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1B052 Career Guide

Air Force

1B052: Cyber Systems Operations Journeyman

Career transition guide for Air Force Cyber Systems Operations Journeyman (1B052)

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Civilian Career Pathways

Top civilian roles for 1B052 veterans, with average salary and market demand data.

Systems Administrator

$85K
High matchHigh demand

Network Engineer

$90K
High matchHigh demand

Cybersecurity Analyst

$95K
Good matchVery high demand

Skills to develop:

Security certifications (e.g., CompTIA Security+, CISSP)Threat intelligence analysis

Database Administrator

$92K
Good matchGrowing demand

Skills to develop:

Specific database certifications (e.g., Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server)

IT Project Manager

$98K
Moderate matchStable demand

Skills to develop:

Project management certification (e.g., PMP, Agile)Formal project management training

Salary estimates from VWC career data

Hidden Strengths

Cognitive skills your 1B052 training built — and where they transfer.

System Modeling

As a 1B052, you built mental models of complex network systems to understand how different components interact and anticipate potential points of failure, allowing for proactive maintenance and troubleshooting.

This ability to visualize and understand complex systems translates directly to designing efficient workflows, predicting bottlenecks, and implementing solutions in various business environments.

Adversarial Thinking

Your role required you to think like an adversary to identify vulnerabilities in systems and networks, developing tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) to defend against potential cyberattacks.

This skill in anticipating threats and thinking strategically from an opposing viewpoint is invaluable for risk management, competitive analysis, and strategic planning in any organization.

Procedural Compliance

You rigorously adhered to national, DoD, and Air Force security policies and directives, ensuring that all systems and operations were compliant with established regulations and standards.

Your experience with strict procedural compliance makes you highly valuable in regulated industries where adherence to standards is paramount. You understand the importance of following protocols and maintaining accurate documentation.

Degraded-Mode Operations

You developed, tested, and implemented local restoral and contingency operations plans, enabling you to maintain critical systems functionality even in the face of outages and disruptions.

This experience in maintaining operations under pressure and implementing backup plans makes you highly adaptable and resourceful in crisis situations, a valuable asset for any organization facing unexpected challenges.

After-Action Analysis

You investigated problems in database environments, isolated faults by validating and correcting them, and verified service restoral with customers, ensuring continuous system operability.

Your ability to analyze system failures, identify root causes, and implement corrective actions is a valuable skill for continuous improvement and problem-solving in any environment.

Non-Obvious Career Matches

Business Continuity Planner

SOC 13-1199.00

You've been developing and implementing contingency plans for network outages, so you already know how to minimize disruptions and ensure business operations continue smoothly during unexpected events. Your system modeling skills help you anticipate risks, and your experience with degraded-mode operations prepares you to handle crises effectively.

Compliance Officer

SOC 13-1041.00

You've enforced national, DoD, and Air Force security policies, so you're well-versed in regulatory compliance. Your procedural compliance skills make you an ideal candidate to develop and implement compliance programs, ensuring the organization adheres to all relevant laws and regulations.

Penetration Tester

SOC 15-1299.00

You've identified and exploited vulnerabilities in networks to defend against cyberattacks. Your adversarial thinking and system modeling skills will be invaluable in simulating attacks and identifying weaknesses in an organization's security posture.

IT Risk Manager

SOC 11-3021.00

You've performed strategic and budget planning for networks, so you understand how to assess and mitigate risks to IT systems. Your system modeling and adversarial thinking skills will enable you to identify potential threats, analyze vulnerabilities, and develop effective risk management strategies.

Training & Education Equivalencies

Cyber Systems Operations Initial Skills Training, Keesler AFB, MS

672 training hours16 weeksUp to 9 semester hours recommended in Information Technology, Networking, and Cybersecurity

Topics Covered

  • Server Administration (Windows & Linux)
  • Networking Fundamentals
  • Scripting (PowerShell, Python)
  • Cybersecurity Principles & Practices
  • Database Administration
  • Virtualization Technologies
  • System Hardening & Security Patching
  • Incident Response

Certification Pathways

Partial Coverage

CompTIA Security+70% covered

Review specific exam objectives related to cryptography, risk management, and security governance. Familiarize yourself with the latest threat intelligence and vulnerability management practices.

Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate60% covered

Focus on Azure-specific tools and services, including virtual machines, storage, networking, and security. Study Azure Resource Manager, PowerShell scripting for Azure, and Azure governance policies.

AWS Certified SysOps Administrator – Associate50% covered

Gain practical experience with AWS services like EC2, S3, VPC, IAM, and CloudWatch. Study AWS deployment and management tools, including CloudFormation and OpsWorks.

Recommended Next Certifications

Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)Project Management Professional (PMP)ITIL 4 FoundationCertified Ethical Hacker (CEH)

Technical Systems Translation

Military systems you've used and their civilian equivalents for your resume.

Military SystemCivilian Equivalent
Domain Name System (DNS)Cloudflare, Akamai, or other DNS services
Storage Area Network (SAN)Dell EMC, NetApp, or other enterprise storage solutions
Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)Entrust, DigiCert, or other digital certificate management systems
Group Policy Objects (GPO)Active Directory Group Policy, Chef, or Puppet configuration management tools
Information Assurance Vulnerability Alerts (IAVA)Security vulnerability databases and alert services such as those provided by NIST, CVE, and security vendors.
Combat Information Transport System (CITS)Enterprise network infrastructure using Cisco, Juniper, or similar networking equipment.
Time Compliance Network Order (TCNO)Security patching and configuration management using tools like SCCM, Ansible, or Puppet.
Classified Message Incidents (CMIs)Data loss prevention (DLP) and incident response systems like those from Symantec or McAfee.

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