Air Traffic Controller

You are an apprentice Air Traffic Controller. The facility already calls you AC and you have not earned it yet — the next 18 months are the down payment on every certification that follows.

Fresh out of A-school at NATTC NAS Pensacola (training flows through NAAS Whiting Field for the flight-side tower and approach environment), you check in to your first NAS or carrier-based command and the ATC facility supervisor hands you a facility SOP binder and a trainee position on the watch bill. You start in non-radar: ground control, local control under direct supervision at a military tower, or flight data at an approach control. You recite phraseology, run position-relief briefings, trace traffic flows on the facility diagrams, and learn the FAAO JO 7110.65 (the ATC bible) until the chapter numbers live in your head. On the carrier side — if orders send you to a ship — you will be introduced to the Carrier Air Traffic Control Center (CATCC) early: how the stack works, how approach control hands off to the ship's final controller, what Combat Direction Center is doing one deck below. At NAS billets you stand supplemental duties, work the flight data position, and study toward your first facility certification. The watch supervisor is watching whether you self-study between watches or wait to be walked.

• 01Recite standard ATC phraseology from FAAO JO 7110.65 for basic clearance delivery, ground, and local control positions — clean, crisp, no filler words, correct read-back check.
• 02Scan a sector's traffic picture and call the relative bearing and distance between two aircraft without reaching for a ruler — the mental picture has to be faster than the traffic.
• 03Write a complete position-relief briefing for a non-radar position: weather, NOTAMs, active runways, equipment status, outstanding clearances, special activities — handed off clean, nothing discovered after the sector is yours.
• 04Navigate the FAAO JO 7110.65 by memory to a chapter and section, not by scrolling from page one — the watch supervisor will ask you to cite the rule during a training debrief.
• 05Copy and read back an IFR clearance verbatim at dictation speed without a single incorrect element — pilots do not re-read clearances because an AC trainee missed the departure procedure.
• 06Operate the facility's voice communication equipment, ATIS update process, and coordination lines under direct supervision without requiring the supervisor to handle the equipment for you.

• —FAAO JO 7110.65 — Air Traffic Control (current edition). This is the ATC bible; every certification you will ever earn is built on chapters from this document. Live in it.
• —OPNAVINST 3721.32 — Naval Air Traffic Management. The Navy-specific overlay on top of the FAA/ICAO framework; know how military requirements differ from the civilian standard.
• —NAVAIR 00-80T-114 — Naval Air Training and Operating Procedures Standardization (NATOPS) for Air Traffic Control. The NATOPS ATC manual governs procedures, certifications, and standards at naval air facilities.
• —FAAO JO 7930.2 — Notices to Air Missions (NOTAM) Procedures (current edition). NOTAMs are part of every position brief; learn to read and parse them before the watch supervisor does it for you.
• —NAVPERS 18068 Vol II — Manual of Navy Enlisted Manpower and Personnel Classifications. Read the NEC 7718 (Approach Controller), NEC 7721 (Radar Controller), and NEC 7723 (CATCC Controller) entries before you talk to the career counselor.
• —OPNAVINST 6110.1 — Navy Physical Readiness Program (your PRT/BCA standard).

• —Facility ground training syllabus complete on the timeline the facility ATCO (Air Traffic Control Officer) sets — the trainee who falls behind the syllabus is the one the next watch supervisor knows by name for the wrong reason.
• —FAAO JO 7110.65 chapter read-back rate: if the supervisor pulls a chapter in debrief and you cannot locate the rule in under 60 seconds, the watch just showed you where to study tonight.
• —PRT Good Low or higher; BCA in standard. ATC is not a physically demanding rate by military standards, but showing up to work unfit for duty in a safety-critical environment is a character call.
• —NWAE study habit established — the advancement to AC3 cycle moves faster than new controllers expect; pull the current BIB from MyNavyHR / NETC and own it from month one.
• —Zero independent radio transmissions before achieving supervised solo authorization on any position — every transmission you make during training is under direct supervision until the certification is signed.

