AddressBy joining the Air Force as a Mission Controller, you'll be entering into an 'Officer Aviation' role. This term refers to a handful of Air Force Officer aircrew and ground-based Mission Controller roles. In an Officer Aviation role, you'll be trained to become a world-class leader and manager, operating some of the most advanced aircraft and aviation systems ever built.
As a Mission Controller, you’ll be responsible for controlling aircraft on the ground or in the skies. Made up of two roles, Air Traffic Controller and Air Battle Manager, you’ll be trained to use critical thinking skills to control the skies, managing transiting aircraft or aerial battlegrounds from either airborne aircraft or state-of-the-art control towers.
Regardless of whether you’re working on the ground or in the air, you’ll operate advanced systems including radar, communications and tactical data links. Depending on the requirements, you’ll control the skies over both land and sea, providing critical support to our pilots, and you’ll conduct surveillance operations and shape defence missions. This is a role that comes with significant influence and responsibility as you hone your skills.
The next 10 years will see significant changes in the Air Force as the service continues to modernise, with a focus on information technology and how that can be translated into a competitive warfighting advantage. The Air Force will require highly motivated professionals to make command-and-control decisions in an ever-changing environment, managing missions to ensure they are completed efficiently and safely.
Air Traffic Controllers play a critical role delivering Airbase Air Traffic Services and are responsible for directing civilian and military aircraft and vehicles that operate at military airfields. Working in control towers and radar control rooms, you’ll perform this role with a degree of precision to ensure the airfield runs like clockwork. However, ATCs do far more than just work with radar screens in towers. The role often calls for controlling the airspace above an active battlefield, on land or at sea. This means ATCs work closely with the Army and Navy, including operating from Navy vessels.
The role of an Air Battle Manager is to take control of aerial battles, controlling the skies and performing critical surveillance using advanced electronic command systems. Your primary function is to guide pilots and airborne assets to where they are most needed to directly influence the battlefield. Operating radar, communications and tactical data links to locate and identify targets, the role provides pivotal support to Air Force combat operations in critical moments. The role doesn’t only work on land, as opportunities exists to fly in the E-7A Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft (AEW&C).
The Future:
Remote Piloted Aircraft (RPA); dedicated Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft; and space-based technologies will join with our advanced, capable platforms as part of a modern Air Force.
Click on the following link for more information on the other pathways within Officer Aviation.
