JO 7110.65 is the bible. Every controller works under it; every block test is built on it. It’s also a thousand-page book and you don’t have time to memorize it cover to cover. Here’s where the weight actually lies.
Chapter 2: General control
Foundational. Covers ATC clearances, separation responsibility, flight-plan handling, and the universal phraseology. If you only learn three sections perfectly, make them: 2-1-3 (procedural preference), 2-1-6 (safety alerts), and 2-3 (flight plans & control information). Block 1 questions disproportionately come from here.
Chapter 3: Airport traffic control terminal
Tower operations. Runway separation, intersecting runways, line up and wait, taxi instructions, departure intervals. Phraseology gets very specific: "cleared for takeoff" can only follow certain conditions, and a wrong word here is the kind of thing that fails you on a graded scenario.
Chapter 4: IFR
Clearance delivery, approach control, holding instructions. Big chapter; not all of it gets equal weight in Block 1, but section 4-2 (clearance items) and 4-5 (altitude assignment) are non-negotiable. Hold pattern entries are another reliably-tested topic.
Chapter 5: Radar
Less Block 1, more Tower-Cab and TRACON. Identification methods, position reports, vectoring rules. If your assigned facility is going to be a TRACON, this chapter becomes your primary text in Block 2.
Chapter 7: Visual
VFR operations, helicopters, military, and special operations. Smaller chapter, but high-yield in scenarios because most trainees under-study it.
How to study a chapter
Three passes:
- Read for shape. Skim the chapter, note the section headers, get a sense of what’s where. Don’t stop at any one paragraph too long. 30 minutes max.
- Extract definitions and phraseology. Make flashcards (digital or paper) for every defined term and every example phraseology template. The .65 uses italics for phraseology examples — they’re your card front.
- Drill scenarios. Find or write three or four situational questions per section ("you have X, runway is Y, what do you say?"). These cement the integration of chapter content with phraseology.
What to memorize verbatim vs. what to understand
Verbatim: phraseology templates (takeoff clearances, approach clearances, hand-off transfers, traffic calls), the chapter on safety alerts (2-1-6), separation minima.
Pattern, not script: the structure of a clearance delivery (CRAFT), the sequence of a normal IFR arrival, the order of priorities in a non-standard situation. You should be able to produce these from understanding, not recall.