Naval Air Technical Training Center, Millington, Tennessee August 1979 – September 1979
I left Naval Security Group Activity, San Vito dei Normanni, Italy, on an emergency transfer. My father was in critical condition due to collapsed lungs. Fortunately, he recovered and was with us for twenty-three years more.
My assignment to Millington was to attend instructor school to prepare me to be an instructor at the Naval Technical Training Center, Corry Station, Pensacola, Florida.
The school wasn’t focused on rote learning but rather on instructional techniques.
One was wiping a blackboard or whiteboard up and down rather than side to side. Side to side causes the hips to sway and can be comical from the student’s point of view.
Another was to be diligent in not turning your back on the students. The students might find it insulting, but I think it was to protect the instructor from spitballs or other projectiles. (Joke)
I don’t remember written tests, but there were many practicals. Each of us would conduct a training session before our classmates. My classmates would provide feedback on our performance, including suggestions on how to improve.
I was certified as a Master Training Specialist after completing the course.
I had taken up golf at San Vito. I was a duffer who enjoyed the afternoon off they gave me to play.
Millington had a course, and I played several times while there. I remember the first time I played the course. There was a water hole that gave me fits. I drove the green, ending up yards short. I chipped to the green, but the ball rolled into the water hazard. The green sloped toward the water. I played another ball with the same result. After losing a couple of balls in the water, I took the maximum for the hole and moved on. Subsequent rounds found me driving the fairway, chipping over the green, and taking the maximum for the hole. I didn’t try to get a ball to stay on the green. Cheaper for me that way.
Golf is not my game, LOL.
I missed Lori and DJ, but it made sense for them to stay with family while I was in school. It was a short school, after all.
I enjoyed the school and looked forward to Pensacola. Narrowband Direction Finder Course, here I come.