• —Filling a moment of uncertainty on the frequency with filler or a guess. Silence while you think is correct; a wrong instruction delivered confidently is a runway incursion or a separation loss.
• —Skipping the position-relief briefing because the previous controller is a friend and "nothing is going on." Active clearances, pending coordination, and equipment anomalies surface after handoff in the worst possible traffic.
• —Reading back a clearance with one changed element because you misheard and were too embarrassed to ask for a re-read. Read-back is a safety check; the pilot will correct you and that is fine.
• —Using non-standard phraseology because it "sounds more natural." FAAO JO 7110.65 phraseology is not optional; deviating creates ambiguity and the debrief will find it.
• —Treating OPSEC as someone else's job. Naval ATC knows aircraft types, tail numbers, sortie schedules, and ordnance configurations — what sounds like a routine flight-schedule conversation is a counterintelligence interest.

The good ACAN is the trainee the watch supervisor puts on the ground control position for the first supervised solo because the phraseology is clean, the position brief was thorough, and the traffic picture is never a surprise. By month nine the facility syllabus is ahead of schedule and the ATCO is already asking which certification path comes next — tower, approach, or CATCC.

You are a petty officer now. The crow on your sleeve says you hold at least one facility certification and at least one junior trainee is watching how you work the position.

You have a certification — ground, local, approach data, or a supervised-solo endorsement on a radar position — and now you are on the watch bill as a working controller. You hold your certified positions independently, you stand duty as a certified controller at the facility, and you begin working toward the next certification in the facility qualification matrix. If you are at a carrier-based command, you are working CATCC positions under supervision: approach control, departure, or the marshal stack. The NEC conversation gets real: NEC 7718 (Approach Controller) is the foundational credential, NEC 7721 (Radar Controller) is the target for controllers working approach control billets, and NEC 7723 (CATCC Controller) is the carrier track. Your LCPO will tell you which pipeline fits your orders and your command's needs. The NWAE for AC2 is not distant; pull the BIB for the current cycle now. The FAA credential bridge starts here conceptually — military ATC experience toward FAA Controller-in-Training (CTO / ATCS) certification is a real post-service pathway and the clock starts when you start accumulating hours.

• 01Work your certified position independently during an active traffic period — sequence aircraft, execute coordination with adjacent sectors, and handle a pilot deviation debrief without calling the supervisor for routine work.
• 02Execute an instrument flight rules (IFR) clearance with a non-standard routing or an amended departure procedure, coordinated with the ARTCC (Air Route Traffic Control Center) in real time, with the read-back confirmed and the strip updated.
• 03Conduct an initial approach briefing for a CATCC position under supervision: understand the recovery sequence, the marshal stack altitude assignments, and the bolter-and-wave-off protocol before you touch the radio.
• 04Run the facility's ATIS update when conditions change — new weather, new NOTAMs, runway change — without missing a required element and without broadcasting a stale information code.
• 05Brief a junior trainee on a position relief and coach phraseology errors in real time during a supervised observation session without breaking the traffic picture.
• 06Complete required FAAO JO 7110.65 currency training — recurrent annual training requirements for certified controllers — documented in the facility training record before the currency expires.

• —FAAO JO 7110.65 — Air Traffic Control; you hold certifications off this document now, you do not just study it for the exam.
• —NAVAIR 00-80T-114 — NATOPS ATC; the military-specific procedures that overlay the FAAO JO 7110.65 standard; carrier and expeditionary ATC procedures are here.
• —OPNAVINST 3721.32 — Naval Air Traffic Management; the governing instruction for how naval ATC commands are organized and how certifications are managed.
• —FAAO JO 7210.3 — Facility Administration; the companion to 7110.65 that governs how facilities run, how watch supervisors are certified, and how the training program is administered.
• —NAVPERS 18068 Vol II — NEC catalog; read the 7718, 7721, and 7723 entries and the current NEC source-rating NAVADMIN before you decide on a career track.
• —The current NWAE Bibliography for Advancement (BIB) for AC2 cycle — pull from MyNavyHR / NETC; the BIB is the test, the test is the BIB.

• —Facility certification(s) current and recurrency training documented on schedule — a lapsed certification pulls you off the watch bill and costs the facility a certified position.
• —NWAE for AC2 prep on the LCPO's timeline — the AC3 who walks into the advancement exam cold is the AC3 who watches the slate from the bench.
• —NEC pipeline conversation documented: NEC 7718 / 7721 / 7723 target identified in coordination with the ATCO and LCPO — no NEC path at all is visible at the next ranking.
• —PRT Good Medium or better; BCA in standard.
• —Zero unsupervised radio transmissions on any position for which you are not yet certified — the facility log and the traffic recordings are permanent, and the ATCO reviews them.

