1 00:00:00,419 --> 00:00:02,252 OTS is the Air Forces assistance 2 00:00:02,252 --> 00:00:03,919 program where if you meet the 3 00:00:03,919 --> 00:00:06,030 qualifications of what it means to be 4 00:00:06,030 --> 00:00:08,252 an Air Force officer , we take you , we 5 00:00:08,252 --> 00:00:10,308 lead you , we equip you , and we get 6 00:00:10,308 --> 00:00:12,252 the things that you need so we can 7 00:00:12,252 --> 00:00:14,475 produce a leader that the Department of 8 00:00:14,475 --> 00:00:16,530 War , the nation , and the Air Force 9 00:00:16,530 --> 00:00:18,308 deserves . We have about 33,700 10 00:00:18,308 --> 00:00:17,860 students that come through this . 11 00:00:17,944 --> 00:00:20,055 Program every single year and they're 12 00:00:20,055 --> 00:00:22,222 from all over the world . This program 13 00:00:22,222 --> 00:00:24,444 is designed to take those people and to 14 00:00:24,444 --> 00:00:26,444 produce a war fighter . All right , 15 00:00:26,444 --> 00:00:28,500 first , let's talk about some of the 16 00:00:28,500 --> 00:00:30,222 misconceptions of being an OTS 17 00:00:30,222 --> 00:00:32,500 instructor . So when I went in in 2013 , 18 00:00:32,505 --> 00:00:34,727 I had one flight commander from day one 19 00:00:34,727 --> 00:00:38,000 to graduation . I assumed that my 20 00:00:38,540 --> 00:00:40,651 instructor had no personal life . I'm 21 00:00:40,651 --> 00:00:42,596 like there's no way that there's a 22 00:00:42,596 --> 00:00:44,540 healthy work-life balance going on 23 00:00:44,540 --> 00:00:46,707 because they're here when we wake up , 24 00:00:46,707 --> 00:00:46,299 they're here when we go to sleep . A 25 00:00:46,299 --> 00:00:48,466 lot of people have this idea that when 26 00:00:48,466 --> 00:00:50,632 you come here it's a , it's a constant 27 00:00:50,632 --> 00:00:52,688 grind . There's zero time for actual 28 00:00:52,688 --> 00:00:54,799 family life outside of OTS . I'm here 29 00:00:54,799 --> 00:00:56,688 to tell you that nothing could be 30 00:00:56,688 --> 00:00:58,632 further from the truth . Now we've 31 00:00:58,632 --> 00:01:00,688 split it up into this mod . Truck to 32 00:01:00,688 --> 00:01:02,688 where you'll get 5 different flight 33 00:01:02,688 --> 00:01:04,355 commanders to get 5 different 34 00:01:04,355 --> 00:01:06,577 leadership attributes that you can then 35 00:01:06,577 --> 00:01:08,799 as a future leader go I liked what this 36 00:01:08,799 --> 00:01:10,577 officer did . I liked what this 37 00:01:10,577 --> 00:01:12,688 non-commissioned officer did . I want 38 00:01:12,688 --> 00:01:12,625 to repeat those couple different 39 00:01:12,625 --> 00:01:14,681 attributes and so what worked in one 40 00:01:14,681 --> 00:01:17,185 mod and what one flight instructor 41 00:01:17,185 --> 00:01:19,129 valued or put a lot of emphasis on 42 00:01:19,129 --> 00:01:21,407 maybe the next one doesn't very , very . 43 00:01:21,407 --> 00:01:23,574 Clear commander's intent , very , very 44 00:01:23,574 --> 00:01:25,796 clear with syllabus . You must do these 45 00:01:25,796 --> 00:01:28,074 things within these confines . Awesome . 46 00:01:28,074 --> 00:01:30,185 But how we go do things , we have the 47 00:01:30,185 --> 00:01:32,407 freedom to navigate where we see fit to 48 00:01:32,407 --> 00:01:34,629 operate in the gray within the confines 49 00:01:34,629 --> 00:01:36,796 of our commander's intent . I give the 50 00:01:36,796 --> 00:01:38,852 expectations to the flight lead that 51 00:01:38,852 --> 00:01:41,074 this is when you show up , this is what 52 00:01:41,074 --> 00:01:40,991 you show up with , and if they don't , 53 00:01:41,152 --> 00:01:43,860 hey , learning will be occurring . I am 54 00:01:43,860 --> 00:01:45,971 not waking up with them doing PT with 55 00:01:45,971 --> 00:01:48,082 them . I am not making sure that they 56 00:01:48,082 --> 00:01:50,249 get to their breakfast . They all show 57 00:01:50,249 --> 00:01:52,304 up on time because they would rather 58 00:01:52,304 --> 00:01:54,360 police themselves and execute all of 59 00:01:54,360 --> 00:01:54,339 their other duties without an 60 00:01:54,339 --> 00:01:57,669 instructor present and I . Love OTS 61 00:01:57,669 --> 00:01:59,725 because it has that freedom to where 62 00:01:59,725 --> 00:02:01,836 when I leave work , work stays here . 