Pensacola Naval Air Station - Air Traffic Control School

Ben went straight from MCT at Camp Pendleton to Pensacola NAS where he would do his MOS training in Air Traffic Control.  He graduated from MCT on Friday afternoon, November 30, 2001, and spent the evening eating pizza aboard Camp Pendleton.  He left for LAX around midnight on a Marine Corps bus.  He spent several hours waiting in the deserted airport before catching a Northwest flight to Memphis, connecting to a Northwest regional jet for the hop into Pensacola. Bobby was on an earlier flight but waited at the airport for Ben.  Their plan was to check in together and hopefully get assigned as roommates.

They reported in late in the afternoon on Saturday, December 1.  Sometimes plans work out great.  They were assigned to share a suite in Echo Barracks.  The suite included cable TV, a VCR, and their own head.  Compared to boot camp and MCT this was luxury!  They spent most of December doing "make-work" which consisted of cleaning barracks.  Basically, they were putting in time until their MOS classes started.

Ben classed up a couple of days before Christmas leave started.  His class consisted of around 15 students, 12 sailors and three Marines.  He got a ride home for two weeks of leave of Christmas (it was wonderful) and then reported back over the weekend of January 5/6 2002.  Classes started in earnest on January 7.

For anyone planning on going to Air Traffic Control School, brace yourself.  The first phase of the course, around seven weeks, is a heavy academic load.  The students must really apply themselves and learn quickly.  In addition to quizzes every day or two, they have one or two major chapter tests every week. If a student fails a chapter test by a small margin, he is permitted to retake it the following morning at 0600.  If he does not pass it, he is dropped back to the following class (if he is lucky).  If a student is not making enough progress, he is dropped from the course.  Ben's group was told that if they failed out, they would be trained in Camp Lejeune to pump port-a-potties for the next five years.  The Marine Corps needs to have it's portable heads cleaned, so failing out of ATC school is one way to request the assignment.

One of the reasons why we encouraged Ben to join the Marines was that we thought he was not ready for University level academics.  Trust me, the ATC course is taught at a University pace (or better). So in January I taught Ben how to study.  If you are fairly smart, studying is not required in high school in Grand Prairie if you are happy with a blend of A's and B's.

I was able to arrange business trips to Southern Louisiana for three Fridays in a row, January 18, 25, and February1.  These trips allowed me to pop over to Pensacola each Friday afternoon, spend Saturday with Ben, and drive back to Dallas on Sunday.  It's about a 10-hour drive.  We just visited on Friday, but studied hard on Saturday.  I was so glad to be able to help and pass on to Ben the study techniques and tricks I picked up over the years.  He had to learn the material, I simple provided him with some tools to help him do so.  But along the way we got to spend three very special weekends together.  I'm a lucky man.

Pensacola is a nice city.  It is very spread out, so you need to budget lots of time to get around.