• —Issuing a radar identification without completing the full identification procedure from FAAO JO 7110.65 Section 5-3. A misidentified aircraft handed to the next sector as a verified track is a mid-air waiting to happen.
• —Treating a traffic alert and collision avoidance (TCAS) resolution advisory (RA) callout from a pilot as routine traffic. When a pilot calls "TCAS RA" you clear the frequency and issue no conflicting instructions until the maneuver is complete — FAAO JO 7110.65 is explicit.
• —Accepting a verbal coordination on a non-radar hand-off without reading back the critical elements. Missed coordination information on a sector boundary is how two aircraft end up on conflicting paths with nobody noticing until the proximity alert fires.
• —Updating the ATIS without notifying all active approach/local controllers of the new information code. Aircraft reporting the old code are on different information than the ones reporting the new code — the controller has to know which information each pilot has.
• —Logging a facility training observation with positive language to avoid a trainee's frustration. Inaccurate training records mean a trainee reaches solo authorization before they are ready; the consequences occur in the traffic, not the folder.

The good AC3 is the controller the watch supervisor assigns to the combined ground/local position during a mid-tempo period because the traffic picture is clean, the coordination is crisp, and the phraseology is FAAO JO 7110.65 word-for-word. His trainee debrief notes catch the errors and explain the rule. He is on the bench for the NEC pipeline before the first eEVAL closes.

You are the working senior controller. The AC3s look to you for the answer on the position; the chief is mentoring you toward the anchors he plans to pin in two boards.

You hold multiple certifications — radar approach control, local control, CATCC approach or departure, or the full tower matrix at a smaller facility — and you are on the watch bill as a working-level supervisor or on the path to it. If your command runs a CATCC aboard a carrier, you are working the approach control and departure control positions in the CATCC with increasing independence, running the carrier controlled approach (CCA) radar through recoveries, sequencing aircraft into the marshal stack, and handing off to the final controller. At a NAS, you may be the facility's most experienced radar approach controller on a shift. You train and qual-sign two-to-four AC3s and trainees, build the section's training schedule, and own the technical accuracy of every training debrief you conduct. NEC 7721 (Radar Controller) or NEC 7723 (CATCC Controller) should be awarded or in-pipeline; the AC2 without an NEC in hand is visible at the next ranking. The NWAE for AC1 is no longer abstract; the eEVAL trait average against your peer AC2s matters for the next slate. The FAA credential picture sharpens here: your radar certification hours and operational ATC experience are the raw material the FAA PEPC (Public Notice for Controller Hiring) process values.

• 01Work the CATCC approach control or a busy military radar approach control position solo through a full recovery or operational period — sequences maintained, separation standards never busted, coordination clean, and the watch supervisor never reaching across you.
• 02Execute an emergency handling sequence per FAAO JO 7110.65 Chapter 10: declare or acknowledge the emergency, squawk 7700 confirmation, weather and runway state advisory, crash/fire/rescue notification, and tower/approach coordination — without calling the supervisor for the sequence.
• 03Run a full position-training session with an AC3 on a working position: set the scenario, observe the traffic, identify the errors in real time, debrief with chapter-and-section citations, and document the session in the training record accurately.
• 04Coordinate a military training route (MTR) or special use airspace (SUA) activation with the ARTCC, adjacent military facilities, and local traffic in real time — no airspace conflict, clearances documented, NOTAMs issued if required.
• 05Write the section's input to the facility's quarterly training status report — certification status by name, training milestones, open requirements — clean enough that the ATCO does not have to rewrite it.
• 06Operate the facility's radar system, communication switching equipment, and STARS or equivalent radar display to full certified capability without the supervisor reaching across you for a system function.

• —FAAO JO 7110.65 — Air Traffic Control (current edition); you are the section's reference authority on this document, not the person asking for the chapter.
• —NAVAIR 00-80T-114 — NATOPS ATC; CATCC procedures, carrier approach control, and military-specific ATC procedures are here; you teach the carrier environment off this document.
• —FAAO JO 7210.3 — Facility Administration; you advise junior controllers on facility administration requirements now, not just look them up when asked.
• —OPNAVINST 3721.32 — Naval Air Traffic Management; you mentor the junior ACs on how naval ATC commands are organized and how the NEC pipeline works.
• —ICAO Annex 11 — Air Traffic Services; for CATCC and carrier operations in international airspace, ICAO procedures apply in defined areas — know when they differ from the domestic FAAO JO 7110.65 standard.
• —The current NWAE Bibliography for Advancement (BIB) for AC1 cycle — build a study plan with milestones, not a stack of PDFs.

