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Praetorium Honoris

Monday, May 1, 2023

Circadian Rhythm and You!

 Last week, Sarge had a "fill-in" post in which he'd talked about going to work a couple of hours earlier than usual and the effect it had.  That post acted like a Back Hoe in my head and dredged out some long buried memories of a similar circumstance.

You know how this is going to begin now, Beans, doncha?

So....There I was*.....Stationed at Holloman AFB, early 80's.  Reagan had been in office long enough that the Flying Hour Budget, cut to smithereens by Jimmuh, was starting to have a favorable impact on my flying skills.  So much so that "the powers that be" deemed me qualified to actually instruct Fighter Pilot wannabe's in the difference between flying a jet and employing a Fighter. Having completed the transition to the AT-38 as well as the Instructor upgrade (downgrade?), it was time for me to be assigned an "Additional Duty".  While, flying and instructing was, indeed, my "job" in the Air Force, the reality was that your Additional Duty was what got you promoted.  Flying and instructing skills were a given.  If not, you weren't flying and instructing for long.

Student in the Front, IP in the Back.  Source


In any case, the Squadron Commander decided I needed to be the Squadron Scheduler.  Short of the Squadron Commander, the Operations Officer and , arguably, the Flight Commanders, the Scheduler was one of the more important positions in a flying Squadron.  The Commander could tell you what to do, the Ops Officer could suggest what you should do, but the rest could only humbly ask you to do something vis a vis the flying schedule.

I enjoyed the job, one had to coordinate jets needed and configurations with maintenance, airspace with the FAA, Student Pilots with IP's and a myriad of other things that could affect the flying schedule.  

The Wing's flying schedule also was a factor.  Each of the four squadrons had a 30 minute block for launching sorties in each "go". There were 4 "go"s per flying window and 3 windows per day. The 30 minute "Go" window would get your aircraft airborne and have a little time for a quick fix if something went wrong with the jet.  At the end of that window, the next squadron would launch.  At the end of the fourth window, the first squadron would have had time to fly the mission, recover, debrief, then brief the next mission and go again.  Rinse and repeat 2 or 3 times a day.

That's actually a Mini-Gun pod on the centerline. Yes, we taught strafing.  It was fun in the front seat,  scary as hell from the back. Source


As I said, Flying time in Ronnie's Regime was abundant.  I had about 500 hours after flying for 5 years prior to flying at Holloman.  (See what I mean about Jimmuh?)  At the completion of this 3 year tour I had almost 1800.  

Yes, Beans, it was a GREAT assignment, but the flying was hard work.  A lot of stress on the body, got to keep a close eye on the kid up front, as well as the kid that's trying to get close enough to you to simulate a gun shot (about 1000'.  Sounds like a lot, However, at 450K, it's not), keep an eye on the floor of the airspace (PK of the ground is 100%) and a host of other things to keep an eye on.  

Suffice it to say, I had no problem sleeping at night.

But, back to the flying schedule.  First brief was generally around 0530, with the last squadron starting at 0700.  This rotated every week.  My Squadron would rotate 0530, 0600, 0630, 0700.

And this is the point of the post.  Then we'd jump back to 0530.  

Which was a bear!  One had to rise about 0345 to get ready, eat, drive to work, then do all the pre-brief stuff to get ready for that 0530 Briefing.  The hour and a half less sleep available was, well, "difficult".

But, I thought if everybody could do it, so could I.  So I stuck it out.

Until I became scheduler.  At that point, I had to go to the Wing Scheduling meeting where all the horse trading and tit for tatting went on.  I very shortly noticed that the only Squadron going from earliest to latest, then enduring that large jump back to earliest, was us! Everybody else was getting up a half hour earlier each week then getting an hour and a half more sleep.

Yes, Sarge, it irked me.

Then, Vegas, came into the picture.  And my diabolical mind went into plotting mode.  As the Director of Operations, he had a lot of things on his plate, but he also had to be checked out in the AT-38 as an IP.  Which meant his flying window of opportunity was small and not only was I the Squadron Scheduler, I was his IP.

Therefore, I scheduled him for the first sortie of the day, every day.  We're walking back into the Squadron on the Friday of the first Late, Late Week to Early, Early Week transition.  We'd had the very first sortie of the day for 5 days straight, 0530 Brief. He happens to mention that his butt is dragging. I mentioned that once he was IP qualified, he could fly with any Squadron he wanted and since the other's had that more leisurely approach to the Early Early Week, he might consider flying with one of them.

Now, Vegas had several hundred hours of combat time and a few thousand of fighter time total.  He also was a Fighter Pilot, not a pilot of fighters.  He asked why my squadron flew this bass-ackward schedule.  I said I didn't know, but I'd check with the Wing Scheduler.

