Quote:
Originally Posted by pilotnate23  The military is definitely the way to go...I'm partial to the Air Force. Free training and you get paid for it! If you're serious about it, do the enlisted route, they're the line controllers that work traffic everyday. I'm in the officer route and while I do get rated and work traffic, I'm stuck in the office most of the time working issues with Center, our satellite contract tower, and other agencies on base that support/maintain our equipment. Plus I have to help manage the airfield. However, the Air Force is cutting people and they're only planning to train about 250 3-levels (trainee controllers) a year for the foreseeable future. Hope this helps!
- LL |
Which is part of the problem.
At least in the civilian environment, no one is restricting the number of individuals they are training. Plus, you have all control over decisions that influence you. Versus the military lifestyle - waiting for months in DEP for a 1C1X1 slot, getting through tech school, being assigned a base in BFE, deploying after you get your 5 level. Ops tempo is very high, and many are not willing to blindly allow the military culture to control their professional lives anymore.
Just make sure it's for you, and be ready to wait a while. Those 250 slots will get eaten up after Oct 1st.
Another reason on the draw down is that the DoD does not want to train these guys, and then lose them. Not only lose them, but to another government agency. Plus the FAA does not like to dip into other organization's manpower to increase their own, not when thousands of CTI grads are sitting on the doorsteps.
Unfortunately, not all of us CTI grads are willing to work for 30k a year. The military guys are.
Bottom line is, be as informed as possible.