• —NEC 7721 (Radar Controller) or NEC 7723 (CATCC Controller) awarded or in-pipeline; the AC2 without an NEC is visible at the next ranking.
• —All facility certifications current, recurrency training documented with zero lapses, and training records for assigned trainees complete and accurate.
• —NWAE for AC1 prep documented on the LCPO's timeline; the candidate who walks in with a strong BIB study log is the candidate the chief defends at the wardroom board.
• —PRT Good High or better; BCA in standard.
• —eEVAL trait average and ranking that supports EP / MP recommendation; your LCPO knows your number before the EVAL board reads it.

• —Failing to apply proper wake turbulence separation behind a heavy or super aircraft because the traffic picture was busy. Wake turbulence separation in FAAO JO 7110.65 Section 5-5 is not a guideline — it is a standard and the NTSB accident reports say why.
• —Letting an AC3 trainee work a position with a known traffic complexity beyond their training stage without stepping in. The trainee is your responsibility; "I wanted to see how they'd handle it" is not an acceptable after-action rationale for a separation event.
• —Accepting a non-verbatim read-back on a complex or non-standard clearance. The re-read takes eight seconds; the deviation investigation takes eight months.
• —Skipping the weather update check before a radar approach sequence during rapidly changing conditions. The carrier or NAS approach controller who starts a recovery with stale weather data is setting up the final controller for an unpleasant surprise.
• —Treating post-incident documentation as optional or rushed. Every proximity event, every pilot deviation, every emergency lands in a facility report; inaccurate documentation becomes the official record.

The good AC2 is the controller the watch supervisor puts on approach control during a high-density recovery because the sequence will be tight, clean, and the CATCC departure controller will never have to wait for a frequency. His AC3 trainee debrief notes cite the rule and identify the fix. His eEVAL bullets read action-result-impact, not generic ATC filler. He is on the NEC slate before the LCPO has to ask.

You are the LPO. The chief is grooming you for anchors; the ATCO calls you by name; the AC2s and AC3s watch how you run the facility watch the way you used to watch the chief.

You are LPO of a facility watch section or the senior enlisted controller on a shift — 10-20 ACs, the training plan, the NEC pipeline, and the weekly readiness input the ATCO briefs to the commanding officer. You hold watch supervisor certification or you are building it. You write four-to-six eEVALs per cycle for AC2s and AC3s that will pick the next NWAE slate. You manage the section's training records, defend the certification status matrix at the ATCO's sync, and ensure every controller's recurrency training is documented before it lapses. At CATCC-capable commands you are the senior enlisted CATCC voice — approach, departure, and marshal stack management across a full air wing recovery is in your lane. You mentor at least one AC per year into a NEC pipeline, a flight control warrant officer packet, or a commissioning program. The Chief board packet conversation is no longer abstract — your LCPO is editing your record, your eEVAL profile is being built against every AC1 in the command, and your warfare device matters more than any single certification you have earned. The FAA bridge is a real post-service option for your junior ACs and you now know enough to advise honestly: FAA ATC is the highest-compensated federal career for military-trained controllers, but the PEPC hiring pathway has its own timeline and its own competition.

• 01Hold watch supervisor certification or be actively building it — run the facility watch for a full shift, manage position assignments, respond to priority traffic events, and handle a pilot deviation investigation without the ATCO having to reconstruct the sequence.
• 02Defend the section's certification matrix, recurrency training status, and NEC pipeline to the ATCO at weekly sync — every controller's status current, no lapses, no gaps discovered after the brief.
• 03Manage a CATCC recovery as the senior enlisted controller: approach sequencing, departure coordination, marshal stack management, and final controller handoff through a full cyclic recovery without a separation event or a missed handoff.
• 04Mentor an AC2 through an NEC 7721 or NEC 7723 certification packet and a Chief-board-track eEVAL profile — and counsel honestly when the sailor's record or availability makes the timeline longer than they expect.
• 05Build and execute the section's 30/60/90-day training plan — certification progression, recurrency training, annual FAAO JO 7110.65 update training, emergency procedures refreshers — with reporting the ATCO can brief without asking for the raw numbers.
• 06Write an eEVAL block the senior rater can defend at a wardroom board — measurable traffic outcomes, named facility contributions, language the Chief selection board actually reads.

