ATC Officer

spegull03 Newcomer Sacramento, CA

Hello, I am in discussions about joining the Air Force as an officer and want to do ATC, so I wanted to see if anyone has gone this route and what their experiences were.

Thanks!

whegner Junior Member

If you want to actually control airplanes you won't...that's all branches. When you get down to it officers are basically managers, the enlisted folks are the technicians. As an officer, your career path (other than aircrew) is to be a generalist. You may start in ATC, but by the time you reach Captain or Major you'll probably be in something else, which is what you actually will want if you're in it for the long haul.

If you go into ATC, you may get a cursory rating but don't plan on using it.

Now, if the objective is ATC then you're better off enlisted. Yes, you'll be a peon and make less money in the short run but you'll have real opportunity to continue in the field after you get out.

atcguruaf Rico Suave AZ

at the same time, you WILL be an officer. That being said, you'll have "paper ratings" and the like. Last I checked, the FAA doesn't care if they're paper ratings, or real, so you should be able to get a job on the outside.

If you want to go officer, I recommend doing 30 yrs. and retiring. Your pension would be the same if not better than the FAA, not to mention the connections you would have established by then.

However, the downside to doing that many years is rank. The highest rank an officer has made in the Air Force is Colonel (O-6). Granted, the money is still good, as well as the connections, but if you plan on going AF, plan on getting as high as O-5. There's only like 5-10 full-blown Colonels in the AF (if that!).

Pay is still GREAT! And you may find out you like it. Not to mention, if you do 30 years, you'll have connections and you'll be able to do something when you get out. No, it probably won't be a Wal-Mart greeter.. you'll probably have a great job if you get out after 30 years as an officer. Not to mention you'll have "experience" in A LOT of various careers (Base Operations, TERPS, Automations, Radar, Tower, Management, military relations, etc.), ere go a lot of opportunities after your time as an officer.

However, like Weghner said, if you're in it for the controlling, go enlisted.

spegull03 Newcomer Sacramento, CA

Thank you for the responses. At this time I am not sure if ATC is what I actually want to do, it just seemed like an interesting career path. My degree is in Finance, so I will more than likely end up there if I am accepted.

As far as the rank issue, I have no real grasp on the different levels and how to obtain them. If I planned on being in long term, would another branch be better? I don't know if I could go Navy, I got claustrophobic just doing the tour of the USS Midway

whegner Junior Member

If you're looking to be a career officer and eventually advance into the General grades you want to be primarily in combat arms...a trigger puller.

In the AF, that means a Pilot (Tactical or Strategic).

Marines Infantry or Pilot.

Navy Pilot, Surface or Submarine warfare.

Army infantry.

Everything else is somewhat career leveling. You can conceivably make it to Colonel but not too many career supply officers make it to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. That's not to say at some point you won't spend time as an embark officer, S-1 (Administration/Finance), or S-4 (Supply) it's just that if you want to really advance you need to be where the action is...and that's where things go boom.

Remember as an officer your job is leadership...not a specific technical skill. It's to be able to plan and execute a mission utilizing the resources you have at your disposal. There have been many an officer who has engaged and defeated the enemy in battle (which make no mistake, is what you will be trained to do) and never themselves fired a shot.

I'm a former Marine so I'm partial to the Corps. To get a good idea what OCS is like go here:

Class 186: The Making of a Marine Officer

duranme Trusted Contributor San Diego (SCT)

ATC officers in the AF, push paper, not tin.

when i was active i saw the Lt and Major when wing flying was already down, and there was nothing but a couple vfr call ups and MAYBE an ifr or two transitioning our airspace. they got the mandatory training to be able to push jets out during a launch or recovery, but once they were "rated" we saw them for 2hrs a month for pro-time. and it was always garbage time.

but all said and done, on paper they held the same rating as everyone else in the facility. whether they got it with 2 planes dusting crops or 25 f16s during wing recovery in a thunderstorm, they were rated in the eyes of FAA applications.

Roddy_Piper Resident Knucklehead Vegas baby

lmao...touche

ATC_MacGyver MacGyver with the bears.

........ can i have your source?

you know a colonel is an 0-6? i am positive there are more than 10 0-6's in the airforce. if there are only 10, i have met at least 60% of them from my time in the navy.

there is still brig. general, major general, lt. general, and general, those are all above colonel.

im really confused.

ATC HD Junior Member

I think he meant full blown colonels that started in ATC and have the badge. Thinking about it that way I never do recall seeing an O6 with an ATC badge, just O5's and below. Thats the way I read it at least.

HD

ATC_MacGyver MacGyver with the bears.

OOOOOOOOOOOOH. ya, im dumb.

who is the asshole now.... this guy.