Assignment Night.... We had no idea what fate and the Air Force Personnel Center might have in store for us. What aircraft? What mission? What continent? What base? Mountains or beach? Fighter or tanker?
Or would we even get out of Columbus, at all, and have to repeat UPT over and over again, class after class after class, as FAIPs, First Assignment Instructor Pilots?
T-37 or T-38?
UPT was a pretty efficient system. For an Academy class, the combination of Academy grad plus FAR rating (Fighter-Attack-Reconnaissance) usually resulted in becoming a FAIP. History had proven this. About half of our class had been rated FAR.
History had also proven that one out of every three UPT students who started the program would wash out; however, for our class, the washout rate was only about one student in five. As a student pilots, we couldn’t change the system. But as a class, could we change the norm?
Prior to Assignment Night, UPT students had to submit an Air Force Form 90 to list their preferences for aircraft and base assignments. The form 90 was known as the Dream Sheet. Looking at the work I put into this form, I see that I spent way too much time on my Dream Sheet.
For our Assignment Night, the O-Club had been transformed into Columbus Beach Club with Kenny's mannequin at center stage. I hadn't detailed this in my story, because there's really not that much I remember from that night, and I hadn't seen this picture until after I'd finished my manuscript.
Chuck, far left and fresh from the O-Club pool, is sporting her T-37 IP scarf, her first assignment. Mike and Kenny had their eyes closed. Somebody should have made them take this picture again.
We all wore beach clothes under our flight suits on Assignment Night. The rules for the evening were that we had to stay in uniform until we'd been called onstage and been given our first flying assignments. Once we returned to our seats, we could unzip our flight suits to reveal our beach clothes. Most of us ended up in the pool.
More Assignment Night merriment.