• —FAAO JO 7110.65 — Air Traffic Control (current edition); you are the section's reference authority and the junior ACs come to you with the chapter question before they come to the ATCO.
• —NAVAIR 00-80T-114 — NATOPS ATC; CATCC procedures, carrier recovery management, and military-specific standards are yours to teach — you do not look them up during the debrief.
• —FAAO JO 7210.3 — Facility Administration; you administer the facility training program, the watch schedule, and the certification documentation at the LPO level.
• —OPNAVINST 3721.32 — Naval Air Traffic Management; you enforce command compliance with this instruction at the LPO level and advise the ATCO on certification and operational requirements.
• —MILPERSMAN — fluent in the articles governing enlisted personnel actions (advancement, retention, separation, NJP) at LPO visibility.
• —NAVPERS 18068 Vol II + the current NEC source-rating NAVADMIN — build the pipeline off the current cycle, not the stale folder on the share.

• —Chief board packet under construction with the LCPO's eye on every line; eEVAL profile defensible at wardroom / ATCO level; watch supervisor certification targeted or in progress.
• —Section certification matrix current — zero lapses, recurrency training documented, open requirements trackable at the ATCO's brief without an audit.
• —Pipeline output: NEC selectees, commissioning / warrant candidates, NWAE slates — at least one selectee per year from the section.
• —Controlled facility documentation (training records, incident reports, facility logs) — audit trail intact, no retroactively corrected entries, chain of review documented.
• —Chief selection board package building across the year with the LCPO defining the cadence. The package is not assembled the week before submission.

• —Briefing facility certification status you have not personally validated from the training records. The ATCO catches the discrepancy once and your Chief packet feels it permanently.
• —Letting a senior AC2 carry the recurrency training tracking because "he handles the admin." When he transfers, the lapsed certifications surface on the next type commander inspection and the LPO's name is on the discrepancy.
• —Confusing your seniority with operational authority in a sector the NEC-qualified CATCC specialist knows better than you do. Let the specialist brief the CATCC environment and stand by them; the chiefs notice who is honest about what they know.
• —Going around the LCPO to the ATCO or the XO. The chiefs talk; the next Chief selection board sees the pattern.
• —Treating the FAA credential bridge conversation as a retention threat. The AC you help navigate the PEPC process or the FAA CTO pathway becomes the ambassador the Navy needs — counsel honestly about ADSO, the application timeline, and what the first-year FAA controller salary actually looks like.

The good AC1 is the LPO the ATCO trusts to run the facility watch section through an emergency recovery without a daily check-in. His certification matrix briefs without caveat; his eEVALs select controllers above expectation; his NEC pipeline produces 7721 and 7723 controllers the ATCO names in the monthly readiness brief. He sits the Chief selection board with a record that reads itself.

You are a Chief. The gold-fouled anchors mean the goat locker is yours, the wardroom asks you by name, and the entire facility reads the command's operational culture off how you stand at quarters.

The job changes more between AC1 and ACCS than at any other promotion in the rate. As LCPO of a naval ATC facility — the tower and approach control at a large NAS, the CATCC department aboard a carrier or large-deck amphibious ship, a joint terminal attack controller (JTAC) support element, or the enlisted ATC section of an expeditionary command — you run 15-40 controllers and you own enlisted execution from the deckplate up. You hold watch supervisor certification. You write Chief-quality eEVALs that pick the next AC1 and ACCS slate. You sit at the ATCO's department sync as the senior enlisted ATC voice. You walk the facility during a type commander ATC inspection or an FAA Technical Operations assessment and identify the broken documentation and the weak certification before the inspector does. You build the next LPO. You mentor the next NEC specialist, commissioning candidate, and warrant officer applicant. You enforce the ATC standard, in uniform and in the tower, every day, while the deckplate watches whether your off-watch posture matches your on-position posture. Making Chief is the culture break — you are in the goat locker now, and the wardroom holds you to a standard that has no peer in the enlisted spaces. The CATCC recovery management on a carrier air wing day is yours to own at the senior enlisted level; the CO and the ATCO both know your name before the aircraft are spotted.

