Military Officer or ATC??

tibhar87

Well-Known Member
Well I'm having a bit of a debate here...
I'm going to graduate college in December with a bachelors in Business Administration and I'm also working on a Associate Degree in aviation with a CTI School. I plan to finish the A.S. in August of 2011, but I don't know wheter go as an officer in the Navy first and do 4 years then come back and apply to the FAA (I would be 28-29 then), or just apply to the FAA now (I'm 24) and evade the risk of being recalled into active duty as I would be in the inactive reserves for an additional 4 years and miss the FAA's hiring age limit. is the any substancial difference in the pay of a military Officer and an ATC?
I'm not looking for a solid anwer but maybe some facts that could aid in my decision so any help is appreciated
 
Join as an enlisted to become an air traffic controller. I know for the Army you can have your job before you enlist. They' ll pay back your student loans and you get the training.
Are they still calling people from the inactive reserve back to active duty?
 
Would you be going in specifically to do ATC? It won't be of much help to you when it comes to applying with the FAA if you're doing something else... not to mention that you'd be going OTS, an application route whose future is uncertain.
 
Were you previously enlisted?

I'm trying to understand why you would want to go Navy for 4 years and then FAA if your desire is to go into the FAA. If your goal is ultimately FAA, then go FAA now. If you want to be a Naval Officer, then do that now. Pay as a Naval officer is great because it includes a retirement plan and free medical. FAA is government too, so they'll offer similar benefits. But, you're talking apples and oranges. In the Navy, you can do tons of different things. I'm a Naval officer and pilot. I've been doing this for 13 years. With flight pay and my flight bonus, I get paid much more than most FAA jobs. I get paid more than a lot of people. But, for 4 years, the pay is average to similar to FAA at the same level. Again, more info needed to guide you young jedi. What the heck do you want to do with your life? Being an Officer is vastly different than ATC job.

NOW, if you want ATC, then one of the other gents recommended enlisting and going in as an airtraffic controller. The enlisted folks I know that did 6-8 years as a military air traffic controller and where in a supervisory position got 60-100K (location dependent) jobs out of military as an ATC. A naval officer will not be the ATC. It will be an enlisted member with the training and the officers that are in charge are usually previous enlisted members with years of experience in ATC business (LDO's) that got commissioned. If you want the ATC skill through the military, the usual route is through enlistment into that career field.

Good luck.
 
Even though my goal is to be in ATC I also love to fly but not enough to pay for all the training in doing a civilian route. With that in mind if I was selected to be a pilot in the military I would do that instead of ATC. The reason I was thinking going as an officer for 4 years (supply) was on the tought of being selected easier as a veteran and serve. Right now based on reareach in airwarriors and navy OCS portal, it is extremely competitive right now to be a pilot in the navy (nevermind the air force and I was non-select in the Marines) and I still have to pass the ASTB which I have only 1 try left (taking it in August). So my game plan is to concentrate on the ATC route and keep applying to be an avitor in the military until I turn 27, and if it does not happen then I will be underway in my ATC career.
CUBE, does reapplying increases the chances of being selected by showing persistancy to the boards?
 
Sounds like you need to pick one and focus on it. In any case, being a vet alone isn't going to give you any advantage now that they've stopped hiring OTS. At the least, you'd need to get pick up a CTI degree in addition (unless you enlist and do ATC, of course). That's more time and money to spend, and isn't really something you would plan on doing.
 
Well I am currently doing a CTI Associates degree along with my bachelors right now. Luckly they are paid for by scholarships and grants. You do have a point I do need to choose one or the other eventually
 
You know, if you've got a desire to serve your country, you could always go ANG. Less demanding commitment, still leaves you open to apply CTI. Plenty of threads about it bouncing around the interwebs.
 
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