Also called: Air Force 13H (officer) / 4M0 (enlisted), Navy Aerospace Physiologist
Trains pilots to handle high altitude, g-forces, and disorientation, and runs altitude chambers and centrifuges.
Physiologists put aircrew in altitude chambers so they can recognize the warning signs of hypoxia, run spatial disorientation trainers, and investigate physiological causes of crashes.
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 4 years after high school. Bachelor's in physiology, biology, or exercise science (officer); enlisted techs train after basic. 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: Physiology, Exercise Science, Biology.
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. Running altitude chambers and training aircrew stays human.
Classes: AP Biology, AP Physics, Anatomy & physiology.
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.