• 01Run the LCPO's facility operations — watch schedule, position assignments, certification matrix, recurrency training documentation, incident report pipeline — with weekly cadence the ATCO and the CO can predict.
• 02Defend the facility's certification and training posture, NEC qualification status, and ATC inspection readiness at command-level sync without numbers being rewritten.
• 03Walk a real-world type commander ATC inspection, an FAA Technical Operations facility evaluation, or an ATCAA (Air Traffic Control Activity Analysis) review as the senior enlisted ATC voice — your after-action report is what the ATCO briefs up the chain.
• 04Mentor four-to-six AC1s into Chief-board-competitive candidates; mentor at least one NEC pipeline completion, commissioning packet, or warrant officer accession to selection per year.
• 05Operate as the senior enlisted ATC voice during a deployment, carrier strike group (CSG) operation, or contingency — including the call to wake the ATCO at 0200 when the facility's operational posture has actually shifted.
• 06Translate fleet, type commander, and NAVAIR ATC policy and inspection findings into deckplate training and certification practices the ACs execute without rewording the message.

• —FAAO JO 7110.65 — Air Traffic Control; you are the command's senior enlisted reference authority on this document, and the JOs come to you with the policy question.
• —NAVAIR 00-80T-114 — NATOPS ATC; carrier and expeditionary ATC procedures across the full CATCC mission set.
• —FAAO JO 7210.3 — Facility Administration; you administer the facility training and certification program at the Chief level and you are accountable when the documentation fails an inspection.
• —OPNAVINST 3721.32 — Naval Air Traffic Management; you enforce command compliance at the LCPO level and advise the ATCO on operational and personnel requirements.
• —MILPERSMAN — fluent in the articles governing enlisted personnel actions (advancement, retention, separation, NJP) at ACCS-level visibility.
• —CPO 365 / CPO Initiation guidance — the wardroom and the goat locker both hold you to it, even after the anchors are pinned.

• —CPO Academy / Chief's Mess transition complete; standing as a Chief in the mess at the deckplate level — not a Chief in title alone.
• —Facility certification matrix, recurrency training compliance, and ATC inspection posture defensible at ATCO and commanding officer level, every cycle.
• —eEVAL profile and ranking that picks the next AC1 and ACCS slate from your facility — measured by which controllers actually select.
• —Pipeline producing 1+ NEC selectee, commissioning / warrant accession, or NWAE selectee per year.
• —Zero Chief-level integrity incidents — fraternization, financial, facility documentation falsification, OPSEC. One ends the career permanently.

• —Mistaking the goat locker for a private club. The mess is a working leadership platform; chiefs who treat it as social will be the ones the facility reads as off-mission before the next inspection.
• —Stopping personal PT and BCA discipline because "I am a Chief now." Controllers read the deckplate harder when the anchors go on, not less.
• —Letting an AC1 LPO run a facility section with a deteriorating certification matrix because he is "your guy" or "almost a Chief." The ATCO and the CMC see the inspection posture first and the next slate gets read against the gap.
• —Going public with disagreement with the ATCO or the CO. The disagreement happens in the office; you walk out aligned. The goat locker enforces this without the wardroom asking.
• —Treating the FAA credential bridge mentoring as a checkbox. The ACs you counsel through the PEPC hiring pathway or the CTO certification process become the community's external reputation — and the ones who wash out because nobody told them the timeline do too.

The good Air Traffic Controller Chief is the LCPO the Commanding Officer calls by name and the goat locker defends in the mess. His facility briefs without caveats, his AC1s pick up Chief, his NEC and commissioning pipelines produce at rates above the type-command average, and his deckplate posture matches his liberty posture. He is on the Senior Chief slate before the CMC has to ask.

You are the senior enlisted ATC voice in a facility, command, or fleet staff. The CO names you in the brief. The type commander knows your name on the slate. The deckplate watches whether you still walk the tower floor.