Turns out that  "Zis is Ze Vay Ve half alvays done it" was the reason.  I then sat down and looked at how we could change our schedule to be the same rotation plan as the rest of the wing without completely screwing over everyone's circadian rhythm.

Once I figured out the methodology, I presented it to Vegas.  

Yes, Beans, during debrief on Monday, first go, of an Early Early week.  

Turns out it was fairly easy.  When our squadron got back on the Early Early schedule, we stayed there for two weeks.  The Squadron that had been destined to move to Early/Early got to hold held their current schedule for two weeks. The other two squadrons followed their normal schedule progression.  After that, all the squadrons would progress in the 30 minute earlier schedule every succeeding week.

I think this must have been the Student's final ride in the AT-38.  Now he gets to go fly a "Real" fighter! Source


Perhaps not surprisingly, the "crankiness" factor in the IP force diminished by about 25%.  I didn't buy beer in the squadron bar for a couple of weeks (a sure sign that I had done well.) Shortly thereafter, Vegas invited me to be the Wing Scheduler, and an Eagle was in my future.

And, now you know, the REST of the story.

*All Fighter Pilot stories start with this

P.S. Apparently, the 479th TFTW has moved to another former assignment base of mine, Moody AFB in GA.

Source

That is the AT-38C an updated version of the AT-38B I flew millennia ago.

37 comments:

  1. Ah....the old "it's always been that way" explanation. Wonder how many hours now a pilot gets a year juvat. T-38 been around a long time.

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    1. Nylon, yeah, inertia is a law of nature that apparently rubbed off on mankind. I don't run into many pilots nowadays, so don't have any good info. Gut tells me it's not as many as it used to be though. Re: the last. My Dad was a T-38 IP at Webb AFB in the late 60's. They had replaced the T-33's about 5 years prior. So...60+ years
      Doing a little Googling, this Site says first flight was April '59 and in commission date was March '61. I'd say Uncle Sam got his money's worth out of the jet.

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    2. I was in Class 62-FZ. T-38 Experimental Test Class at Randolph 1961-1962.

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    3. I just realized that’s 61 years! Yikes! No wonder I feel the way I do.

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    4. LtFuzz,
      Experimental Test Class, not THAT sounds exciting!

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    5. Yeah, I'm gaining a better and better understanding of Tempus Fugit every day.

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  2. So it's not all silk scarf and goggles being a fighter pitot tube checker. ;) That demanding of a job and the punishing hours to make it happen. That would really sort the wheat and chaff. Sakes. I do like those OPFOR Talons... When I used to go out to Del Rito Frito, I would watch for them in the circuit at Laughlin AFB. The bright white ones I remember at Reese reminded me of NASA rockets when I was a kid. Why the change in paint?

    Dad did shift work at the PD. Every month they rotated backwards: midnights, days, afternoons. His transition to midnights was always pretty rough on him. Then they decided to add a swing shift from 1700 to 0200 (or close to it), and the schedule broke. Dad worked out a better schedule but it didn't get the go ahead because it was NIH. (Not Invented Here). I think they finally just dropped the swing. I understood the need for the swing. LBB started to pop about 2230 on the weekend. Afternoon almost always got some overtime and midnight hit the ground trying to catch up when shift change was at 2300.

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    1. Anon,
      I think the paint job reason was two sided. One was to begin the mental transition in the students from the "Fly Safe, Be Safe" mode of a Student to the "Be careful but do the mission" mindset of employing a fighter. The paint job reminded them. The other, IMHO, was Bureaucratic in nature. The Paint Job reminded ATC that these were NOT their aircraft and therefore they had no jurisdiction on how they were flown, outfitted or otherwise used. AKA "Keep your grubby hands off!"
      Seems we might have crossed paths in a prior lifetime. Spent 5 years in that area just west of University Avenue and quite a bit of time out at Reese, wishing I could finish school, get commissioned and start flying as soon as possible. Except for the Spring Dust Storms, I enjoyed the time there. Given the Texas reduction in Alcohol Age to 18, I can understand the PD's thought process on a 1700-0200 shift. ;-)

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    2. This idiot new pc doesn't remember that I am me. I think you smelled the dirt on me, like Pigpen in Charlie Brown. I can't hide my panhandle raising....

      And that paint scheme makes a bit of sense, AFTER you explained it. Not just graduating from wind up toy to turbine power, you are getting a little bit of foreshadowing on the next upgrade and the mindset to do it well. I remember graduating from 22's to the 12 gauge and the 30 carbine. When I got the 1911 and then the M1 I felt like a mover and shaker. ;)

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    3. STxAR,
      I'm not sure it's your computer as I have the same issue from time to time and my computer is about 15 years old. I think it might be something with the Browser(s). I use Brave and Firefox. Brave defaults to the anonymous option and Firefox allows you to select anonymous. I don't generally select that option on that browser, but sometimes it seems to magically select it. Who knows?
      Thanks.

