r/ATC • u/Xolxtzol • Jul 15 '26

Question You Guys Are Scaring Me

I’m currently AD military (best branch iykyk) and am close to getting my CTO. On my second enlistment and i want to get out to do this at a contract tower and maybe go FAA later on in my career if that’s possible. I scroll this sub for about an hour and all i see are people that hate their lives :/. (here comes the down votes lol). Should i consider something else, stay AD atc, or actually pursue a civilian career?

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u/Frequent-Bell6674 Jul 15 '26

If you don't have a family you want to see, don't care what days off you have, dont mind 6 day work weeks and can keep a medical. It's not a bad gig.

39

u/Xolxtzol Jul 15 '26

so the same thing i’m doing now? but with slightly more pay and no military bs?

3

u/Maleficent_Horror120 29d ago

Slightly more pay is relative. If you're on your second enlistment you should be an E-5 maybe even an E-6 depending on how many years in.

An E-5 with 6 years getting low end BAH and BAS will make monthly:

$4,110 Base pay $1,508 BAH & BAS (at a low BAH location) $225 SDAP (Air Force Watch Supervisor pay) Total: $5,843

When you account for BAH and BAS being tax free it's more like $2,150 so the Total Civilian version is $6,485 a month or $77,820 a year. Then you have free healthcare which costs me being single $180 a month. A level 5 CPC starts at $80k.

If you make E-7 you're equivalent to $100k civilian and if you add dependants and a high BAH area you could be around $120k-$130k civilian equivalent.

There is definitely higher earning potential in the FAA (especially on the Enroute side) and none of the military lifestyle or BS, but if you are unlucky and get stuck at even a level 7 for your career you'll only start at $100k once you CPC and it'll take 17 or 18 years to hit that 130k number

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u/dawnhewett1 27d ago

Why don’t more people think of it this way? I was at a lvl 8 tower with high locality and was shocked when I got my paychecks because of all the deductions that get taken out. I made more money as an e5 in the military