Air Force ATC Retrain

saw1879 Newcomer

My window to retrain opens up soon and ATC is a job I am thinking about retraining into. I am 30, been in the AF 8 years and a TSgt. Does the AF allow people to retrain into ATC after their 31st birthday? or is that only a FAA rule? Also, if I finish out a career in ATC and retire from the AF that will put me at 42 and I want to know if I will be able to get a job with the FAA when I retire from the AF. If the mandatory retirement age from the FAA is 56 then would I collect a retirement from the FAA also after retiring after only 14 years with them? If anyone has some good info or any links to some good info please pass it on.

Thanks.

noid Curtis E. Carr Jawja

You don't get a retirement with the FAA under the RMC announcement. You would still get your TSP contributions, but no FAA retirement because you are already getting one from the military.

saw1879 Newcomer

Are there other jobs for ATC that are not employed by the FAA and have retirement plans?

polo708 Epic Member tower

There are contract towers that have no age limit, but no retirement... just 401k benefits.

saw1879 Newcomer

So it sounds like ATC is not a good job to get into if I want to be able to draw a second retirement later on.

noid Curtis E. Carr Jawja

Just because it's not a "retirement", your TSP is a good thing. If you manage money well enough, you should be able to put enough into the TSP to supplement your "second retirement". Add that with an IRA, you're set.

saw1879 Newcomer

Is it common for military ATC's to retire after 20 and then go to work for the FAA?

atcguruaf Rico Suave AZ

not as common as going to work for a contract facility. Reason being.... retirement... Since you can't collect a second retirement from the FAA, it's not that big of a deal to try and get with the FAA. Also, since you'd have tricare, you wouldn't need their super cheap benefits. However, the FAA does offer more vacation and sick time than the contract world, not to mention if you put in 5% to TSP, they will also end up putting in 5% (but not more than 5). The contract world seems to be a little more relaxed and at most places you're gonna make $25-27 per hour. Although the FAA has mandatory retirement at 56 for controllers, you could always get into management until you actually want to quit working, or get your foot in the door with Raytheon or some other contract company.

Either way, FAA or contract, as an RMC controller, you should have a pretty decent lifestyle. Also, the Air Force will allow you to retrain. The 31 year old rule is only if you get out before retiring, but the FAA has the Phoenix 20 program (I'm pretty sure that's what it's called) where if you retire from the service, you can get hired on by the FAA.

My recommendation, work for the FAA until you hit 56 (or it may be 57 now, I'm not sure on that), that way you get a bunch of vacation and sick time built up (you'd get 8 hours of vacation per pay period AND 4 hours of sick time per pay period; you'd also be allowed to accumulate 240 hours of vacation time per year and UNLIMITED amount of sick time through your tenure). After the FAA if you haven't hit management, go work for contract.

Also, don't forget there are overseas assignments that A LOT of retired military controllers go to because it's over 100K, 85 tax free. Another thing to keep in mind is that by the time you retire, you'd probably have made enough connections to become a DoD controller, where most are GS-10 through GS-12. So, if you get to a base that you REALLY like, make a few friends (like the AOF/CC and your Squadron Commander), you can potentially get hired on as a civilian. I know a guy that left the service as a SSGT on a Friday, and came to work on Monday as a civilian. You'll have a lot of options regardless which path you choose...

GOOD LUCK!

saw1879 Newcomer

Thanks for all the good info! I have heard from a few people that it is hard to tell what the ATC job market will be like in 12 years with changes in technology. I figure I will give it a shot.

Any AF SNCO ATC's wandering around on this forum? I wanted to find out how retraining 10 years into a career will effect my chances at making E-8 or E-9.

HowBoutThemBoys Rookie

We washed out a TSgt at my old base and were going to wash out a MSgt but he decided to retire(he spent most of his time dodging the IFR room anyway)! They retrained way too late in their career and just didn't have the right mentality.