What I've Been Doing The Last Few Weeks

When you're a pilot and you join a new unit, there's a process you have to go through called RL (Readiness Level) Progression. Basically, you have to prove to the Instructor Pilots (IP's) in the new unit that you are capable of performing all of the maneuvers you might be required to perform in a mission, so while you're going through RL Progression you fly only with IP's and during flights you go through all basic maneuvers. This would include different kinds of landings/takeoffs (rolling landing, single engine landings, minimum power takeoffs, etc), practicing emergency procedures, and doing things like operating radios. You could compare RL Progression to being on a sort of probation. So that's what I've been doing since I got here in Kirkuk.

Unfortunately, progressing me has not been a priority for the unit. The IP's are all mission pilots as well, so they have only been able to fly me when there are no missions and when we have the aircraft and mechanics available. It's been kind of a slow process and somewhat frustrating. If I'm going to leave my family to get deployed, I don't want to be just sitting around doing nothing, which I have been doing a lot of through this process, having flown maybe once a week on average, for only an hour or two at a time.

The good news is, as of this week I'm officially RL1, which means I'm done with the RL Progression. Over the last 3 days I have flown 3 missions and racked up a whopping 16 hours of flight time, which is more than the whole month that it took me to progress. Because eligibility for civilian (or military, for that matter) flying jobs are predominantly based on flying hours, accruing a ton of hours was one of my goals for this deployment. With that in mind, this is a trend that I hope continues!