Aerospace Control Officers-AEC [merged]

[Gazoo]

Wherever it is I'm sent, I'll stay there until I've completed the distance learning part of the AEC course. For the core part of the course (Jan 09 for me) I'll be transferred to Cornwall. From my understanding, which could very well be wrong, OJT is more like a shadow position. It's not meant for you to do any of the meat and potatoes work of the trade, but rather get an idea of what work in the trade (or stream) entails.

Ken:
What you have been told it pretty much correct,  except that we no longer have a 'core' part of the course.  Last fall we eliminated the AEC core and incorporated it into DL.  So you will need to submit a preference(through your supervisor to Major Don Carver in Winnipeg) as to which branch of the occupation you want before coming to Cornwall.  You are correct in that there is no guarantee you will get your choice, but when you show up here you will already be assigned to either IFR, VFR, or Weapons.

 

[Celticgirl]

Last fall we eliminated the AEC core and incorporated it into DL. 

Gazoo, is the course at CFSACO still 7 months in duration (as indicated on the recruitment site)?

[Edited to fix acronym]

 

[Gazoo]

Gazoo, is the course at CFSACO still 7 months in duration (as indicated on the recruitment site)?

[Edited to fix acronym]

No, it depends on which part of the occupation you get.  It is from three and a half to six months(weapons 3 and a half).  Off the top of my head I can't tell you exactly how long the VFR and IFR courses are.

 

[Celticgirl]

No, it depends on which part of the occupation you get.  It is from three and a half to six months(weapons 3 and a half).  Off the top of my head I can't tell you exactly how long the VFR and IFR courses are.

Well, now, this is new information. Thank you.

 

[KenJacobson]

Thanks for the confirmation Gazoo!
My family will be happy to hear they'll have their dad/husband around just a little while longer.

 

[Airbrat]

Well, finally decided to check back with my CFRC yesterday and left a message as to the status of my application.  Heard back this morning that they had just received my medical info.(which I'm guessing is what took 5 months to get) and I should be getting a call this week sometime to move onto the next stage which hopefully will mean just a quick check up and an interview (depending on if they decide to make me take the CFAT again as I took it before when I joined the Reserves).

  Anyway, just feels good to know I'm finally getting somewhere with this now after all these months of hearing nothing.  Now I just have to hope I'm not going through basic when my wife is giving birth in August. 

 

[KJL]

Here's hoping you get to spend some time with the lil one before you head off

 

[Kruggle]

Oh boy. CFRC called me yesterday to set up my appointment for CFAT. I am so excited that my test is going to be in about 1.5 weeks. I thought they wouldn't call me until the end of April/May. YAY!

 

[KenJacobson]

Oh boy. CFRC called me yesterday to set up my appointment for CFAT. I am so excited that my test is going to be in about 1.5 weeks. I thought they wouldn't call me until the end of April/May. YAY!

Good Luck!

 

[Airbrat]

Just heard from them today and I write mine in 4 days.  Then it's onto Aerospace Control for me...after basic and slt of course  ;D

 

[KJL]

Good luck on the CFAT fella's

 

[Celticgirl]

Good luck on the CFAT, Airbrat and Kruggle! Eat a good breakfast the morning of the test. 

 

[Kruggle]

Thanks for all the wishes, but right now I am having other concerns..

My test is next week and something has been bothering me a lot. I was supposed to be finishing up my degree by the end of this month, but right now I'm not so certain that I will get through the semester. I have signed up for the summer semester just in case I fail something, but knowing that officers need a degree to get in, I am not sure if it is better for me to switch over to NCM. The reason why I have been thinking about NCM now is that my grades aren't great and that even if I do pull through the semester, my transcript is pretty ugly. If I don't pull through and end up getting failing grades, that's even worse.

I have talked to someone at the CFRC about grades on a transcript. He bascially told me that as long as I graduate, it's good enough for an officer (academic wise). That could be true, but I am quite concerned about marks being brought up during my interview for an officer position (if I have one). Also, AECs have to go through tough courses, so I am not surprised if the CFRC is disappointed about my grades.

On a side note, if I do end up failing some course(s), I would be done repeating those courses by late October or late July, depending on which course. If I do switch over to NCM, I could finish up my degree by taking distance education courses once I am finished with Basic and have a chance to settle down.

Preferences wise, I would still like Pilot or AEC, but if I do have to switch because of my own poor academic performance, so be it.

Once again, any thoughts on this would be much appreciated.

 

[Air4ce]

Kruggle,

Are you serious!?

If you can't figure this out on your own at this stage of your life I suggest you forget about pilot, AEC or any other officer trade for that matter.  Maybe joining as an NCM is the way for you to go so you can be led around by the hand and told what to do do and when to do it for the first few years of your career.  Even then CF NCMs, especially AC Ops, are expected to function on their own with little guidance and direction.

