Flight School: The First 6 Months – Part 2

If you missed Part 1, you can find it here!

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While I was waiting to get assigned to a new class, I promoted to Lieutenant! I was honored to have a mentor of mine, a crewmember from my first division, and my dad come out for the ceremony. I am so thankful to everyone who has been a part of my Coast Guard journey so far. This achievement is not something that happens alone; it takes a village. I’ve learned so much in these first four years from the people around me, and I continue to learn every day. I am also endlessly grateful to my friends and family who aren’t in the military who have put in the emotional energy and understanding to support me and remain loyal friends even when I have to miss holidays and big life events.

But for now, back to flight training…

When I classed-up for NIFE 2132, I joined my new class on Orientation Day. I didn’t really need to be there since I’d done orientation with my 2129, but it’s a good opportunity to get to know everyone in the class as well as the Class Officer who is like an advisor.

Let me back up for a minute. NIFE stands for Naval Introductory Flight Evaluation. The program was implemented in September 2020, combining and replacing the Introductory Flight Screening (IFS) and Aviation Preflight Indoctrination (API) programs.

From what I’ve heard, under IFS and API, flight students would complete IFS first to get some flight hours in a Cessna to get a taste of flying before beginning API which was classroom learning about aerodynamics, engines, flight rules and regulations, air navigation, and weather.

The NIFE program switched the order, implemented military-style briefs and grading to the flight portion of training, and condensed the two programs to just 8 weeks.

The 8 week NIFE schedule looks something like this:

• Week 1: Learn Aerodynamics and Engines, Aerodynamics Exam
• Week 2: Engines Exam, Learn Flight Rules & Regulations and Air Navigation, Flight Rules & Regulations Exam
• Week 3: Learn Air Navigation and Weather, Air Navigation Exam, Weather Exam
• Week 4: Land Survival, Flight Prep, Cessna Emergency Procedures & Limits Exam, Flight Suit Friday
• Week 5: Airport Orientation, Cockpit Trainer
• Week 6: On-wing Flights (flights with the same instructor)
• Week 7: Off-wing Flights (flights with a different instructor), Check ride
• Week 8: Physio (the dunker)

I’m through week 5 as I’m writing this and waiting to be scheduled for my first flight. For now I’ll just speak to my experience in the first 4 weeks.

General Structure

The first three weeks of NIFE are referred to as Ground School. It’s intense academic training in a classroom which reminded me of a college Finals Week (except x3). The daily schedule varied, but generally we would start at 0800 or 0830 and be done around 1500 each day. Most days included two subjects for 2 hours each and a lunch break. Instructors were required to give 10 minute breaks after 50 minutes of teaching. About half the days also included a 1-hour weight training block. After the school day, we were expected to study for 4-6 hours each day. It sounded a bit crazy at first, but I got used to it after the first week. Once a subject was completed, we took a 50 question multiple choice test. 80% is what you need to pass, otherwise you get a “Pink Sheet,” get rolled into a new class, and repeat that subject. (Pink Sheets are bad; it’s a 3-strikes you’re out kind of thing.)

How I Prepared

Each subject has a Student Guide. Before I started training, I tried to read them all cover to cover. I thought this was helpful to see the information once before I had to commit it to memory, but I also don’t think it’s necessary. Most people don’t open these books until the first day of class, and most people do fine. You should definitely do the reading each night though. It was expected that we read ahead the night before each lesson as well as reviewing what we learned in class that day.

The other things I did to prepare that I would recommend to others were eliminating distractions and finding things that brought me balance. You have to put other projects and things on hold to an extent, but you also need to find ways to decompress daily and not let the stress get the best of you.

Other Notes

• The Dump Sheet: Before each test we were given 5 minutes to write anything we wanted on a blank sheet of paper; no notes. This was super helpful to note equations, lists, and concepts that would come in handy to answer conceptual understanding questions on the test. 5 minutes is a really short amount of time, though, so it’s important to optimize that time by practicing your dump sheet ahead of time. It’s also a great way to review, study, and quiz yourself.
• Study Smarter Not Harder: I felt like there just weren’t enough hours in the day during these first three weeks. Before the Flight Rules & Regulations Exam, my class only had 3 days of class on the subject. You have to know your personal learning style and what will work for you to retain the information quickly.
• Study Groups: I found a really solid study group on the first or second day of class, and we are still meeting up as we go through the flight phase of NIFE. They’ve been crucial to my success thus far. Some days it was hard to motivate myself to study on my own, but meeting up with them made it easier, and we would spend hours working through concepts. There’s also definitely something to learning by teaching others.
• Gouge: There’s a saying, “Live by the gouge, die by the gouge.” Gouge is information that’s passed on from prior classes. I found it super helpful to focus my studying, but looking at gouge isn’t a replacement for studying or reading the student guides.
• iPads: Recently, Schools Command switched from issuing paper copies of the Student Guides to issuing iPads with electronic copies of the guides. There are pros and cons to this, but the important thing is that you know what will work best for your studying. I know people who bought a stylus and embraced the change. I know others who got the PDFs printed so they could physically flip through them and take notes on the pages.
• Condensed Weeks: The timing of my specific class was a bit unlucky in that due to holidays and Base events, we ended up with four 4-day weeks instead of four 5-day weeks. The schedule does not get pushed for holiday weekends, it’s just condensed. So there was a week that we had three exams in a four-day week. It’s not something you can control, but just to be aware of.

The Fourth Week

The last week in the classroom for NIFE included Land Survival, Flight Prep classes, another exam, and culminated with Flight Suit Friday.

Flight Prep was where we learned the tactical skills and techniques we’ll be using for the flight phase of NIFE. The Emergency Procedures & Limits Exam was rote memorization. Also 80% to pass, but it’s all fill in the blank on a blank table with just the titles. It sounded difficult in theory, but after our other tests, it wasn’t bad. We ended up taking the test a day early by surprise due to the first observation of Juneteenth this year.

We celebrated passing our tests with Flight Suit Friday. By passing all our tests, we earned the privilege to wear the green suit. It is such an honor to join the small and select group of people who wear this uniform, but I also know there’s still a very long road ahead to earning the esteemed wings of gold.

Learn More

• https://www.navy.mil/Press-Office/News-Stories/Article/2410597/new-naval-introductory-flight-evaluation-program-provides-modern-foundation-for/
• https://www.dvidshub.net/news/382581/new-naval-introductory-flight-evaluation-program-provides-modern-foundation-flight-training
• https://www.skywarriorinc.com/navy-ifs

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Cheers!

Sarah