New Guy

Yoeasy69 Newcomer

Good Afternoon Ladies and Gents,

Im currently in the USMC, approach rated and working on a CTO ticket. and i plan on being facility rated upon my exit from the military in a few short months and am kinda confused as far as the process to getting out and into the FAA.

Because i will be qualified already on approach and should be Tracon rated, as well as having a CTO ticket.. will i still have to attend the Academy?

how long is the normal wait to get in if this is so?

i would like to look for another Tracon facility.. and still have much research to do as to where but im pretty open.

any help with this and further questions is much much appreciated!

thanks!

polo708 Epic Member tower

Yes, you will still have to go to the academy, but you can skip the "basics" class which will save you about 5 weeks.

The normal wait is about a year. I wish I was exaggerating but im not. I have 11 years of ATC background and im at a year now, still waiting... it will mainly come down to your facility, how many trainees they have ahead of you and how many academy slots they are alloted. (some "off the street" hires are waiting close to 2 years)

As far as choices go, its hard to get exactly what you want. As a VRA applicant you can choose a few states in order of preference and they will offer you what they want. Plenty of guys with 10 years of radar experience are getting towers, and tower trained guys are going to centers... It doesn't make much sense but the FAA doesnt really care too much about your background. All that matters is that you have ATC experience period. Hope this helps.

speediebang Senior Member Gulfport, Mississippi

Best advice I can give, is depending on when you are getting out is to go on USAJOBS and apply to the CTO and VRA announcements NOW. The referral lists will be coming out shortly, and if you only have a few months left, you want to be on that referral list.

RollTide Rookie Arizona

I am in the process as well, VRA announcement got me the interview. Like the others said, it is painfully slow and you are going to feel completely forgotten about. App as soon as possible and then go look for another job while you wait...maybe a contract tower or something.