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  3. Great Story Juvat - and yes, the "we have always done it that way" is the root cause of more poor and foolish practices than anything else. I have seen documents in place for years which called out functionalities and departments that no longer existed. When one would ask the question why, the answer was either a version of "We have always done it that way" or "It is not my job to fix it (another regular refrain)". We are such creatures of habit.

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    1. THBB,
      I suspect that answer is so. One of the many reasons I hold Vegas in such high respect was he wasn't reticent about trying new things, nor was he slow in taking the responsibility for the mistakes of his people. I admired that.
      Unfortunately, I read recently that he received orders to report for his final assignment. I think the Lord will find a good job for him.

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  4. The prior comments nailed it.

    When I was a millwright in a steel rolling mill, we worked 0700-1900 for some time, and then switched to 1900-0700.
    After falling asleep at stop lights a couple of times while driving home, I decided that changing jobs was better than having a car wreck.
    The shift change wasn't the only reason for needing to change employers, but that is a story for another time.

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    1. JiP,
      I can see as that might be a concern! ;-) I think you made a wise decision.

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  5. Shift swapping was always had on my body.....

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    1. Rob,
      Mine also. Glad I don't have to worry about that much any more.

      Does an Afternoon Nap interfere with Circadian Rhythm? May have to research that a bit more.

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  6. TINS Juvat. Our experiences have weird similarities. Talon flying (mentioned above) and the weirdest - I was the Phantom RTU scheduler for the 68TFS, at George, assigned to the 479TFW! 1966-1967. AND (wait for it) I was the designated IP for the Wing D.O. (Lots of stick, not so much rudder, was he). Plus, I like wine!

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    1. LtFuzz,
      Interesting. When I got to Moody, I was assigned to the 339TFS, which offended the sensibilities of a new Wing Commander as the other two squadrons in the wing were the 67th and 68th. Ergo, the 339th was stood down and rebranded as the 69th. (yes, there were lots of soto voce comments from the other two at that point.)
      Lot's of stick, no rudder. Did he RTB still able to use the Drag Chute on landing?
      For those questioning that last question.
      The F-4 did not like using Ailerons to turn the airplane at slow speed or when pulling a lot of G's. It would go out of control quite quickly and easily. There is a Bold Face Emergency Procedure for recovering from Out of Control.
      It goes
      1. Stick - Forward
      2. Ailerons and Rudder - Neutral
      3. If not recovered - Maintain full forward stick and deploy Drag Chute.


      Bold Face Procedures were tested at least weekly in writing. They had to be verbatim to include punctuation or you didn't fly that day.
      The above was typed from memory. One can check my effort Here on page 3-7. The last time I flew the F-4 was 40 years ago. Who says Military Training is not effective.

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    2. Thanks for the -1 link! What fun to read it. So many memories. And yes, curiously, my O-6 and I landed w/o chute now and then. But, you can't get hurt unless you're not prepared to hit the ground and you do. This O-3 wasn't gonna tell a P-51 pilot what to do (unless of course, he pulled the power off at about 100' to glide her in.

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    3. LtFuzz,
      My Pleasure. It is interesting to find so much of it that I remember well. Chapter 3, of course, then the starting and shutdown checklists in Chapter 1.
      Well, you were right to take it easy on the P-51 Guy. Torque was a fact of life back in that day. And yes, having heard "Bad" things about pulling power on short final (tried it once as a new guy, got about a quarter inch back when I ran into the back seater's hand. Experience had taught him well.)

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  7. I hated swing shift. I'm a habitual early riser. Or at least early waker-upper, usually away, mostly, about two hours before sunrise. No matter what unless I'm sick or it's Paschal when I get to bed about 0430 and get up about 0700.

    Now, I can nap, a skill I picked up in my late teens when I was in junior college with both day and evening classes and a job at the drive-in theater, so I grabbed what sleep I could when I could. But in 15 to 45 minute segments. But what I could get by on in my teens and 20s I couldn't do in my 50s. Go to work on swing, get home midnight, have dinner, get to bed 0230 or 0300. Wake up between 0500 and 0600. Break my fast, putter, run errands, nap around noon, up an hour later, get ready for work, nap for half an hour during my lunch break. Graveyard was actually easier on me.

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    1. Joe,
      There's no way I could have done that. I can get by on 6 hours uninterrupted if necessary, but for a limited time. 8 is more usual. Even when completely exhausted, I can't go much longer than that. I'm not much of a napper, but do enjoy one every once in a while.
      I guess humans can adapt to whatever set of circumstances they encounter. It may take a while, but can be done. Glad things went OK for you.

