1A0X1 vs 1A9X1
In-Flight Refueling Specialist (USAF) vs Special Missions Aviation (USAF)
Same Air Force, same generally civilized existence — surprisingly different jobs behind the "Aim High" bumper sticker.
For the record: recruiting materials for 1A0X1 claim service members will see more of the world from the back of a tanker than most people see in a lifetime. Materials for 1A9X1 claim they'll fly experimental and developmental mobility aircraft during testing programs. Testimony from actual service members paints a different picture. 1A0X1: then it's just uncomfortable, cold, and smells like a combination of JP-8 and the previous crew's lunch. 1A9X1: the work is genuinely interesting — you're evaluating systems before they're finalized, which means you're finding the problems before the operational fleet does. The committee will recess to process this. The interservice rivalry between these two is less heated than either admits and more real than either denies.
After the Uniform
The part the recruiter skips: what each job actually translates to once you're a civilian — and what it pays.
Salary data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program. A guide, not a guarantee.
Recruiter vs. Reality
The pitch versus what people who actually did the job report back.
“You will lie on your stomach in the back of a KC-135 or KC-46 and plug a metal pipe into a fighter jet doing 400 miles per hour at 30,000 feet. That sentence is not a metaphor. It's one of the most unique jobs in any military on Earth, it pays flight pay on top of your base salary, and you'll see more of the world from the back of a tanker than most people see in a lifetime. The Air Force will also ruin you for every other branch — you'll expect food that doesn't require a spoon and a room that isn't a tent.”
The boom pod is objectively cool for the first dozen sorties. Then it's just uncomfortable, cold, and smells like a combination of JP-8 and the previous crew's lunch. You'll spend more time TDY than home, which sounds adventurous until you've been away for three weeks and you're in Moron Air Base, Spain, which is not as exciting as the name implies. KC-135s are older than your parents and the new KC-46 has had its own very public growing pains. Flight pay is real. The back problems that develop from lying prone in a boom pod for 12-hour missions are also real. The camaraderie in a tanker squadron is genuine — you suffer together at weird hours and that bonds people in ways garrison duty never could.
“You'll fly experimental and developmental mobility aircraft during testing programs — evaluating the next generation of Air Force transport systems before they enter the operational fleet. Test aircrew positions are highly selective and the work shapes what the Air Force flies for the next decade. Edwards AFB and the Air Force Test Center are the home of this work.”
Test aircrew positions require exceptional professional records and significant operational experience before you're competitive for selection. The work is genuinely interesting — you're evaluating systems before they're finalized, which means you're finding the problems before the operational fleet does. Edwards AFB is a specific ecosystem with its own culture. The career field is small and the assignment is finite — you'll return to operational flying afterward with a resume that stands out.
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