Escort Briefing Checklist: Fill & Download for Free

Thank you Jake for the A2A!My experience retiring from the US Air Force was long, involved and started in Iraq, half a world away from the Pentagon where I was stationed.Fortunately, most of the checklists were on-line so it didn't matter. Did I mention there were checklists? There were checklists.Checklists for this, checklists for that, checklists for everybody and their mother ... there were literally checklists of checklists, all crammed full of acronyms.Schedule your Transition Assistance Program (TAP) briefing!Get outbriefed on never talking about TOP SECRET - Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS-SCI)! (Edward Snowden apparently missed this item on his checklist).Get a post-deployment screening for possible traumatic brain injury (TBI)!Schedule your final permanent change of station (PCS) shipment!Turn in your base library card! (okay, this one didn't have an acronym)Sign sign sign everything everything everything in in in triplicate triplicate triplicate!!!Of course every single agency that had a checklist insisted that each and every item had to be signed off and verified or you wouldn't be allowed to retire.This, of course, was b.s.There were three and only three things in the entire retirement process that genuinely affected retirement benefits:1) Setting up the retirement pay allotment. This was quick and easy, but required that I enlist in the Selected Ready Reserve for three years followed by three more years in the Individual Ready Reserve. (Or was it the other way around?)2) Submitting the Veterans Administration disability claim. This was the most labor-intensive process by orders of magnitude. First the Air Force makes you get medical exams on everything, then after retiring the Veterans Administration pays to have them all done again by a civilian medical facility. I started the process five months before retiring and finally got my claim approved 21 months later.3) Shipping the car and household goods to Hawai'i. I didn't really feel retired until dropping my car off at the port in Oakland. It was a great feeling.That was my personal retirement story, but at one of the bases early in my career there was a contest between two Group Commanders (colonels) to see who could separate their dirtbag Airmen, who'd received non-judicial punishment (Article 15 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice), the fastest.Separation from the military following an Article 15 action is a process that normally drags on for weeks. But one of the Group Commanders had gotten one of his dirtbag Airmen separated in less than a week and made a big deal about it at a Friday "Shark Feed" (social gathering at the Officer's Club on base).So his ex-wingman, also a Group Commander, decided to make it a friendly competition. The next time he had a screw-up Airman who earned an Article 15 separation, that Group Commander and his First Sergeant (the senior non-commissioned officer in charge of personnel affairs in his Group) personally scheduled and walked the Airman to each and every one of his required out-processing appointments, collected all his possessions from his barracks room, then escorted him out the main gate of the base.That poor bastard literally went from being an Airman living in the barracks on base to a civilian looking for a hotel room in a single day. Talk about culture shock. It was also an effective 'shape up or ship out' message to the rest of the Airmen on the base.

I can’t see why not, if she’s comfortable and confident to do it. It’s pretty standard practice for airlines to allow and support unaccompanied minors as long as they are briefed beforehand.It’s not quite the same thing, but we recently allowed our 11-year old son to travel across London and get a train to Norfolk, making two changes along the way and (as it happened) coping with a fairly large delay to his train. Before he went, we walked him through what to expect, even down to showing him photos and maps of the stations and where to go.You’re going to escort your daughter to the gate, so you don’t need to worry about finding her way onto the plane, but you might want to prep with her (and possibly the airline) on a few things, ideally written down in a checklist with suitable details and pictures. Off the top of my head:How to ask for help from an attendant (probably the single most important thing)Where the toilets are on the planeWhat meals will be served (and how to cater for any dietary requirements)How to get a good night’s sleepWhat to do if she is disturbed or worried by another passengerHow to complete any landing card or paperwork that might be necessaryWhere to go and what to do on landing (I assume she will have an attendant to help her through that, but it might help for her to see photos of the key points inside the airport - which signs to follow, passport control, baggage reclaim, customs, meeting points etc, to understand the sequence of events, what different steps there are and what she will get asked for at each step)How to contact you during the flight if she needs to (most long haul planes now have some sort of phone system).There’s not much that can go wrong - probably the worst are:getting the landing card or other paperwork wrong, which can cause confusion and delays at customs. So make sure she has details of what to fill in on each form, all printed out and to handbags getting delayed or lost (or her forgetting to collect them). The most important thing is for her to know that it’s not the end of the world; if she has a routine for what to do if her bags don’t turn up, and to understand that as long as she’s informed the airline before she leaves the terminal it can be sorted out, it will work out.Edit: I thought I'd check for incidents involving unaccompanied minors, since there were several answers expressing concern. The best item I found was this:Recent groping arrests make parents wonder how to protect children who fly alone | Crime | Dallas NewsIt lists three cases of adults inappropriately touching minors (one of whom was 16), and a couple of children being lost or misdirected. In the former cases, there appear to have been red flags - an adult insisting on sitting next to the child - that the airline staff should have been able to spot and intervene to stop.Also in the article, the only statistic is that BA says around 2% of its child passengers are unaccompanied. That suggests that a lot of children are flying alone but there have been so few incidents that they can be reported individually. It seems to me that if you are worried about incidents like this, ask the attendant how they would handle an adult moving next to the child, or a missed connection, or whatever scenarios you are worried about when you arrange the trip and when hand your child over. Just asking will raise their awareness and readiness to act, and the already very small risk drops even further as a result.

