Also called: Air Force 13B, Command and Control Battle Manager
Officer who commands the air battle from radar planes like the E-3 AWACS, directing fighters and tankers.
Air battle managers watch a radar picture of an entire region and talk dozens of aircraft through refueling, intercepts, and rescues. It's like air traffic control in a war zone. After service they move into air traffic management, defense consulting, and operations management.
RMC (base pay + housing/food allowances + tax advantage) for officers O-1 (2nd Lieutenant/Ensign) to O-5 (Lieutenant Colonel/Commander), 2026 estimate. A 20-year career also earns a lifetime pension starting right after retirement.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 5 years after high school. Bachelor's degree and commission, then about a year of air battle manager 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, 4-year college. Training cost: Get paid while you train.
Majors to look at: Aviation, Mathematics, Any major.
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.
Medium risk for 10 years. AI battle-management software fuses the radar picture and suggests pairings; directing aircraft stays human.
Classes: AP Computer Science, Geography, Speech.
Official data: O*NET occupation 55-1015.
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.