Dots (part 1)

Currently, I am a trainee at the Chicago Center ARTCC (Air Route Traffic Control Center) in Aurora, Illinois. Most of my friends (the non ATC type, anyways) have no idea what this entails. I talk to Evan, or Dain, or (god forbid) Pete about work and I may as well be speaking an entirely different language. I've been immersed in the world of ATC for the past 5+ years now, so some of the things I take for granted must sound like witchcraft to the uninitiated. One thing that is universal, however, is that going through training is somewhat like what Boot Camp is for a fresh military recruit. What follows is a brief look at what it's like to be a trainee at ZAU.

The main theme of being a trainee is that regardless of who you are, or what your background is, you are an idiot. Most employees of the FAA have been employed since Ronald Regan fired the previous batch of controllers back in 1981 for striking. This means that 65-70% of the workforce is over the age of 45. And, like most old people, they are all extremely set in their ways. It's their way or the highway. If you disagree with something, you best keep it to yourself because they probably don't want to hear it. Some of them can be fairly merciless at times. Coming from my family background, I have fairly thick skin. Also, playing 20 years of sports kind of conditions me for the grief I have to take at work. Most of it is fairly good-natured ribbing, and usually I can give as good as I get. There are a few folks, however, who are just furious at the world and they want you to be just as miserable as them. It's great fun working with somebody who would just as soon see your decaying body as give you the time of day. So I've got that going for me.

Another theme of training is that you fuck up. A LOT. It's just a part of the learning process, and it's inevitable that you make mistakes. Depending on your trainers, your self-esteem (or what's left of it) can take a serious beating. Listening to how much you suck every day can wear down on you eventually. And sometimes the abuse is constant, as some of the controllers are like sharks with blood in the water. Once one gets a taste of a fuckup, the rest are all over that like stink on shit. Now everybody is laughing at what the Stupid Trainee just did. Once again, I can take the abuse, as DJ is my father and I am well prepared. I'd be lying if I said there were never days where I just wanted to walk out and beat my head against a brick wall, though. Depending on your trainers, this is worse for some more than others. On days that I perform well, I feel like I can own the world. The key is having more good days than bad. It's a real roller coaster ride for your average Developmental Controller.

Every trainee is assigned a "Training Team", which is comprised of your Primary Trainer, and your Secondary trainer. This can make or break you as a newbie. I've lucked out, as both of my trainers are very good controllers. If you are assigned to a weaker controller, that controller will teach you habits that are not very good. An example: I was watching the Badger sector the other day, when "Controller X" was working. Now Controller X is known as one of the weaker controllers in my area. He was working a Skywest jet that had left Minneapolis and was putzing along at 27,000 feet in the air, bound for Cleveland. Controller X, for some unknown reason thought that this aircraft was landing at O'hare, so he descended the plane down 8,000 in preparation to land at an airport he didn't want to go to, nearly 400 miles before he needed to. Whoops! Needless to say, the sharks were sniffing the blood at that point. Just imagine if this guy was your trainer. The bad habits you would pick up could send you down the shitter at any given moment.

Training at my facility, and becoming a FPL (Full Performance Level, which means you can work by yourself) can take up to two years. TWO YEARS of taking this type of abuse. Now naturally the longer you train, the better you get, the less shit you take (in theory). You just have to survive the first parts. The job itself is the best, and I absolutely love it. It's not like if you have a shitty day, the same planes are gonna be waiting for you the next day. Tomorrow is a whole new day, with a whole new type of traffic. It's the light at the end of the tunnel for me, to be able to work by myself. Except right now, the tunnel seems like a mile long and somebody tied my shoelaces together. I know I'll get there eventually, I just have to keep hopping along. If you see me beating my head against a wall, just let me be. I'll knock myself out eventually.