Last night I went into forbidden territory, the restricted area, the inner sanctum: into the flight rooms (by invitation, of course). C’s squadron held an orientation for student spouses (all 5 of us) to give us a glimpse into what our loved ones face while they’re away from us. I had a chance to meet several instructors as well as the squadron and flight commanders and their wives. It was a good chance to put faces with names and actually meet the people responsible for my husband’s long absences. It was also nice to see the room where C spends so much time, complete with the couch on which students are not allowed to sit – a comfortable seat is a privilege to be earned – and the flight mascot: a python.
They put together a presentation – PowerPoint, I know, you’re shocked – detailing a “day in the life” of a JSUPT student. Here’s the gist: Upon a bright and early arrival, students are not allowed to enter their flight rooms until precisely the appointed time. Once admitted, they start the morning with a formal brief to discuss the weather, runways, and other pertinent information for the day. This transitions into “stand-up” - an oral emergency procedures quiz – and shotgun questions pertaining to any and all relevant aircraft information. If scheduled for a morning flight or sim, they would then proceed to the preflight brief, flight, and debrief, taking about 3-4 hours for the whole process. They have academics or CAIs scheduled intermittently, various other duties, and infinite studying. These tasks can occur in any order and, while they currently can only be scheduled for one actual flight per day (that will change after solo), they could have both a flight and a sim on the same day. Each flight (or sim) is its own lesson, taking ample preparation. The last 10-15 minutes going over the highlights (and screw-ups) and learning moments of the day. Twelve hours after they began, they’re then formally released to go home and do it all again the next day.
It was actually pretty informative to hear C’s day summarized like that. I also learned that I, as a spouse, am allowed the occasional trespass to do nice things like bring C lunch, but it was also pretty clear that he may or may not have time to eat it.
Here at home, we’ve also fallen into a routine of sorts, albeit, not a very satisfying one. C gets home around 7:00, we eat dinner together (I’ve been doing a lot of crock pot meals since I’m never sure exactly when he’ll get home), he heads into “the cave” (his office) and I get H ready for bed.
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| This is how C spends his evenings |
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| And this is how the dog spends her evenings |
I’m usually asleep or reading by the time he joins me around 11:00 and he falls asleep almost instantly. C leaves in the morning before either of us is awake and we start the routine all over again. Friday nights and Saturdays are, by far, the best part of our week.
