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ykcir23

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Hey there everyone,

I'm part of the tower course that just passed 11/11 on the 8th. And I'm middle of the pack in the class rankings so I have a few options. But realistically the only place I would even remotely want to go is gone. And I don't want to screw over anyone else by taking what they legitimately want and I don't want to force anyone with kids to move to Nantucket. Plus I think it would be in a lot of ways cool to live there. But as I'm sure as most of you know, I'm having a very hard time finding somewhere to live on the island. And that is the only thing keeping me from picking that place and going for somewhere like Kalamazoo. I realize this is a long shot for any sort of realistic advice but I figured it couldn't hurt.

Thanks in advance.
 
You're not screwing anyone over. It's your career. Don't go to some shitty place you don't want to be and will probably never leave because you are thinking about other people. AZO would be a great first facility and is sure to probably make it to a level 8 in due time (i'm sure you have heard that)

If you don't mind me asking what do you actually think you have to pick from.
 
The options I actually have are SHV, AZO, ACK, ABI, SBA. And maybe HSV. The problem is I REALLY don't want to go to the south and that's almost the whole list. I really wanted Alaska and was for sure going to pick it thinking no one else would want that. But the class before us scooped it up. I really wouldn't mind Nantucket at all. I just need a place to live. Even considering a house bout, baha.
 
If you don't want to live in any of those places, go to ACK. You'll be certified quicker than any of the other options. Giving you more opportunity to ERR out somewhere.
Living situation will be a little more tricky, but I'd recommend getting in touch with Cape Air. Their pilots have fairly high turnover and there's always one of them looking for roommates.
 
As stinger said you would check out super quick in ACK. It would still be AZO for me given the potential growth of the facility and a really nice looking tower!
 
I know a guy at SBA I could probably put you in touch with. It’s absolutely gorgeous there but of course you pay a premium to live there. Definitely doable though
 
Yeah, the low check out time is for sure a plus. If I can find somewhere to live on the island by Monday I'll probably pick it. If not its either AZO or SBA. While both of those have around a 2 year check out time.
 
Yea congrats of course, first and foremost. I won’t soon forget the feeling of passing the academy. Enjoy your weekend!
 
This is one of those instances in life were being self serving is a-okay.....

You have to look out for number one when it comes to career advancement, and your first facility can play a big role in what your next facility ends up being. So I say don't worry about your classmate's preferences. If they wanted their first choice on the list they shouldnt have sucked so much. Nice guys finish last, or in Nantucket.

When I got in the system was different we didn't get a choice, but I can assure you if I was in your boat, I'd choose the highest level fac balanced with the lowest cost of living that I could(unless it was some black hole where people could never leave), or barring that, some place I wouldn't mind being for quite a while.

Your happiness for the next 3-5 years plus of your life, and Career progression for 20 years plus is way more important than the dude you hung out with for 10 weeks in okc's feelings.
 
As others have said you aren't screwing with other people, you have to do what's best for you. I personally wouldn't go for ACK just for the financial reasons, but only you can make that choice. Congrats on passing and good luck .
 
If you don’t want to go to the south I think you would be nuts not to go to AZO. It’s going to be a mini center in a terminal environment when they finish consolidating five other Michigan TRACONS there within a year or so. It’s a KGB secret what level that will make the facility but it should be at least a eight, small chance for a 9, with no individual sectors working close to true 8 or 9 traffic.

Also just because you certify fast someplace don’t mean you can leave it soon. I don’t have the numbers in front of me but if Nantucket is perennialy understaffed (which logically thinking is might be), you can certify in a week and take forever to leave as they need to find more people to get there to hit their staffing number, then almost everyone might try to jump on the one release spot.

I always thought they should handle places like Nantucket and Aspen the way they are finally trying to handle N90. Recruit for those facilities separately and go at that super hard but only for immediate area residents. Only need 15 or so people to staff those places.

You can’t tell me that there are not 15 or so local rich kids who rather then get pushed into private school and college and forced to go the generic business school route like all their friends would rather would rather go to college but then work at one of those towers as it would be perceived as unique and “cool”, and you could argue they are serving their community. Hopefully that would deem them a success and innovator in their parents eyes and they could happily spend their careers in their home town being a local hero and happy (and being subsidized by their parents money) lol.
 
If you don't have kids and don't want to send someone with them to somewhere expensive pick SBA. Place is expensive but absolutely beautiful and you get the radar qual, just my 2c
 
boots said:
You're not screwing anyone over. It's your career. Don't go to some shitty place you don't want to be and will probably never leave because you are thinking about other people. AZO would be a great first facility and is sure to probably make it to a level 8 in due time (i'm sure you have heard that)

If you don't mind me asking what do you actually think you have to pick from.
Click to expand...

I 100% agree. It's your career. You placed higher than someone else, so it's your prerogative to select ahead of them. You have to do what's best for you and your family because I guarantee the favor won't be returned once you get to your facility. Lol
 
I'd take a look at the Priority Placement Tool / Resource page for each facility. Check out the pay from each facility, staffing levels, projected staffing, training success rate, and training time (though accuracy of that is sometimes outdated). I don't know anything about that consolidation mentioned about at AZO, but probably look more into that. Check out what it's like to live near each of the places; cost of living, activities, concert /sports venues, schools if you have kids, and climate. Not sure of where you're from but climate can impact you more than you think. For me going from California to Alaska I knew it would be different, but Anchorage only having like 130 sunny days a year (and some of those were winter days with like 4 hours of sunlight) had a major impact on my wife and I.
Congrats on getting through the Academy. You're not wrong to consider how your facility choice will impact other people's lives. But just make sure that you go somewhere that will be good for you or benefit you. Don't feel guilty for choosing what you want. Good luck at your facility, try to keep a positive attitude, take responsibility, and keep learning.
 
SBA all day. Awesome city. Doesn’t hurt to be close to LA so you’ll never run out of stuff to do if you’re willing to drive a little.
 
SBA probably going to be pretty expensive too. We have a guy who worked there years ago and he said they had to live an hour away to afford it.

AZO is super nice I've been over there a few times and everything is clean and brand new still. It's a decent town and you get 4 seasons in Michigan (still cold for like 6 months or more though!). I highly doubt it will be a 9 but will probably be an 8 not long after becoming Great Lakes Approach. I think GRR is moving in within the next couple weeks, followed by everyone else. LAN will be there June 12 and IIRC they were supposed to be last. Only half of the facility will work on the area that also works tower, the other area will only work radar.
 
I think it's crazy that people are passing on AZO with it being common knowledge that it's gonna upgrade. Shouldn't be too difficult to leave after staffing stabilizes since I imagine it'll be a MI ERR hot spot for the people not wanting the Detroit area.
 

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