Expert: James Bell - 7/29/2008

Question
sir i m very much confused about my career. i have just done my 12. please tell me that can i be a flight engineer after doing aerospace or avionics engineering? please tell me that how long will it take to be a flight engineer to go with the flight? and how long does it take to be a aerospace engineer of big air crafts?
thank you

Answer
Greetings Salik -

I am assuming by what you have told me that you are currently NOT in the United States Air Force.  The flight engineer career field requires a high degree of training, and is one I call a "feeder" career, meaning that to get into it, you need to have already served in another job that feeds into the flight engineer field.

You can learn more about the flight engineer job at ...

http://usmilitary.about.com/od/airforceenlistedjobs/a/afjob1a1x1.htm

At the beginning of the second page, I need to point out the special note: "This job used to be closed to new recruits, unless they already possessed a valid Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Flight Engineer Certificate. However, the Air Force has changed this policy, effective sometime in January 2003. The job opportunity is now open to new recruits (1A131C only)."  However, it goes on to say "According to this article (link added on the site), from the Air Force News Service, the Air Force has stopped taking non-prior service into this career field, regardless of shreadout, starting in November 2006."

The only "engineers" allowed into the field right after Basic Training were those going into helicopters.  Those going on to the "big aircrafts" as you call them, were "fixed-wing" engineers, had to have prior experience in the "feeder" fields.  The career fields that allowed you to get into the flight engineer field are having a 5- or 7-skill level in the 1A0, 1A2, 1A5, 2AXXX, or 2M0 career field ladder.  It also goes on to say you must meet the flying physical requirements, as well as being able to hold a classified clearance.  Most are at the SECRET level, but some aircraft require their engineers to have a TOP SECRET clearance.

As far as how long it takes, that depends on where you are starting.  If you are a civilian, it would require 3 to 4 years in one of the previously described "feeder" fields, then acceptance into the 1A1x1C career field.  The two engineer training schools, survival and mission qualification training would take upwards of a year to get fully mission ready.  So, from a civilian entering the military, it could be upwards of 3 to 4 years before you can even get into the program, and a total of 4 to 5 years before you are fully qualified on an aircraft.

If you are already in the Air Force, and in a feeder career field, you can put your retraining paperwork in and, depending on how critical your career field is, you could get orders to start training in a relatively short time.  I have seen people wait upwards of a year for a school date to open up.

I know this is a lot of information, but I hope I helped you decide how you want to proceed with your career.

Good luck.

Sincerely,
James Bell