New Air Force Plan: Just 7 Aircraft Maintenance AFSCs

A new Air Force memo lays out how the service aims to condense its list of more than 50 aircraft maintenance job specialties down to seven, starting in 2027.

In a memo dated Jan. 24, maintenance career field managers at Headquarters Air Force said the change will focus younger maintainers on entry-level tasks and free up experienced hands for more technical work. The memo was leaked on the unofficial Facebook page Air Force amn/nco/snco, and an Air Force spokesperson confirmed it was authentic.

“An in-depth analysis confirmed what many of you already know: as maintainers, a small number of our tasks consume the majority of our time,” wrote Chief Master Sgts. Abbi G. Cabeen, Joseph L. Hicks, and Timothy M. Wells, who manage the avionics, aircraft systems, and crew chief career fields, respectively.

“The future force design leverages this and trains early-career Airmen on our most common tasks, which will free up experienced Airmen to focus on tasks that require substantial expertise,” they wrote.

Under the new plan, junior enlisted Airmen will start out in a generalist track, a single Air Force Specialty Code (AFSC) where they will be trained “on the most common maintenance competencies and be charged with applying them across multiple airframes,” according to the memo.

Those common tasks include launching, recovering, and fueling aircraft, but Airmen will also be exposed to more specific skills in the generalized track.

Once Airmen reach the rank of Senior Airman and are preparing to become noncommissioned officers, they will become a specialist in one of six areas: 

1. Avionics and Electrical, which combines avionics with the electrical side of the Environmental and Electrical (E&E) specialty
2. Aerospace Ground Equipment, which will look the same as it does now
3. Advanced Mechanical, which combines crew chiefs, fuels, hydraulics, and the flight line side of engine maintenance
4. Crew Support Systems, which combines ejection seat systems with the environmental side of E&E
5. Fabrication, which combines aircraft structural maintenance, aircraft metals technology, and nondestructive inspection.
6. Intermediate-level engines, for maintainers dedicated to intermediate-level engine maintenance.

The specialties would not be tied to an airframe, which the memo said will allow “for more assignments and development opportunities for ALL 2A Airmen.” 2A is the general term for aircraft maintenance AFSCs. There are about 86,000 2A aircraft maintainers across the service, according to 2024 data.

Airmen will stay in a specialized track through the rank of technical sergeant, at which point they can apply for the “highly selective” technical track, where Airmen become “THE nose to tail cross-functional expert” on a given airframe. Selectees would pick up skills from all six specialties and focus on just one airframe.

Alternatively, technical sergeants can stay in a specialist track until they reach master sergeant, where they switch to the leadership track providing institutional and functional oversight. Airmen can stay in the technical or leadership track through the rest of their careers, or they could switch between the two tracks.