Speaking only for myself…This is question has no simple answer because the hours that we work, and the hours for which we are paid are two completely different things. Nevertheless, I’ll try to make it very simple to understand.Generally speaking, I work an average of 30 and 40 hours each week. Some weeks I work more, as many as 50 or more hours, and some weeks I work as few as 20 or less. I all depends on my trips (1-, 2-, 3-, 4-days, etc.), my destination (domestic or international), the flights (1, 2, 3, or 4 per day) and the layovers. There are many variables that can influence the number of hours that I work.But “working hours” and “paid hours” are two different things. Generally speaking, I get paid for around 15 to 20 hours per week. That’s because I’m paid only for the time the aircraft is not sitting at a gate. My pay begins at the moment the brakes are released to push the aircraft back from the departure gate, and my paid time ends the moment the brakes are set at the arrival gate.That’s the short answer!So where do all those extra hours of work come from?My workday begins when I arrive at the airport, usually between 1½ hours to 2½ hours before the flight departs, depending on the aircraft, destination, etc. I check the latest security bulletins for any last-minute information or threats. I check safety bulletins for known issues, maintenance bulletins for aircraft issues, and my company email and mailbox for issues directly related to me. I spend time collecting all of the necessary paperwork to manage my flights, including the list of crew with whom I’ll be working, the services we’ll be offering, menus, charts, etc. Then, armed with all this information, I either conduct or attend a thorough briefing with the crew (depending if I’m working the Lead position or not). All of this takes from 30 to 90 minutes, depending on the aircraft, the destination, number of crew, etc.Leaving the briefing, I head to the aircraft where I check in with the ground staff, who ensure everyone is in position before they begin boarding passengers. A briefing ensues in which we discuss issues like boarding time, baggage space, passengers with special needs (wheelchairs, handicapped, blind/deaf, etc.), pets that may be on board, Federal Air Marshalls (FAMs), employees who will be riding as passengers, and anything else that may impact our flight. On the plane, I spend some time preparing to board our passengers, again depending on the size of the airplane and the service levels. I always do a thorough inspection of my safety equipment (required by FAA), using a checklist to ensure that everything is in place, in working order, and that it hasn’t been tampered with. I set up the galley area, verify all of the supplies and count the meals to be sure nothing is short or missing, and verify that everything is correct. I brief with the captain to discuss weather and flight conditions, turbulence, known threats, where significant people, if any, (such as FAMs, Law Enforcement Officers (LEOs) Sheriffs who may be escorting prisoners, etc.), are sitting, who else has weapons, and a host of other pre-flight briefing items that ensure a smooth and comfortable flight for both crew and passengers. Our briefing may include broken equipment, temperature control, special passengers or passengers with special needs, VIP passengers (including company VIPs) crew dynamics, meals and any other issues that could affect our flight.At the appointed time, passengers begin boarding, and it’s important that we have completed all of our pre-flight duties before boarding begins. We put on our smiles and our warmth, and we welcome our customers to the plane. During boarding, we mix drinks to order for our First- and Business-Class passengers, provide them with dinner menus and, if provided, present them with amenities (eye-masks, foot-slippers, ear plugs, toothbrush, lotions, newspapers and magazines, etc.) We help passengers find room for their bags, ensure that everything fits, help folks find their seats and get comfortable. We reassure those with a fear of flying, point out all the features to our first-time flyers, and provide pillows or blankets to those who need them. We must ensure that our exit-row restrictions are met, that disabled passengers, or those with pets are not sitting in seats that are restricted, and that all of our FAA-required duties have been completed. Boarding takes between 30 minutes and 75 minutes, depending on the size of the aircraft, the destination, and the number of passengers and bags coming onto the airplane. We are constantly aware of the time, and must hustle to get everything stowed, everyone seated, and everything ready to close the door and leave without taking a delay. Finally, the door is closed and we must complete our required duties of arming, verifying and notifying the cockpit that we’re ready to go. With that done, we immediately launch into our safety presentation, either a live demonstration or by starting the video after welcoming our guests via the PA.But we still don’t start getting paid yet!Often, the aircraft will continue to sit at the gate while the Maintenance is resolving last-minute issues, or while Baggage Handlers are loading the last of the bags. Sometimes we must wait for traffic to clear so we can be pushed off of the gate, or we’re delayed because of Air Traffic Control, weather or any of dozens of other issues.Finally, when everything is ready, and the cockpit receives clearance to push, the brakes are released, and we are then “on the clock”. At that moment, our pay begins, and it continues for the rest of the flight until after we land at our destination.Upon arrival at our destination, the plane taxis to the gate, and when it lurches to a stop, the Captain sets the brake. That’s the moment that our “pay clock” stops. From then on, we no longer are getting paid.But we’re still working.We disarm our doors and wait until the gate agent brings the jet-bridge up to the airplane and opens the door. We bid our passengers goodbye, until the last one is off the airplane. Often we wait, sometimes for as long as 20 minutes or more, for the wheelchair contractor to arrive to take disabled passengers off the plane and get them to their connections. After everyone is off, we conduct a thorough sweep of the airplane, looking for anyone who may be in the lavatory or sleeping on a seat, or stowing away. We search for left bags or items people forgot. Then, we leave the plane to continue to the next flight, (where we start the whole process all over again!), or to go to our layover hotel, or to head home.So as you can see, the hours that we spend working is far different from the hours for which we are paid.