 15 trainees. Wow.

Guess what our training department has them doing. Sitting in the control room, taking turns watching 2 or 3 printers spit out strips. (Flight plan and informational). What do they do? Look at the strips, and decide if they need to be delivered to controllers. Maybe one in twenty has any pertinence, the rest get tossed. Keep in mind, that before the arrival of the trainees, a supervisor would wander by the printer every 15 minutes or so and check for usefullness. Now, a trainee (with 2 years college, and 4 months academy screen and training) sits... Rat-a-tat-a-tat......

It used to be that flight data (the position he's filling now) had a purpose, we used to process flight plans manually on occasion, relay flight information to surrounding facilities, and actually do things that made sense. I spent a year on printers, and in doing so I learned the area in and out. HOwever, we've gone digital in almost all ways flight data, so the human touch is taken out. Nothing to pass, no flightplans to copy, coordination to complete, nothing. nada. Sit and watch the printer..... Rat-a-tat-a-tat.....

Why??? Because the training department hadn't foreseen the arrival of trainees. They've got other training programs that just can't be postponed, so the trainees, rather than get denver center specific instruction and training that would get them on the track to start being useful in 3 or 4 years, sit and watch and wait for the phase 3 training class to start in 9 months. Rat-a-tat-a-tat.....

So yesterday I had to provide training to one of our new future controllers. He's bright, young, enthusiastic. He's had 2 years college in minnesota, and passed the academy ready to jump in. And I got to explain to him what it was that our managers and instructors want him to do for the next 9 months. I watched the hope drain out of his eyes, watched the despair fill them. I tried to find useful things for him to do for the next 9 months, practice on URET (digital flight plan information) so he'll be fluent in it's use when he actually starts training, suggested he spend as much time as possible observing controllers at work. I hope the training department wakes up and moves their class date up, though... Boredom leads to attrition.....

Anyway..... Rat-a-tat-a-tat.....

Clear skies,
Jim