FLightle

The kind of attitude that you mention in the original post kills me. As a matter of fact, I WOULD rather deploy to the desert sometime in my first year or two. If I had to go, (and I do eventually) wouldn't I want it to be then? I know the type you speak of....... Too untouchable even for the Air Force. I guarantee you that he blew his ANG slot and is bitter. I gurantee you that his ass didn't pay his way through school.

Unreal!

HerkFCC

Hey, whut up with that?

Sounds like someone is trying to compenstae for a shortcoming. The last time I checked, being in the military was an honorable profession, a watch (reagrdless of how expensive it is) will still give you basic time and the person doing the job defines the job, not the other way around.

Somebody kick this guy in his turd cutter, please...

HerkFCC

..typos typos typos.

Gots the fat fingers today, sorry.

Nick

Learning how to TAR and FEATHER a guy should be standard training for IOE captains...

1Seat 1Engine

The ANG is better off without him. Thank God he's in such a hurry.

Of course when there's a downturn in the industry, it's sure nice to have your Guard Bro's pick up the slack and put you on orders or give you an AGR job so you don't lose the house to the bank.

That would REALLY slow you down.

BoxFlyer

It's the 1% that ruin it for the other 99%. A**holes come in all shapes and sizes: schools, fraternities, football team, squadron, companies or airline, etc. They're born that way and can't help themselves.

Jetjok

Sorry Brown, but I completely disagree with you. If you're the captain, and you have a f/o (or any other crewmember, for that matter) acting like a horses ass, it is absolutely, positively, your job to straighten that situation out. If the guys' a bad pilot, misses radio calls, does a poor job of crm, shows little or no regard for his/her fellow crewmembers, shows up needing a shave or deodorant, or any other non-endearing traits, you as the captain should bring this/these shortcomings to his attention.

Having said that, the real question is: how do I make this guy understand my displeasure with him? Debriefs can help, but he might just think you're being "hard" on him. Shame can help: while riding in on the crew bus, you could announce to everyone, "hey, you guys should meet my f/o, Joe Pilot, he missed almost 70% of the radio calls while flying today." I'd only use that technique if I hadn't missed my share of calls as well. Or you could mention to a friend, with your f/o in earshot, "do I look a little smaller? My f/o keeps slamming them down on his landings." Well, you get the idea. There are any number of ways to get his attention, the last of which might be to fill out a probationary report and ask him to check it for accuracy before you "turn it in." It seems to me that guys like this usually are very new in the business, and as such haven't been properly indoctrinated. This job is more about working and playing well together, than it is about flying an airplane. Most of us hired can do that.

As a captain, I believe it's our responsibility to help out the training department in the training of our first officers. Not by giving them flying lessons, but by leading by example, flying in a standard fashion, and discussing shortcomings or deviations from the "norm", with them. Both yours and theirs. I always used the end-of-flight debrief to discuss anything that happened during the flight, that was out of the ordinary, not to standard, or anything where we could have or should have learned something new.

If we as captains, fail to attempt to modify bad flying or bad behavior, as displayed by our flying partners, we in effect, just pass them along, warts and all, to the next captain. I believe that guys do want to fit in, and do want to fly a good jet. It's up to us to help them along. Just my opinion.

Fedex999999

I see your points, JetJock, but if you announced on the bus for all of us to met Joe Pilot and he missed radio calls... I would think you were the dork, not him. Sometimes kidding around like this can work, but I bet with a guy like this, he won't get it, and will think you are kidding with him because you liked flying with him.

Every captain needs to be able to debrief a crewmember constructively and professionally.

Jetjok

My whole point was that we need to try to get everyone aboard, and there's many ways to do it. The debrief is probably the best, but other ways can be equally as effective. And besides, I'm probably a dork anyway, but I don't believe in going through life, disregarding those who obviously need help, without offering them some. Whether they want it or not!

ShyGuy

That's as far as I got, and I didn't need to go any further...