Seeking info about joining Military ATC

JacobP Newcomer

Hi everyone. My name is Jacob and I have been lurking silently on these forums for many years now, and the reason I have come out of my hiding is because I've decided to finally begin pursing my interest in becoming an ATC with the military.

The one problem that I am having is sorting through all of the various information on the different branches of the military. I am looking for an ATC position in which I can spend a large majority of my time with my family (fiance and daughter of 6 months). The general impression that I'm getting is that the Air National Guard is the most reliable for staying mostly at home, but it's okay with me to be shipped to a different country as long as my family can be there with me.

So, here are a few questions:

1) Which branches of the military have ATC positions available?
2) What are the different characteristics and responsibilities of these different ATC positions?
3) What are the differences between Reserve and non-reserve positions in terms of training, pay, expectations, scheduling, deployment?
4) Generally how long is training, boot camp, enlistment for the different branches?
5) What are things I should look out for when talking to recruiters etc.?

These are questions that I've been looking for answers to so that I may discern which branch of the military is best for me and my family. Any help from you all is greatly appreciated.

Again, thank you so much for your time.


-Jacob P.

speediebang Senior Member Gulfport, Mississippi

Congrats on your decision to join us!!! Gotta run now but I'll be sure to update you later tonight if someone hasn't alreay with answers. If you go the USAF route feel free to see my Ask the USAF ATC Instructor! forum and ask away! Like I said I'll check later to see if you got your answers, but feel free to ask away!

polo708 Epic Member tower

ANG is by far the best if you want a lot of family time, followed by the USAF. Army being the worst. With the ANG you will be like "active duty" until you certify then you will transition to the whole 1 weekend a month, 2 weeks a year thing. Deployments you can usually get out of since alot of ppl seem to like taking them so you have a high chance of getting out of it if you dont want it.

1) all braches have controllers: USAF and Navy are the closest to normal ATC. Army has teh least amount of normal controllers since they do alot of remote fields, dirt strips and mostly helo's. Marines are a bit better than Army, but dont see as much normal traffic exposure as the AF and the navy.

2) Not sure what you mean? Military you will usually work a radar environment or a tower environment... some you are able to work both. Military doesnt do En Route

3) Dont know sorry... I have no guard experience.

4) USAF boot camp is 6ish weeks if I remember correctly. I hear now that the minimum enlistment time in teh USAF for ATC is 6 years.

5) Recruiters can be shady so be careful... my only advice is to enlist with ATC "guaranteed". Basically you can secure a job as an air traffic controller before signing your life away, as long as you score high enough on teh test and there are jobs available. If you somehow dont end up in ATC you can get out. Its kinda like a contract. If you go in "open general" you will become a cop 99% of the time. Dont let him talk you into joining open general with a chance at ATC... its a long shot.

mjonavy Rookie Fort Worth

I am currently a Navy controller. My thoughts for you are : If you are looking to actually enlist in the military to be ATC then you don't want to go ANG. This is not going to be benificial in getting you experience or a CTO. We have ANG where I work and reservists. They come in and get Ground and Final Control then go to one weekend a month. This isn't helping them at all. In my eyes you really need a significant qual like CTO or a good Radar Qual to make it worth your while. Now Marines and Army: You are going to be deployed ALLLLLL the time, don't do it. Plus all you get out of them is a gimme CTO and tactical qualifications that you can't use in the FAA. Air Force I don't have a lot of experience with. But if I am not mistaken I believe that in AF you can only control either Tower or Radar not both. Navy you get all of your quals in one station if you work your butt off. Navy bootcamp is 8 wks, AF is 6 wks, Marines is 12 wks and Army I think is 8 wks. If you join the navy your chances of getting deployed are slim. But you will go out to see. You could get shore duty like I did. I have only been in 4 yrs and I have been shore duty the whole time. If you want to go military I believe the Navy would have to be the way to go if your looking for some good experience. Sorry some of the stuff is so vague I was just typin thoughts as they came. If you have any questions lemme know I will be happy to answer them.

DOD_ATC Senior Member Chicago, IL

Is you ultimate goal to be hired on by the FAA, or do you just want to serve your country?

If it's the latter, good on you, if it's the first....apply OTS. No book camp, no deployments, no military BS (which there can and will be A LOT of).

gatormu Newcomer Orlando

Quick correction; the AF's boot is now 8ish weeks, I'll be headin there Oct 26th. Then tech school is around 3 months and OJT for a year after that.

speediebang Senior Member Gulfport, Mississippi

Absolutely right about the timeline, except, OJT definately does not HAVE to take a year. Some facilities have maximum traning times that are less than 6 months. Depends on the location/traffic load. The year timeframe you may be referring to is the time it takes to be a bona-fide 5 (journeyman) skill level (CPC for you FAA'ers.) However that itself is actually 15 months Air Force wide after receiving your 3 (apprentice) skill level after tech school. ATC in USAF is weird in that area, you are considered a 5 level as soon as you get rated..... just not in the books. Tell you the truth though, if your ultimate goal is to be in the FAA, you should hope for a facility that has a long term (2 year) training plan. Means more traffic, more possibilities.