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  8. Never did the rotating hours thing, once on a shift, one stayed on that shift in maintenance. That being said, the first six months on Okinawa we worked 12-hour shifts, five days a week. Why, you might ask. Well, the maintenance chief (an E-9) said, "That's how we did it in Vietnam." That E-9 eventually got fired, new Chief's first act was putting us all on 8-hour shifts.

    Whilst TDY to the Philippines back in 1980, the plan was for days to go to swings, then swings to days after one week. Maintenance chief on swings said, "Eff that, I want my guys, I don't want those day shift clowns."

    So we stayed on swings.

    Back story: The day shift lost a tool, so red-Xed all the aircraft we brought from Korea (red X means "can't fly me"). Seems the tool was never sent. The guy who red-Xed the jets got fired, the guy who sent a toolbox with a missing tool (did have a red chit to indicate a missing tool) also got fired. Who sends an incomplete toolbox on a deployment, guys that get fired, that's who. So yeah, day shift clowns.

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    1. Sarge,
      50/50 chance I was on that deployment also. (2 Squadrons 2 deployments in 1980.) I'm not a maintenance guy so don't know the rules, but it seems to me that a guy who completes his shift and notices a missing tool for the first time as he's inventorying his toolbox and NOT red-x ing the jet should be fired. The one who didn't notice the missing tool on signing for his kit well...a swift kick in the pants.
      But...I'm not the guy in charge of fixing airplanes so...

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    2. Guy in question decided to inventory all of the tool boxes at the end of his shift (he was an E-5 desperate for E-6) to impress somebody. Noted that a tool was missing (the red chit had fallen down under the bottom tray in the tool box) in a tool box which no one had been using. Guy panicked a whole lot of people for no reason. Which is probably why he was fired. No, he did not make E-6, ever. He was, can I say this, something of an asshat to begin with.

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    3. Ahhh, yes...Well that IS a horse of a different color.

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    4. As a civilian, we did sampling at power plants. The "tool box" (a surplus army tanker bag) was to be as light as possible with only minimal tools (end wrenches that fit specific bolts, specific screwdrivers, and a few general purpose tools (pliers, wire cutters, vice grips, crescent wrench) for lugging up and down stairs in 100++ degree heat.. We had more tools with, but they would be in an equipment trailer 200 feet below and at least a city block away. We had a list, and the golden rule was once a tool was packed in the bag back at the lab, it was NEVER taken out. Need a pliers? Go find another one. This one stays in the bag!

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    5. Don,
      I'm not sure I'm understanding. What was the point of carrying the tool bag if the tools in it were never taken out of it? Or am I misunderstanding that in that they were used but never retired from being in the bag? Inquiring minds doncha know?

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    6. Juvat, sorry I was unclear. The "not out of the bag" was in the packing stage before leaving. At the site, it was not pleasing to find somewhen had taken out the 5/16" end wrench that fit almost all the bolts on a piece of equipment and left it on a benchtop in the lab back home.

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  9. Hated changing/rotating schedules. HATED. Went from one job from 0730 to 1600 and the next day at a new job from 2100 to 0800. That was rough, very rough.

    As to the 'It's always been done that way' thingy, I've found that saying, "Oh, it's a tradition!" and then breaking into a bad version of "Tradition" from "Fiddler on the Roof", especially if others join in, as a great way to poke fun at the traditionalists.

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    1. Yes, Breaking into a protest song with a choir behind you can be pretty convincing. Unless, of course, you were singing Falsetto. Then things could get dicey.

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  10. I used to love watching T-37s and T-38s shoot approaches and touch and goes at the former Amarillo AFB. I also watched a lot of C-141s and C-5s do the same. It seemed like it took forever for a C-5 to pass overhead. I loved watching the B-52s until LBJ closed the base when I was a kid.

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    1. FF,
      I had similar feelings living on Base at Webb and watching jets. Re: C-5s. One could get a radar contact and a radar lock at considerably longer distance than other aircraft. One could also visually ID them at longer range also. Fortunately for them, they were on our side. :-)

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  11. "always been done that way"
    Far away from flying but in the same line of thought, circa 1960's, our new WWII veteran 1st Sgt made the decision that E-4s would no longer do K.P. and that E-3s would no longer do Guard Duty. Unit morale immediately improved and the effort to be promoted by the E-3s was noticeable. Prior to that the only real difference in rank was pay. It was all endless Guard Duty, K.P., and Motor Stables.

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    1. WSF,
      Ain't good leadership wonderful and bad leadership awful? That applies at all levels from Cub Scout Leader to, well...that elected position in Washington.
      Just sayin'

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  12. Must have been nice...sigh... Our flight schedule was always driven by higher and the bad guys!

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Just be polite... that's all I ask. (For Buck)
Can't be nice, go somewhere else...

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