AB vs FT
Aviation Boatswain's Mate (USN) vs Fire Control Technician (USN)
Same ocean, same Navy chow, same creative interpretation of "sleep schedule" — wildly different definitions of a bad day.
The AB experience, condensed: jet blast, spinning propellers, arresting cables under tension, and aircraft moving in every direction — all on a pitching deck in the middle of the ocean. The FT experience, condensed: you own the weapons-control electronics on a platform where there's no room for error and no quick way to the surface. When both hit the job market: the AB discovers that the civilian airport and aviation fueling industry hires from this background, but nothing on the outside matches carrier flight ops. The FT finds that you own the weapons-control electronics on a platform where there's no room for error and no quick way to the surface. Same DD-214, wildly different job fairs.
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'll work on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier — one of the most dangerous and adrenaline-fueled workplaces on earth. ABs launch and recover fighter jets, manage jet fuel operations, and direct aircraft weighing 60,000+ pounds in spaces tighter than a parking lot. It's the closest thing to a controlled disaster the Navy runs every day.”
The flight deck will try to kill you. Jet blast, spinning propellers, arresting cables under tension, and aircraft moving in every direction — all on a pitching deck in the middle of the ocean. The work is physically brutal, the hours are relentless during flight ops, and the safety stakes are absolute. One wrong step and you're a statistic. The ABs who thrive love the intensity and take genuine pride in the fact that nothing flies without them. The civilian airport and aviation fueling industry hires from this background, but nothing on the outside matches carrier flight ops.
“Operate and maintain the combat control systems that aim and launch a submarine's torpedoes and missiles — the brains of the boat's weapons.”
This is submarine duty, with the screening, security clearance, and lifestyle that come with it. You own the weapons-control electronics on a platform where there's no room for error and no quick way to the surface.
The Real Life
Same dimensions, side by side. AB on the left, FT on the right.
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Operating and maintaining the submarine's fire control systems — the integrated weapons targeting and launch system that connects sonar data, tactical inputs, and torpedo tube operations. On a fast-attack: standing fire control watches in the control room, maintaining the MK 117 (or current generation) fire control system, torpedo tube machinery, and weapons handling equipment. You cross-train closely with STSs (sonar) because fire control and sonar are the tactical brain of the boat. Off-deployment you maintain the fire control system at pierside, run equipment checks, and support weapons loading evolutions.
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The pipeline runs through Naval Submarine School in Groton (CT) and is one of the longer enlisted training sequences in the Navy — plan on 12-18 months total including Basic Enlisted Submarine School (BESS), the FT A School covering fire control systems, and the weapons technician training that covers torpedo systems and tube machinery. Pull the current course of instruction from NETC before quoting a specific month count; the pipeline length moves with platform and system updates.
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Low to moderate. Fire control work is console- and equipment-based, not physically strenuous. The submarine lifestyle is the challenge: port-and-starboard watch rotations (6 on, 6 off), confined berthing, and sustained mental alertness required for weapons systems maintenance and torpedo tube operations. Comfort in confined spaces is not optional.
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FT chose submarines, which means the submarine community chose you — and that cuts both ways. You are joining one of the most technically elite enlisted communities in the military, the pay is excellent, and the work on weapons systems used in real-world operations is about as consequential as enlisted work gets. What the recruiter will gloss over: submarine life is all-consuming in a way that other naval service is not. When you are deployed you are genuinely unreachable for months. The boat's schedule is the schedule. Port-and-starboard watches eat your sleep, and some sailors discover mid-patrol that the confined-space reality is harder than they anticipated. Divorce rates in the submarine community are a documented problem. The civilian path is strong — defense contractors want people with classified fire control and weapons systems experience — but the first 4-6 years require surrendering a version of normal life that some people can afford and some cannot. If you can handle the lifestyle, FT is an extraordinary career with a premium pay package and a post-Navy market that will find you before you finish your terminal leave.
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