This picture comes from the Pensacola NAS website.  It is an aerial view from the east, over Pensacola Bay, looking west over the Naval Air Station, back towards Alabama.	[click on thumbnails to see full size images]
Here I marked up the Navy's picture to indicate a few landmarks.  The three arrows point to the area where the Aviation Technical School is located.  The right hand arrow points to Echo Barracks, the center arrow points to Iwo Jima Barracks (a Marine barracks), and the left hand arrow points to the enlisted recreation center.  The single dot is located above the ATC school, and the double dots are at the Aviation Museum (!!!!!).
As I drove from New Orleans, past Gulfport and Mobile, towards Pensacola, I became quite tense and impatient.  I loved it when I started seeing signs for Pensacola in Mobile!  It's about an hour's drive from Mobile to the Naval Air Station.
When I arrived, Ben showed me his room.  A couple of his Marine buddies were there.  That huge boom box is Ben's pride and joy.
The quarters had been inspected earlier on Friday and everyone was relaxing.  I found the rooms very comfortable, although not too large.  I learned that starching cammies has become an art from of which Ben is quite proud.
We left the NAS and drove over the bridge to Pensacola Beach where we checked into an inexpensive motel I had found on the Internet, the Five Flags Inn.  It wasn't fancy, but it was clean, comfortable and cheap.  We went out to dinner at Peg Leg Pete's on Pensacola Beach.  Ben had their steamed mussels appetizer and fell in love with it.  After an early night, we went back to the NAS and started to study.  We found a little "gazebo" on the beach that became our study headquarters.  We sat on the benches and I grilled Ben over the material he needed to learn.  The gazebo is located just a minute or two from the enlisted quarters.  This is Ben in the gazebo.
This is a view north along the beach from the gazebo.  The two figures in the distance are sailors doing security patrol. They were everywhere.
This is the view south from the gazebo.  Again, this is right in front of the enlisted barracks, about where the right hand arrow is located in the second picture, above.
Looking north again.  The City of Pensacola is on the horizon.
This is the gazebo.  It was a bit of a dreary day, trying to rain.  So it was nice to be under a roof, yet out in the open.  It is an ideal place to study.
After a while we took a study break.  Ben stood around on his hands, in the water.
Ben had to go to a study session with his class, so I wandered around and took pictures.  The enlisted quarters look like a modern university.
This is the front of Echo Barracks.  It looks like a new suburban hotel.
This is one of the navy barracks, just north of Echo.
This is Echo again, from the southeast.  The parking lot is for the enlisted students.
This is Iwo Jima barracks, one of the Marine barracks.
A view of the central courtyard in Echo.  The other barracks have sand volleyball courts as well as tables and basketball courts in their courtyards.
The Ancient Art of Starch.  Turn your cammies inside out and hang them from the door frame.  Spray them with liquid starch until saturated.  Let dry.  Then turn right side out and iron to a crisp cardboard-like consistency.
While Ben was in his study session I spent a while looking at the Naval Aviation Museum.  It is superb.  This is my favorite WW II aircraft, the Corsair.
Here's another Corsair, in "flight."  What a beauty!
While I was in the museum, the weather closed in.  This is a view of the enlisted barracks area, looking east.  Echo is the tall building in the center.  The chow hall is in front of it.
After Ben's study session we went to McGuire's pub for dinner (superb steaks).  On Sunday morning, after a study breakfast at IHOP, I left dropped Ben off before I left for Dallas.  Here he is with a few odds and ends I had brought, just as I was leaving.
As I left I got a picture of the playing fields by the barracks.
Another view of the sports area.
This is the Air Traffic Control School.  The containers are full of equipment for when they learn to control air traffic at an expeditionary airfield (like Kandahar).
This is the main ATC School building.
I hope this broad expanse of this street gives you a sense of how spread out Pensacola NAS is.  It's a huge place.
My next visit was on January 25.  This time I brought Max, Ben's blue Doberman with me.  Here's Max exploring the area near the beach by the barracks.  We had to wait for a little while, while Ben cleaned up after PT.  Max made friends with a whole bunch of people.
It was a beautiful day to wander along the beach at the Naval Air Station.  That is Pensacola Beach on the horizon.
The view northeast, towards Pensacola.
The beach was being used by quite a number of Marines and sailors relaxing of Friday afternoon.
Finally, Ben called us on his cell phone and we met in front of Echo Barracks.
Max recognized Ben from a distance.  The Marine was really glad to see his old dog.
We hopped in the car and drove over the Pensacola Beach.  This is the view of the Naval Air Station from Fort Pickens.
Fort Pickens is part of the National Seashore.  We went for a walk through the woods.  Ben and Max had fun exploring.
Even though it was headed for sunset, Ben was determined to go swimming in the gulf.  Remember, this was January 25!
There was enough wave action for a little body surfing.
The beach slopes gradually, so you have to go a fair way out to get to the waves.
Getting ready.
Catching a wave.
Bodysurfing at sunset!
Max and Ben finished up with a romp in the waves. After they dried off, we went back to Peg Leg Pete's for dinner.  Ben had two of the steamed mussel appetizers this time.  He really likes them!
Saturday dawned clear and warm.  We found a secluded section of beach and set up to spend the day studying. Max checks out the view.
The beach offers a couple of unique advantages as a study location. You can draw runways in the sand to illustrate a point, and you can swim during each study break.
Max kept an eye on Ben while he was swimming.
The best friends.
Come on Max, let's check out the seashells.
Max found some critter in the sand.
It was a great day of studying, but by the end we were worn out.  We went back to our motel, had pizza in the room for dinner, and went to bed early.  The next day, Ben and Max slept in.  Max and I dropped Ben back at the NAS and drove home to Dallas.
Things were a little different on my third visit.  Ben was on duty for the weekend so he could not leave the NAS, and had to report for formation several times during the day.  But that was OK. We either picnicked or ate at the MacDonald's on the base and studied at secluded areas where we could concentrate.   On Saturday I went to Ben's morning formation.
Click on this link to go to a page of pictures of the Marines who were on duty on Saturday, February 2, 2002.  Is your Marine there?
One of the exciting aspects of this visit was that Ben had just been promoted to Private First Class.
Those chevrons look mighty fine!  Well done, Ben.  Keep up the good work!
This is Ben's friends, PFC Clark.

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