Also called: Aerostat Crew Chief, Surveillance Balloon Operator
Launches and maintains huge tethered balloons that carry radar to watch the border and coastline.
Aerostat crews raise a blimp-shaped balloon thousands of feet on a cable, monitor weather, bring it down before storms, and repair its systems. Sites include Texas, Florida, and Puerto Rico.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
High school diploma, about 1 year after high school. Military or technical background; trained by contractors.
Ways in: Military, On-the-job training. Training cost: Get paid while you train.
Majors to look at: Electronics Technology, Aviation Maintenance.
Growing about average (about 3% over 10 years). BLS 2025-35 projection band for SOC 49-9099: Average (3% to 4%).
Low risk for 10 years. Monitoring is increasingly automated, but launching, recovering before storms and repairing the balloon systems needs crews on site.
Classes: Electronics CTE, Earth Science (weather), Physics, JROTC.
Official data: O*NET occupation 49-9099.
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.