Airport Operations Manager
$95K- — FAA Part 139 certification
- — Civil Aviation Regulations knowledge
Navy 6315 (Aircraft Handling Officer). 240 hours of formal training translate to 5 validated civilian career pathways with salary bands of $72K–$95K. Sourced from DoD training data and Lightcast labor signals.
Industry tech roles your 6315 background maps to — picked from BLS-anchored occupations using your training, cognitive skills, and systems experience.
What 6315 training already gave you, and the specific gaps to close — not a generic checklist.
The concrete gap to bridge — specific to the roles above, not a generic checklist.
Vets Who Code is a free, full-time software engineering accelerator for veterans, active duty, and military spouses. We close the fundamentals — terminal, web platform, AI tooling, portfolio projects — so the rest of this list becomes specialization, not square one.
See VWC Programs →Cognitive skills your 6315 training built — and where they transfer in civilian work.
Managing flight operations on a carrier demands instant, critical decisions about which aircraft launch/recover first based on mission needs, fuel levels, and potential emergencies. You’re constantly triaging competing demands under pressure.
Your ability to quickly assess complex situations and determine the most critical priorities translates directly to fast-paced civilian environments where decisions need to be made swiftly and effectively.
Overseeing aircraft handling and support requires a deep understanding of how all the systems interact – from fueling and launching to crash and salvage operations. You see the whole picture and how each part affects the other.
This holistic understanding of complex systems is invaluable in roles where you need to analyze processes, predict outcomes, and optimize performance across interconnected operations.
You're responsible for maximizing the use of limited resources like fuel, personnel, and equipment during flight operations. Ensuring smooth operations with the resources on hand.
Your experience managing resources efficiently under pressure makes you adept at finding innovative solutions to maximize productivity and minimize waste in any organization.
Maintaining complete awareness of all activity on the flight deck is crucial for safety and mission success. You are always scanning, anticipating, and reacting to ensure the smooth flow of operations.
Your heightened situational awareness gives you an edge in dynamic environments. You can anticipate problems, react quickly to changing conditions, and maintain control even in high-pressure situations.
Adjacent civilian roles your training maps to that conventional military-to-civilian advice tends to miss.
You've been orchestrating complex operations in a high-stakes environment, much like a hospital administrator who must coordinate diverse teams and resources to deliver critical patient care. Your experience in rapid prioritization and resource optimization is directly applicable to managing hospital operations efficiently.
Adjacent · MatchYou've been managing the flow of aircraft, fuel, and personnel, much like a supply chain manager who ensures the smooth movement of goods and materials. Your skills in system modeling and resource optimization make you well-suited to managing complex supply chains and logistics operations.
Adjacent · MatchYou've been responsible for aircraft crash and salvage operations and firefighting capabilities, so you have experience coordinating emergency responses. Your situational awareness and rapid prioritization skills are crucial in planning and executing effective emergency response strategies.
Adjacent · MatchUp to 3 semester hours in Aviation Operations Management
The CAM exam focuses on business management, leadership, and safety within aviation organizations. The officer's experience will provide a strong foundation in some areas, but they need to study business and leadership principles, financial management, marketing, and human resources specific to civilian aviation management.
While the officer has experience with safety procedures and firefighting, they will need to study specific OSHA regulations related to general industry, hazard communication standards, and other workplace safety topics not explicitly covered in their military training.
Military systems you operated and their civilian equivalents for your resume.
| Military System | Civilian Equivalent | Domain |
|---|---|---|
| Integrated Launch And Recovery Television Surveillance (ILARTS) | Closed-circuit television (CCTV) surveillance systems with recording and playback capabilities. | Operations |
| Landing Signals Officer (LSO) Platform | Advanced camera and display technology for remote operation of equipment. | Signals |
| Naval Aviation Logistics Command Management Information System (NALCOMIS) | Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) software for tracking maintenance and inventory | Networking |
| Aircraft Launch and Recovery Equipment (ALRE) | Industrial catapult and arresting gear systems | Aviation |
| Aviation Fuel Handling Equipment | Commercial aviation fuel storage and dispensing systems, similar to those used at airports. | Operations |
| Crash and Salvage Equipment (Firefighting) | ARFF (Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting) vehicles | Operations |
Pair this guide with the VWC AI-powered translator: drop in your service record, get back ATS-optimized civilian resume language tuned to the tech roles above.