Also called: Air Force 1Z3, Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC)
An Air Force special warfare airman embedded with Army units who calls in airstrikes from the ground.
TACPs ride and patrol with Army infantry, carrying radios and laser designators, and talk fighter and drone pilots onto targets while keeping friendly troops safe. Selection and training are brutal.
RMC (base pay + housing/food allowances + tax advantage) for typical E-1 to E-7 ranks, 2026 estimate, plus the special-duty, hazardous-duty, flight, dive, jump, or language pays this specialty usually earns. Enlistment/reenlistment bonuses for this field can be large.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
High school diploma, about 1.5 years after high school. High school diploma, ASVAB, special warfare fitness test, then over a year of TACP pipeline training. Free-college benefits: Tuition Assistance (up to $4,500/yr) while serving, the Post-9/11 GI Bill (36 months of tuition + housing stipend) afterward, and SkillBridge internships before separating.
Ways in: Military, On-the-job training. Training cost: Get paid while you train.
Majors to look at: Communications.
Growing about average. Military specialties are not in BLS projections. The services recruit for this job every year and openings track force size and retention rather than market growth.
Low risk for 10 years. Digital links speed strike requests; embedding with infantry and calling fire stays human.
Classes: Geography, Physics, PE / distance running.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.