1A871 Career Guide
1A871: Airborne Cryptologic Language Analyst
Career transition guide for Air Force Airborne Cryptologic Language Analyst (1A871)
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Top civilian roles for 1A871 veterans, with average salary and market demand data.
Intelligence Analyst
Skills to develop:
Information Security Analyst
Skills to develop:
Technical Writer
Skills to develop:
Language Analyst/Translator
Skills to develop:
Air Traffic Controller
Skills to develop:
Salary estimates from VWC career data
Hidden Strengths
Cognitive skills your 1A871 training built — and where they transfer.
Situational Awareness
Airborne Signals Intelligence operators maintain constant awareness of the operational environment, including air, ground, and maritime activities, to provide timely threat warnings and actionable intelligence to aircrews and other agencies.
This translates to the ability to quickly assess dynamic situations, understand potential risks and opportunities, and make informed decisions based on real-time data in fast-paced environments.
Rapid Prioritization
These operators must quickly analyze incoming signals intelligence, identify the most critical information, and prioritize reporting to ensure timely threat warnings and actionable intelligence are delivered to the appropriate personnel.
This involves triaging information under pressure, determining what requires immediate attention, and effectively managing workflow to meet critical deadlines.
Pattern Recognition
Airborne SIGINT operators identify patterns in communications, frequencies, and other data points to detect potential threats, track enemy movements, and understand operational trends.
This skill allows for the ability to discern meaningful insights from large datasets, identify anomalies, and anticipate future developments based on observed trends.
Team Synchronization
Working as an integral part of an aircrew and coordinating with ground and maritime agencies requires seamless teamwork, clear communication, and the ability to synchronize actions to achieve mission objectives.
This demonstrates the capacity to collaborate effectively with diverse teams, coordinate activities, and maintain clear communication to ensure shared goals are met efficiently.
Adversarial Thinking
By understanding enemy communication patterns, tactics, and technologies, these operators anticipate potential threats and vulnerabilities, enabling proactive measures to be taken to counter enemy actions.
This skill allows one to predict how adversaries might act and prepare proactive solutions in response.
Non-Obvious Career Matches
Cyber Threat Analyst
SOC 15-1212You've been analyzing signals intelligence to identify threats and vulnerabilities. As a Cyber Threat Analyst, you'll leverage your skills in pattern recognition and adversarial thinking to analyze network traffic, identify malicious activity, and protect organizations from cyberattacks. Your experience in providing threat warnings translates directly to this role.
Financial Intelligence Analyst
SOC 13-2011You've been trained to identify and analyze patterns in communication. As a Financial Intelligence Analyst, you'll use similar skills to detect and prevent financial crimes such as money laundering and terrorist financing. You've honed skills to uncover illicit networks that need your expertise.
Emergency Management Specialist
SOC 11-9161You've maintained situational awareness in dynamic environments and provided threat warnings to aircrews. As an Emergency Management Specialist, you'll use your skills to assess risks, develop emergency response plans, and coordinate resources during natural disasters and other crises. Your ability to remain calm under pressure and make quick decisions is highly valuable in this field.
Training & Education Equivalencies
Cryptologic Language Analyst Training Program, Goodfellow Air Force Base, TX
Topics Covered
- •Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) collection techniques
- •Voice communication identification, acquisition, and analysis
- •Airborne SIGINT systems operation and maintenance
- •Cryptologic language analysis and translation
- •Mission planning and air tasking order development
- •Threat warning and actionable intelligence dissemination
- •Emergency equipment use and egress procedures
- •Aircrew duties and responsibilities
Certification Pathways
Partial Coverage
Requires study in areas of security engineering, communication and network security, identity and access management, security assessment and testing, and software development security.
Needs additional study on network security, compliance and operational security, threats and vulnerabilities, and application, data, and host security.
Recommended Next Certifications
Technical Systems Translation
Military systems you've used and their civilian equivalents for your resume.
| Military System | Civilian Equivalent |
|---|---|
| Distributed Common Ground System-Air Force (DCGS-AF) | Palantir Gotham, cloud-based data analytics platforms |
| Tactical Data Link (TDL) systems (e.g., Link 16, SADL) | Military grade secure communication networks, encrypted data transfer protocols |
| Airborne Integrated Signals Intelligence System (AISIS) | Mobile signal monitoring and analysis equipment |
| Precision Lightweight GPS Receiver (PLGR) | Advanced GPS navigation systems with military-grade encryption |
| Advanced Cryptologic Carry-On Exploitation System (ACCES) | Software-defined radio (SDR) platforms for signal analysis |
| Air Tasking Order (ATO) systems | Project management and task tracking software |
| Various COMINT/ELINT collection systems | Spectrum analyzers and signal intelligence tools |
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