As ACCM or ACCCS you run the senior enlisted ATC posture for a major NAS facility (NAS Norfolk, NAS Pensacola, NAS Jacksonville, NAS Lemoore), the CATCC department of a carrier strike group across its deployment cycle, a NAVAIR program office staff supporting ATC system acquisition, a joint ATC training command, or you sit as Command Master Chief (CMC) where the path and the command open. You write fewer eEVALs but they are the ones that pick the next Chief and Senior Chief slate from across the rate. You sit at command-team sync as the senior enlisted voice on every ATC personnel, training, readiness, and certification decision. You translate NAVAIR, type commander, and FAA coordination requirements into command-level talent management decisions. You build the next CMC selectee. You start the post-Navy market plan 24-36 months out — because the FAA is the single most direct post-Navy path in the entire enlisted force for this rate. FAA ATC is the highest-compensated federal career available to military-trained controllers: GS-14 facility pay tables, level 9-12 facilities, veteran preference hiring under the PEPC program, and military separation points that give retiring AC chiefs a lane most civilians cannot access. The bench you leave behind — in the Navy and in the FAA — decides whether the goat locker and the fleet remember your name.

• 01Run a senior-enlisted ATC climate across a facility or command that produces NEC-qualified controllers, commissioning accessions, and ATC inspection readiness above type-command average.
• 02Brief the CO, ATCO, type commander, or NAVAIR on enlisted ATC readiness and risk in language the flag officer can defend at the next echelon — without rewriting.
• 03Sit on Chief selection board panels, command CMC slates, and NEC accession panels with the discipline and confidentiality the convening authority requires.
• 04Translate NAVAIR / type commander / FAA coordination-level ATC policy and system acquisition planning into enlisted talent management decisions at the unit and across the rate.
• 05Run a real-world type commander ATC inspection, an FAA Technical Operations facility evaluation, or a CATCC operational assessment as the senior enlisted ATC voice — and your after-action feeds the lessons-learned the fleet publishes.
• 06Run a casualty notification or memorial service with the dignity it requires. You are the face the family and the formation will remember.

• —FAAO JO 7110.65 — Air Traffic Control (current edition); full operational and administrative fluency across the document at the senior-enlisted level.
• —NAVAIR 00-80T-114 — NATOPS ATC; carrier ATC procedures across the CATCC mission set; you are the command's senior enlisted NATOPS reference.
• —FAAO JO 7210.3 — Facility Administration; administrative compliance across a major facility or multiple operating positions.
• —OPNAVINST 3721.32 — Naval Air Traffic Management; you advise the commanding officer and the fleet staff on compliance, inspection readiness, and ATC policy alignment.
• —ICAO Annex 11 — Air Traffic Services; relevant to carrier and expeditionary operations in international airspace and for commanding officers who need the senior enlisted interpretation.
• —MILPERSMAN — full fluency; you are the command's senior enlisted authority on personnel action procedures at ACCM / ACCCS level.

• —Facility and command ATC certification and readiness posture defensible at CO, type commander, and NAVAIR level — no caveats, no retroactive corrections.
• —Chief and Senior Chief selection pipeline producing at rates above type-command average — measured by actual selectees, not by packets submitted.
• —FAA coordination and inspection compliance maintained at the facility level with zero unresolved FAA Technical Operations findings on your watch.
• —Post-Navy transition plan built and communicated: 24-36 month runway, PEPC familiarity, FAA hiring process briefed to every eligible AC in the command, not just the ones who ask.
• —Zero integrity incidents at the ACCM / ACCCS level — command climate, documentation, and deckplate standard are yours to own.

• —Delegating facility inspection readiness to the ACCS LCPO without personally walking the certification matrix and the documentation trail before the inspector arrives. Your name is the one the type commander reads when the discrepancy is found.
• —Treating the FAA credential bridge as a retention threat rather than a career-planning responsibility. Controllers who leave the Navy with clear FAA PEPC guidance become the rate's best recruiters; the ones who leave confused become the rate's cautionary stories.
• —Losing touch with the actual watch bill and traffic environment because the senior chief's calendar is full of staff meetings. If you cannot describe what the facility's hardest position looks like on a bad weather day, the deckplate has already noticed.
• —Building the CMC / SEA selectee slate around loyalty rather than performance record. The command will staff the goat locker for years off the decision you make at this rank.
• —Failing to advocate for ATC facility funding, system upgrades, or manning authorizations at the command-team level. At ACCM / ACCCS, silence on a resource gap is endorsement of it.

The good Air Traffic Controller Senior or Master Chief is the ACCM the fleet staff calls when the type commander needs an enlisted ATC read on an inspection finding and the ACCCS who leaves a command with a certification matrix that briefs itself, a Senior Chief pipeline that produces above the fleet average, and at least a dozen ACs who know exactly how to transition to the FAA because he told them before they had to ask.