best option for a 26 year old single mom?

VM_AIRBOSS Junior Member Melbourne, FL

Hello there and welcome to the site, you will indeed find good information and answers to your question.

I am a retired Marine, and military Air Traffic Controller that now works DoD for the USAF as a Tower Watch Supervisor here in FL.

So far it would seem that you are getting a lot of good advice and information in response to your question, and after reading everything, it would appear that none of it is really wrong.

First in your case, as a single mother, shift work is very demanding and it does help if you have a good support network and/or family near by, but by the same token it is feasible to do, and know a few single parents that seem to manage well. It is all about time management and priorities. Also, as your child gets older it will get easier on a few levels.

Second, if you are thinking of a career in ATC, as in something you can get into and get a retirement out of you are on the right track with the CTI program. In your case it will be an age thing whether you stick w/ the CTI or go w/ the ANG offer. Staying with the CTI program gives you the most time and flexibility to pursue the FAA. If you go ANG, and have to deploy, everything stops for you and your ability to pursue your dream is put on hold. The recruiters will tell you that it is only one weekend a month and 2 weeks out of the summer, but from my experience, the Guard and the Reserves are used heavily and are deployed often from 4 months anywhere up to a year.

Also, if you go into the Guard, you will go to the USAF school and then back to your Guard base to train, and after that you will do your Guard time only, which makes it hard to keep up proficiency unless you are willing to request extra guard time or deploy a lot. So without any active duty time and multiple facilities you would be hard pressed to get anyone to look at your resume and take it seriously as far as experience when looking for a job w/ FAA or contract tower. Not saying it isn't possible, just harder. You would have a shot w/ a contract tower, if you had a CTO and were willing to go to a location that historically, they have a hard time staffing or keeping staffed. With the FAA it would be the time thing.

I would recommend staying with the CTI, and applying with the FAA via every available means including PUBNATs..... If you so approach the age cutoff for the FAA then go and apply for the ANG and get the training and whatever experience you can get. You may be fortunate to land a full time technical guard position which is the best of both worlds, civilian and military. You get paid as a GS employee w/ federal benefits, except for the 2 days a month and 2 weeks a year, when you are doing ANG duties at which time you are paid military salary and benefits. You can still deploy, and get all the extra schools and training the military have to offer.

If you do go the military route, after your enlistment is up you can look into getting a DoD job as a civilian controller as their age limit is 36 as long as you have military experience which you would have.

I know it is a lot of information, but feel free to ask the questions, more than once if you have to. The main thing is to weed through everything and find out what exactly applies to you and best fits your circumstances as everyone's are different.

Good Luck!

fairlady Newcomer

thank you sooooo much!!!!!!! What's the biggest difference between DoD and the Faa (pay wise, ejob type, etc.)?

RFDATM Trusted Member IL

CTO - Control Tower Operator. This is a rating/license issued under FARs (Federal Aviation Regulations). It is like a pilot's license for ATC.

MikeATC Retired FAA, NATCA Member Nashville TN

DOD still pays in accordance with the GS pay scale, the FAA pays on the ATC wage scale.

I'm not sure what happened to FAA wages after I retired, but before I retired I knew a few young controllers that went from FAA after getting their CTO's to DOD towers and made more money, had better working hours, and were happier.

Getting hired on DOD you pretty much have to know someone, or be very lucky. FAA is a roll of the dice, and their hiring has drastically slowed.

mjonavy Rookie Fort Worth

I am currently in the Military and working on gettin into the FAA. If you don't have any experience you most likely will not get hired on at DoD or a contract agency as those you need your CTO "control tower operator" certification for at least a year and some 2 years. CTI you may get picked up before your 31st bday may not thats a gamble you have to take. I know there is other jobs out there such as railroad dispatcher some of my coworkers have resorted to. They got out of the military and their age restricted them from going FAA but dispatching didn't so they are making high 60's low 70's right now. Its still a good job. Same thing as ATC but with trains.... well not so much but you get my drift. Good luck to you.

fairlady Newcomer

train operator......well I won't go that far!!

noid Curtis E. Carr Jawja

Not a train operator as in a Conductor or Engineer. Train Dispatcher's are the train version of ATC. You sit in a control center, issue clearances and control instructions to trains. It's actually a pretty nice gig and AWESOME retirement.

The better paying companies are BNSF which is mostly out west and CSX which is up/down the east coast. The other major companies are Norfolk Southern which is east coast and Union Pacific that is in the same area as BNSF but you need a degree.

DXatc1941 Newcomer

I am in the ANG and a DOD controller at Kingsley Field, Klamath Falls Oregon. DOD jobs are hard to get. If you decided to go ANG, after completing your initial ATC training you will be required to work one weekend a month, and two weeks a year for annual training. Most units are pretty flexible when you attend, and most people that dont live near the unit show up once every three months. There is an ANG unit in Wyoming, and if you sign up with them you are guaranteed ATC as long as you pass the training. There are also 9 other units located throughout the USA..

1. Klamath Falls Oregon (My unit)
2. Wyoming
3. North Carolina
4. South Carolina
5. Mississippi
6. Louisiana
7. Missouri
8. Pennsylvania
9. New Hampshire
10...Hawaii

Most units currently have a waiting list to get in..and its pretty hard life for a single mother...

RollTide Rookie Arizona

Not sure what the deal would be when your ANG time was up, but currently there is a program for people exiting the military to get into the faa even if you are over the age. So, maybe you can look into that.

ATC_MacGyver MacGyver with the bears.

are you referring to the phoenix program?