Air Traffic Controller (AC) Training

Air Traffic Controller (AC) Training 

Enlistees are taught the fundamentals through formal Navy schooling. Advanced technical and operational training is available in this rating during later stages of career development.

School: Class "A" Technical School.

Location: Pensacola, FL

Approximate Training Time: 20 weeks.

Subjects: Fundamentals of Air Traffic Control, radar, and radio communications.

Training Methods: Group Instruction and simulators.
Following "A" school, air traffic controllers spend one to two years gaining additional skills through on-the-job training at their first duty station. This consists of additional lab, lecture, and individual training leading to certification at an airfield facility. ACs are stationed in traffic control centers on aircraft carriers or at air traffic control facilities in the United States or overseas.

During a 20-year period in the Navy, ACs spend approximately 30 percent of their time assigned to fleet units and 70 percent to shore stations; many of the shore stations may be located overseas.

Qualifications and Interests:
Applicants for the AC rating must be at least 18 years old and must pass a flight physical prior to entering "A" school. The ability to speak clearly is essential in this rating. Applicants must have no speech impediment and be able to clearly speak English. Applicants will be required to pass a Read-Aloud test as part of their flight physical. Applicants must be U.S. citizens eligible for a security clearance and have no history of drug abuse (no waivers permitted). Normal hearing and normal color perception are required.

Vision must be better than 20/200 and correctable to 20/20.
Applicants should have an interest in aviation and working with or around aircraft. They should prefer to do detailed work and work as a team member. Applicants should have a good memory and should be able to perform quick mental math calculations. They should be comfortable with computers and with graphical orientations such as on maps or charts.

Back to Pensacola A School Group