Instructor/Mentor Requirements
Overall
Deciding to become an Instructor or Mentor is not to be taken lightly. It demands a huge committment of your time to be available for ZJX controllers. But the rewards are great also, a chance to share your knowledge and give something back to a hobby that we all love. Being asked to join the training staff is also a testament to what the training staff thinks of you and your controller skills. So keep all of this in mind before accepting that invitation.
Job Requirements
Instructors and Mentors are expected to maintain an exceptionally high profile online and on the ZJX TeamSpeak server. In addition to controlling, you will be expected to make yourself available to controllers for training at least four hours per month. You are also asked to participate in at least one training event per month.
Instructors and Mentors are expected to adhere to ZJX policies concerning training doctrine and teach according to the training material available on the ZJX website. All Training material on the website is required to be approved by the Training Administrator prior to being made part of our training process. Therefore any deviation from the approved policies and procedures will be reason for immediate dismissal from the ZJX Training Staff. This is put in place to ensure that our students are recieving the same training no matter who they are training with at the time. By providing consistancy and adhereing to the information available on the website, the training process will be less painfull to our students.
Instructors and Mentors are also asked to attempt to make contact with those controllers that are shown on the roster as needing training. Communications will make our job a lot easier. Make a special effort to contact inactive controllers to see if a lack of training is the reason for their abscense.
Any and all training questions or problems will be directed to the Training Administrator, or if not available, the ATM/DATM.
Training and Testing Criteria
The ZJX Training Department is very focused on providing consistant and professional training to our controllers. We strive to provide the best level of realism for our customers, the pilots who fly with us. To assist us in achieving this goal, we do have a few guidelines to offer when conducting either a training session or an OTS for certification.
Phraseology
The use of proper phraseology is of the utmost importance. This is what sepearates us from the pilots and best demonstrates our level of training to become controllers. It is also the leading cause of negative feedback from our pilots. Therefore it we wish to stress that one of your primary focuses during training sessions should be to instruct students in the correct phraseology for their position. During any OTS, the failure to adhere to strict guidelines concerning phraseology will now be considered an automatic failure to become certified.
VFR Procedures
Properly controlling aircraft operating under Visual Flight Rules is our second most popular reason for negative feedback. VFR procedures should be highly stressed during training sessions, espcially at the Tower level. Controllers should be made aware of all VFR restrictions and the proper terminology to use when interacting with a VFR flight. Special attention should be make to the study of sectional charts for KJAX and KMCO so that controllers are very aware of the airspace restrictions for these two popular airports prior to being given at OTS. Failure to properly control VFR flights during an OTS will also result in failure to receive certification.
Military Procedures
ZJX is very fortunate to have several military airfields inculding a carrier parked out in the Gulf that is utilized by the VUSN. The Coast Gaurd and the Air Force also have a strong footprint in our airspace. Therefore we will be offering during our training sessions a detailed overview of proper procedures and phraseology for interacting with military flights. Military operations will now be a part of all OTS's conducted for ZJX. A working knowledge of these procedures is required to gain certification.
Helicopter Traffic
While we do not see a lot of helo traffic, we should strive to make controllers aware of the unique procedures associated with them. Helo terminology and procedures are mandatory to be taught to all candidates for Tower certification. This information will be tested during the OTS.