63 00:02:01,836 --> 00:02:03,947 Being here at OTS has afforded me the 64 00:02:03,947 --> 00:02:06,169 opportunity to spend the most amount of 65 00:02:06,169 --> 00:02:08,336 time with my family that I've ever had 66 00:02:08,336 --> 00:02:10,447 in my entire military career . I have 67 00:02:10,447 --> 00:02:12,447 had the opportunity to coach Little 68 00:02:12,447 --> 00:02:14,613 League soccer , be at every single one 69 00:02:14,613 --> 00:02:14,445 of their karate . Events and every 70 00:02:14,445 --> 00:02:16,612 single one of their karate tournaments 71 00:02:16,612 --> 00:02:18,334 we get the weekends off and we 72 00:02:18,334 --> 00:02:20,278 typically work a standard schedule 73 00:02:20,278 --> 00:02:23,604 between 7:30 and 4:30 . Are there some 74 00:02:23,604 --> 00:02:25,771 long days for sure , but it definitely 75 00:02:25,771 --> 00:02:27,993 in comparison to my other jobs I'm able 76 00:02:27,993 --> 00:02:30,215 to spend way more time with my kids and 77 00:02:30,215 --> 00:02:34,039 so I do appreciate that . There's 78 00:02:34,039 --> 00:02:36,206 also a lot of flexibility if I have to 79 00:02:36,206 --> 00:02:38,095 go pick up my kids from school or 80 00:02:38,095 --> 00:02:39,928 there's an emergency , there's a 81 00:02:39,928 --> 00:02:41,872 plethora of instructors on standby 82 00:02:41,872 --> 00:02:44,970 willing to cover my classes for me . Go 83 00:02:44,970 --> 00:02:48,440 to Another misconception is career 84 00:02:48,440 --> 00:02:50,607 progression . Everybody thinks if they 85 00:02:50,607 --> 00:02:52,496 come to OTS it's gonna hurt their 86 00:02:52,496 --> 00:02:54,662 career . It's looked favorably upon by 87 00:02:54,662 --> 00:02:56,718 the career fields now , right ? They 88 00:02:56,718 --> 00:02:58,607 shifted that that narrative . You 89 00:02:58,607 --> 00:03:00,718 actually get a bump like on boards if 90 00:03:00,718 --> 00:03:02,662 you have the , the instructor duty 91 00:03:02,662 --> 00:03:04,773 title . Being an instructor said that 92 00:03:04,773 --> 00:03:06,440 you , he volunteered for this 93 00:03:06,440 --> 00:03:08,329 assignment . You chose to develop 94 00:03:08,329 --> 00:03:10,551 yourself , get some breadth and depth , 95 00:03:10,551 --> 00:03:12,662 step out . Of your career and come to 96 00:03:12,662 --> 00:03:14,718 OTS and give back to the Air Force . 97 00:03:14,718 --> 00:03:14,529 Mentorship is probably one of the best 98 00:03:14,529 --> 00:03:16,751 parts of being an officer , right , and 99 00:03:16,751 --> 00:03:18,807 here it's that is your entire job is 100 00:03:18,807 --> 00:03:21,070 mentoring uh the next generation of 101 00:03:21,070 --> 00:03:23,292 leaders . Coming here and understanding 102 00:03:23,292 --> 00:03:26,070 that I get to have an imprint on the 103 00:03:26,080 --> 00:03:28,247 leaders that are gonna take the charge 104 00:03:28,247 --> 00:03:30,191 and I can say I had a part of that 105 00:03:30,191 --> 00:03:32,413 fulfills me like nothing that I've ever 106 00:03:32,413 --> 00:03:34,469 done in my in my entire career . You 107 00:03:34,469 --> 00:03:36,580 get to grow them and they in turn get 108 00:03:36,580 --> 00:03:38,580 to grow airmen . We always hear the 109 00:03:38,580 --> 00:03:41,009 term people over hardware . You hear 110 00:03:41,009 --> 00:03:43,287 that in the military constantly . Well , 111 00:03:43,287 --> 00:03:45,509 right here at OTS , that is what you're 112 00:03:45,509 --> 00:03:47,509 developing . You are developing the 113 00:03:47,509 --> 00:03:49,731 people , the next warfighters that will 114 00:03:49,731 --> 00:03:51,731 supersede any hardware that we ever 115 00:03:51,731 --> 00:03:50,669 come up with .