The part about you, as a tower only person, getting picked up as a supervisor at a ARTCC is one of the biggest problems with the Agency now. Especially, when high level radar controllers are being bypassed for those supervisor positions because their facilities can’t release them without deviations, including people currently at ZAU. This whole FAN approach to management selections (favoritism, availability, nepotism) is why the Agency’s standards have turned into absolute shit. People should move up to a mid level/lower high level facility, get more experienced, and then move to the highest level facilities, as controllers, first then supervisors. The Agency wouldn’t have this issue if we had more controllers, but people are given limited options because of short staffing, NCEPT, and priority release bids. How in the hell does the Agency think current practice is a good idea at all?
I’m sorry you moved across the country, but you didn’t set yourself up for success by going someone else to gain radar experience first before going to C90. A good Agency, would have allowed you the ability to move to say Phoenix or Salt Lake City or St. Louis, for a few years, before making the move to Chicago. I don’t think any person should be moving to a higher level radar facility (say level 10 and up) without having radar experience. It’s hard to explain to people that get here or C90 or N90 until they actually experience and see it for themselves how hard of a transition it is to work traffic. It’s completely different than working a lower level facility or a mid level tower. Meanwhile, we have a CPC, here at A80, who can’t get selected at C90 despite ranking number one on their ranked list because of “staffing.”Wonderful Agency decisions made all around!
