Expert: James Bell - 4/21/2008

Question
QUESTION: I have been approved to apply to these two career fields. I see that you have done both. Would you mind giving me some highlights of each career field? Which one did you like best?

ANSWER: Greetings Greg -

Both career fields are excellent, and both suited my needs at different times during my career.  You can go into the loadmaster field right off the street, whereas the engineer job requires experience in a feeder career field, and is normally not available right off the street (unless you have an FAA F.E. ticket).

The F.E. position requires more brain power and heavy systems knowledge, whereas the loadmaster field requires a bit more muscle power as it is your job to upload and download cargo off the aircraft.

Overall, I enjoyed the F.E. field more, as I was more involved in the cockpit operations and directly involved in the actual flight process of the plane.

I hope this answers your question.  Feel free to write back if you have any more questions.

Sincerely,
James Bell


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Yeah I keep reading about the feeder career fields. Do you happen to know what they are?

Answer
Greg -

To be eligible for the F. E. career field, you need "prior qualification at the 5- or 7-skill level in the 1A0 (boom operator), 1A2 (loadmaster), 1A5 (airborne mission specialist), 2Axxx (aircraft maintenance), or 2M0 (missile maintenance) career field ladder, or possession of a valid Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Flight Engineer certificate, FAA private pilot license, or valid FAA aircraft and power plant license or Aircraft Maintenance Technician license."

You can view this text and other information about the 1A1x1 career field at ...
http://usmilitary.about.com/od/airforceenlistedjobs/a/afjob1a1x1.htm

You can also read about the Loadmaster (A12x1) career field at ...
http://usmilitary.about.com/od/airforceenlistedjobs/a/afjob1a2x1.htm

I hope this helps you more.

Sincerely,
James Bell