The Air Force definitely is not cutting enlisted aviator career fields—at least not in the near future—because the service says it’s short. USAF officials are encouraging airmen who may be in vulnerable career fields to cross train as boom operators, flight engineers, loadmasters, airborne mission systems, airborne battle management, flight attendants, aerial gunners, and airborne cryptology linguists. It needs to fill these jobs now.
The Air Force’s BACN may be cooked—the service plans to retire its entire E-11A Battlefield Airborne Communications Node fleet in fiscal 2028 and equip aircraft to use satellite communications instead.