Job: Air Traffic Control (ATC) Operator (15Q)

JOIN THE U.S. ARMY!
To be a U.S. Army Soldier is to be a part of the strongest fighting force in the world. You'll spend your days training, working and serving together to protect America's freedoms. But you'll also have time after work for family, friends and personal interests. From recruitment to retirement, the U.S. Army provides a unique and diverse lifestyle for Soldiers.


One of the ways the Army moves people and vehicles is by air. And it's the job of the Air Traffic Control Operator to track planes and give landing and take-off instructions at air traffic control facilities. Some of your duties as an Air Traffic Control Operators may include:

* Follow flights using visual, instrument and special flight rules
* Assist in the installation and relocation of tactical air traffic control facilities
* Process flight plan data
* Maintain logs, records, files and tape recordings of voice communications
* Control airborne and ground traffic

Job training for an Air Traffic Control Operator requires nine weeks of Basic Training, where you learn basic Soldiering skills, and 15 weeks of Advanced Individual Training and on-the-job instruction. Part of this time is spent in a classroom and part in the field under simulated combat conditions. Some of the skills you'll learn are:

* Air traffic control management
* Operation procedures for air traffic control
* Communications and radar procedures
* Aircraft recognition
* Take-off, landing and ground control procedures

Helpful attributes include:

* Interest in work requiring accuracy and attention to detail
* Ability to remain calm in stressful situations
* Decisiveness
* Ability to manage in accordance with strict standards
* Ability to work as a team member

Advanced Air Traffic Control Operators provides guidance, supervises and trains other Soldiers within the same discipline. As an advanced level Air Traffic Control Operator, you may be involved in:

* Provide guidance on technical issues
* Brief shift personnel on runway utilization, airfield conditions and weather and ground activity

The skills you will learn as an Air Traffic Control Operator will allow you to be work at airports - in towers and flight service stations - and in air route traffic control centers, and for the U.S. Department of Defense, some work for private air traffic control companies providing service to non-FAA towers and contract flight service stations.

* Aviation Operations Specialist (15P)

Learn more about the relationship between military training and civilian certification requirements.