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Originally Posted by surreal1221  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. |
You are way off the mark on this one.
First, the drawdown is due to force shaping and reallocation of funds into higher demand careers. Nothing else. While it's true they are only allocating 250 new 3 levels for FY07, that does not account for cross-trainees and reassignments. Training is ongoing at the same pace it's been at for years. It can take 2 years to get fully rated at some of the busy RAPCONs, so a drawdown wouldn't necessarily be felt for some time.
Secondly, the FAA doesn't dip into the DoD's manpower. You can't even talk to the FAA coming out of the military until you're on terminal leave or have a DD214 in your hand, meaning you're a civilian. You can't even apply until that point. And do you honestly think the FAA would take a CTI grad with his CTO from Beaver Airport over an ex-military who has been working jets out of Luke RAPCON for the past 5 years? They couldn't care less where the person is coming from. They want the experience.
Third, you're nuts if you think the military guys are running towards a $30k per year job. Contract towers are paying $55-60k per year. DoD facilities stateside are paying $65-75k. DoD Contracts overseas are paying $125-160k. The FAA is on the low end these days. You have to have 3 years of experience on your CTO before a contract facility will even consider you. You don't get that with a CTI education.
The options are far broader coming out of the military. Period.
And on a lighter note, spare me the whiney "putting blood on peoples' hands" crap. Go cry about it at an ACLU meeting.