USAF Tech School: Lessons Learned Marching the Flight as a New Rope

During tech school, I became what we called a “rope.” A rope was like a hall monitor of sorts. We were entrusted with enforcing minor rules in the day room and around the barracks, and we were also tasked with getting the flight to and from classes at tech school.

There were different ropes for different levels of responsibility and some specialized jobs. My time at tech school was fairly short, so I only attained a green rope. This put me in charge of a specific group of airmen in my dorm. There are many stories I could share about my brief time as a student leader, but today I want to talk about marching the flight to and from school.

As a fitness instructor, I’ve encountered what it feels like to be new, to walk into a room full of people, and then to mess up. I’ve had classes where I knew as I was performing the job that I was struggling. Marching a flight was no different in the beginning. The first time I tried to march a large flight, I really struggled. I was supposed to get them moving and then across the street. I didn’t get the road guards out quickly enough, and I didn’t get them turning on the right foot.

The easiest way to create a parallel is driving a car. If you are trying to parallel park and make the wrong move or go too far, you have to reset and try again. Well, that’s what happened to me when marching my flight for the first time. My training instructor saw how badly I struggled and took over. He fixed the situation and got everyone back to the dorms safely.

In hindsight, it wasn’t that it was hard. I think I was just nervous and under a lot of pressure. I didn’t feel ready to start marching them since I had never practiced. However, I learned under pressure. The next time I took over marching, I got it right. My confidence was higher because I had already experienced the worst-case scenario. From that point forward, I got really good at it.

I recall that on the way to tech school, we’d have to march through the flight line where all the jets were, and those things were incredibly loud. In order to be heard, you’d have to hit an unusual pitch and key. There was no way any of us could scream louder than a jet, but you could hit a pitch that was heard through the flight line noise. I learned the perfect pitch that stood out over the loud planes to keep the flight moving and in step.

By the end of tech school, I was an expert and on my way to getting a yellow rope. They didn’t promote me because I was leaving, but I knew that if I had stayed, I would have gotten the yellow and then red rope. It was just a matter of time. My training instructors appreciated my eagerness to perform at a high level. I thrived in the military. I do miss those days. I had a good time in tech school, and part of that fun was marching the flight.