Written: December 30, 2019
Published: October 2021
After transferring to a higher level facility as an Air Traffic Controller, I was assigned a class called TSEW (Tracon Skills Enhancement Workshop). I attended TSEW mainly in January of 2020. TSEW is offered to (or sometimes required of) controllers transferring from lower level facilities to higher level facilities (9-12s, I believe).
The first two times I came to OKC for training I was in training at my first tower/radar facility and within driving distance, so I took my own car to OKC. This time, after just finishing a cross country drive for my new radar-only facility, I decided that a 20 hour drive in my own car and footing the bills for the hotel halfway there wasn’t going to be a viable option and opted to get flown into OKC for yet another round of training.
Flying into OKC definitely sucks because you have no way of getting around, but like I already mentioned, 20 hours of driving and an overnight stay somewhere that wouldn’t be paid for just wasn’t an option. Plus, I would have been on my own to get that day off since the office lady at this facility is unaware of how the process actually works and basically forces the only way she knows how down your throat.
So, I flew into OKC the afternoon of Dec 30th, collected my luggage, and headed to the hotel shuttle. After checking in, I signed up for Shipt (food delivery service started by Target) and placed an order of groceries so I’d have some food to eat. I probably got dinner at the Mexican place I generally fancied near the hotels, too.
Tomorrow will be the first day of class. I’ll have to take the shuttle to campus, which I haven’t previously had to do before.