I know you do not know me and probably don't want to after this but here is my advise to you since you asked.  Suck it up!  Work your but off and cram for those exams and pass them.  If you don't succeed the first time, try again.  You don't get as far as you have and then quit.  If you want pilot or AEC you do everything in your power to get what you want and don't let others tell you what you should do.  It is your life!

If you can't figure this on your own then there is no room for you in the CF as an officer.

 

[Airbrat]

Wow...I won't say anything to that. 

    As for my own situation, I did my CFAT yesterday morning.  I did well above the minimums needed for every officer trade I'm eligible for except....yes you guessed it...AEC.  Apparently I was just under the mark.  I had a couple options.  Retake it and hope I do a little better or just go with my second choice (Logistics).  If I did rewrite the test, they would go with that mark whatever it was and I might end up doing worse.  On the other side I could do better and then move on with the process.  After discussing it a little more with the career counsellor I decided to go with my second choice as originally it was what I wanted to do first but had changed it as Log is very competitive to get into.  Anyway,  I was a little disappointed but am looking forward to moving along with the rest of this with my medical and interview next Monday.  Good luck to anyone else still going for this trade.

 

[Celticgirl]

Airbrat, I'm sorry to hear that you didn't get your first trade choice. I can understand your reluctance to rewrite as well, but if you are happy with Logistics, then it's all good. I'm sure it isn't out of the range of possibility to do an OT at some point in your career should you decide that you would prefer AEC to Log later on.

Kruggle, I think Air4ce was a bit harsh with his/her 'advice', yet at the same time I understand the reasoning behind what s/he said. It would seem that your lack in self-confidence is a greater hindrance to a career as an officer than your low GPA. Officers are leaders. Too much self-doubt or insecurity will not serve you well in an officer trade. With that said, if you really want to be a pilot, then go for it. If you want to be an Aerospace Controller, go for it. The worst thing that can happen is you don't get picked up for your trade(s). If that happens, you can apply again for other trades, NCM or officer. (Someone correct me if this is false information, but it's what I was told.) Good luck with whatever you decide.

Air4ce - cool handle. 

 

[Deepinit]

If you check the list on this thread, the AEC trade apparently only requires SLT for Francophones:

http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/70923.0.html

That's odd. I know the post is from February of this year but I swore in last Wednesday at CFRC Toronto. My file states that I "WILL BE REQUIRED TO UNDERGO UP TO 33 WEEKS OF SECOND LANGUAGE TRG AT DET ELFC SAINT JEAN PREVIOUS TO OCCUPATIONAL TRG" (caps lock used as it appears on my file - not for emphasis or anything).

The guy next to me had the same thing written in his and he was signing up to be a Sig-Op. It doesn't bother me as another language is always a welcome skill to have to go along with my other two. Just giving you guys the heads up so you don't get all shocked when you swear in.

 

[Airbrat]

I just heard from someone that went through last year that you guys are the last group to have to do SLT.  The rest of us apparently won't be required to do so after basic.  Who knows though...they could be mistaken.

 

[Kruggle]

Hey everyone!

I just came back from my CFAT. I was nervous while waiting for the test but I was fine during the test.

We were all told to sit at the waiting area after we all finished the test. This girl who I talked to fairly breifly was called into another room while the rest of us kept on waiting. At this point, I got super nervous, as I thought maybe people who were called into the room had to choose different trades because of their CFAT scores. I was afraid that I would be called in too and sure enough, 5 minutes later, my name was also called and I was directed into this counselling room. Basically, I was told that I qualified for Air Nav and Pilot based on my CFAT scores, but not AEC because my score wasn't high enough. I asked a few questions and when I was about to agree with carrying on the application process for Air Nav, he looked at my file for a minute and asked me about my academics. He asked me what my degree is going to be in and whether I took a Math course at school or not. I told him my degree is in English and that I took a 3rd year Math at school in the past summer. He looked rather surprised and said, "third year math?! What was your mark?" I told him I think I got a B and he looked through my whole transcript. Later on, he said he thinks he can get me into AEC based on my degree. I was happy to hear that, but at the same time, I was puzzled. All Officer trades need to have degrees and my grades are not good at all, so why would my degree get me in? He went outside to ask someone about it and when he came back, he told me to go back to the waiting area until he got further clarification.

While I was in the waiting area, I looked at Air Nav's description in one of those binders. Honestly, it looked pretty interesting anyway so I wouldn't mind. Plus, he said he doesn't think Air Nav is closing, so I was happy enough to be qualified for that.

Suddenly, he came back and said, "We will continue your application for AEC." So, I asked him if my degree made a difference in that decision and he said, "We had an error on the print out from the computer, but your mark is definitely high enough."

HUH?!

I am definitely not complaining, but I went from being a little dissappointed to being happy about Air Nav and then being confused about the final decision. hah.

 

[Celticgirl]

Kruggle, I suspect that there is some leeway with the CFAT scores. You obviously scored pretty high if you qualified for pilot and air nav, so I doubt it was a huge stretch to qualify for AEC. I'm actually surprised that AEC requires a higher score than pilot or air nav!

Keep us posted on your application process. When is your interview?