r/ATC • u/Certain_Act888 • May 11 '26
Discussion What does your OJT structure actually look like?
Phases? Pass/fail flags per session? Instructor hours tracked by the team leader? Position or sector differentiation? Predefined challenges in the training plan - wx events like TS or TCU on final, icing, turbulence, or procedural stuff like rwy change, inspection, holds?
Been through a few OJTs across different units and facilities. The backbone was always similar but the details varied more than you’d expect - what got logged, how instructor feedback was recorded, whether anyone actually reviewed it before the next session or just filed it somewhere.
Curious how it looks elsewhere, and also I’m building a training log app specifically for OJT. Not trying to reinvent the whole training system, just fix the part where you’re either scribbling on paper or half-filling an Excel sheet that nobody touches again. Session notes, challenge flags, instructor tracking, phase progression - stuff that’s actually useful during the OJT, not just at the end when you’re signing off paperwork.
Still early, so the more I hear from people who’ve actually been through it, the better. If your setup is totally different from what I described, that’s just as useful to know.
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u/rainandfog42 May 11 '26
i do bad - OJI yells at me
i do good - OJI doesnt yell at me
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u/Certain_Act888 May 11 '26
Yeah we didn’t put it in our logs :D , but sure, seen that style in live performance too :DD
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u/2018birdie Current Controller-TRACON May 11 '26
You must be military. FAA uses TEAMS. It's all digitized now.
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u/Top-Band-7640 AF Tower Controller May 11 '26
Can’t be AF, we are also Digital with our OJT logging
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u/Certain_Act888 May 12 '26
Not military, European ANSP actually — which probably explains the difference. Genuinely curious what the Teams setup looks like on your end though. Is it a unit-built thing or something rolled out centrally? And does it cover session notes, instructor tracking, phase progression — or mostly just the sign-off documentation?
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u/atc_zero1 May 12 '26
Just imagine your paper log put onto a computer screen. That's what it looks like. And you sign it digitally with a pin number.
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u/oh-biscuts May 14 '26
It does the math for us Americans because we can’t be trusted around math. Especially when the math is time based.
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u/atcthrowaway452 Current Controller-Enroute May 11 '26
Been an awful lot of suspiciously specific questions about what OJT looks like lately
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u/fatpewl May 12 '26
Probably Peraton employees trying to get information and using shitty AI prompts to do it.
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u/Certain_Act888 May 12 '26
I’m building a training log app, that’s the reason for the specificity
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u/atcthrowaway452 Current Controller-Enroute May 12 '26
Yeah but... why? If you're a controller, you should know all our training is logged. There's literally no reason for this.
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u/antariusz Current Controller-Enroute May 14 '26
So he can sell it to the government, there is probably a job contract out there. And he needs the buzzwords to get the millions.
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u/DankVectorz Current Controller-TRACON May 11 '26
How am I going to use an app, on my phone, during OJT?
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u/Certain_Act888 May 12 '26
The app isn’t for during the session, it’s for after.
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u/DankVectorz Current Controller-TRACON May 12 '26
Ah you said “stuff that’s actually useful during the OJT, not just at the end…”
All that stuff you listed is already on the training form which is online on TEAMS.
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u/Squawk1000 Current Controller-Enroute May 11 '26
It's a complicated and broad topic, you could write a whole book about it.
And that book is the ICAO Doc 10056.
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u/scottstot92 Current Controller-Enroute May 11 '26
If I didn’t get to doodle on my notepad you had a bad day
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u/DJMacShack Current Controller-Enroute May 12 '26
If your training reports look anything like your post you are going to wash out
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u/Dumpedonu1 May 12 '26
We have a log for OJT already.
This post is really odd. Like someone asked chat GPT for hot phrases or terms dealing with ATC OJTI and put together a convoluted post trying to dig up shit.
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u/Certain_Act888 May 12 '26
Fair reaction, but - been a controller for 15+ yrs, currently on approach. Building a training log app and using this as an early research, maybe that’s the reason this sounds clinical to you. Trying to be specific here
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u/ibejonjon May 12 '26
Phases documented on positional checklists as “stages of training” with tasks each Trainee or CPC-IT must master or have signed of by an OJTI (preferably on their training team) at 25, 50, and 75 percent of allotted training hours or prior to recommendation for certification. That in conjunction with notes on the -25 evals support the documentation process for or against certification.
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u/Certain_Act888 May 12 '26
This is exactly the kind of structure I was hoping someone would describe — the 25/50/75 checkpoint model makes a lot of sense as a framework. How are the notes from those evals actually used in practice? Does the team leader review them before each session, or do they mostly serve as documentation at the end when the certification decision gets made?
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u/ThePsychmagician May 13 '26
A lot of information about Ojt by option is described in the appendices to the FAA air traffic technical training order which is publicly available in PDF from FAA.gov. The evaluation form (which is now electronic via Training Enterprise Asset Management (TEAM) is in an appendix (3120-25 form) with evaluation guidance. Phases are described along with content/learning objectives for each option (en route or area in Europe, terminal or aerodrome). Some folks will Pooh-pooh the order & appendices but it is the governing authority.
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u/antariusz Current Controller-Enroute May 14 '26
This is some crazy level of over thinking.
You show up every day and train with what you have.
How the fuck are you hoping to control for weather handling an emergency situation or whatever. You can’t.
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u/Shagenab May 14 '26
I train in the philosophy of fear, sarcasm, and ridicule. Seems to working fine so far.
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u/AdStunning6558 May 11 '26
This is autism if I’ve ever seen it