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24E Career Guide

Army

24E: HAWK Fire Control Maintenance Technician

Career transition guide for Army HAWK Fire Control Maintenance Technician (24E)

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Tech Roles You Could Aim For

Real industry tech roles your 24E background maps to — picked from BLS-anchored occupations using your training, cognitive skills, and systems experience.

Site Reliability Engineer

DevOps / Platform

SOC 15-1244
High match

Your experience maintaining complex systems like the HAWK missile system, including troubleshooting and degraded-mode operations, directly translates to the responsibilities of a Site Reliability Engineer. Your familiarity with Battery Control Central, Pulse Acquisition Radar, and Information Coordination Central reflects experience with distributed systems. Learn cloud computing and infrastructure-as-code, and you'll be well-prepared.

Typical stack:

LinuxOne scripting language (Python or Go)Observability stack (Prometheus, Grafana, OpenTelemetry)Incident response practicesCloud platform basics

DevOps Engineer

DevOps / Platform

SOC 15-1244
Good match

As a HAWK Fire Control Maintenance Technician, you've developed skills in system modeling and procedural compliance. These skills are valuable in DevOps, where automation, continuous integration, and continuous deployment are key. Your work with radar and engagement simulator equipment also gives you a foundation in understanding complex, integrated systems.

Typical stack:

CI/CD tooling (GitHub Actions, GitLab, Jenkins)Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, Pulumi)Containers (Docker, Kubernetes)Cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure)Linux

Security Engineer

Security

SOC 15-1212
Moderate match

Maintaining HAWK fire control systems required you to adhere to strict protocols and maintain situational awareness. This mindset is crucial in security. Your experience with electronic troubleshooting also translates to identifying and resolving security vulnerabilities. Learning cybersecurity fundamentals and tools would be the next step.

Typical stack:

Networking and OS internalsCryptography fundamentalsThreat modelingCloud security (IAM, VPC)Code review for security

Systems Administrator

Infrastructure

SOC 15-1244
Good match

Your experience maintaining HAWK systems, including Battery Control Central and radar equipment, provides a solid foundation for systems administration. Your training in electronic troubleshooting and PMCS aligns with the responsibilities of a systems administrator, who ensures systems are running efficiently and resolves issues. Learning scripting and server management will be helpful.

Typical stack:

Linux and/or Windows ServerScripting (Bash, PowerShell, Python)Backup and DR practicesMonitoringPatch management

Skills You Already Have

Concrete bridges from 24E experience to tech-industry practice.

  • System ModelingUnderstanding complex system architectures and dependencies, essential for DevOps and SRE roles.
  • Procedural ComplianceAdhering to strict protocols and regulations, crucial for maintaining system integrity and security.
  • Degraded-Mode OperationsTroubleshooting and maintaining system functionality under pressure, vital for incident response and system resilience.
  • Situational AwarenessMonitoring systems and environments to anticipate problems and ensure optimal performance.
  • Electronic TroubleshootingDiagnosing and resolving hardware and software issues, applicable to both system administration and security roles.

Skills to Learn

The concrete gap to bridge — specific to the roles above, not generic.

Cloud Computing (AWS, Azure, or GCP)Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, Ansible)Containerization (Docker, Kubernetes)CI/CD Pipelines (Jenkins, GitLab CI)Cybersecurity Fundamentals (CompTIA Security+, CISSP)Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) toolsScripting (Python, Bash)Server Management (Linux, Windows Server)

How VWC fits

Vets Who Code accelerates the parts we teach — software engineering fundamentals, web development, AI tooling. For everything else above, the path is doable independently with the resources we link to.

See VWC Programs

Civilian Career Pathways

Top civilian roles for 24E veterans, with average salary and market demand data.

Avionics Technician

$75K
High matchHigh demand

Electronics Engineering Technician

$70K
Good matchGrowing demand

Skills to develop:

CAD SoftwareCircuit Design

Field Service Technician

$65K
Good matchHigh demand

Skills to develop:

Specific product knowledge (e.g., industrial machinery, medical equipment)

Quality Control Inspector

$55K
Moderate matchStable demand

Skills to develop:

Lean Six Sigma CertificationQuality Control Methodologies

Technical Trainer

$68K
Moderate matchGrowing demand

Skills to develop:

Instructional DesignAdult Learning PrinciplesCurriculum Development

Salary estimates from VWC career data

Hidden Strengths

Cognitive skills your 24E training built — and where they transfer.

System Modeling

Diagnosing malfunctions in complex HAWK fire control systems requires understanding the system's architecture and how its components interact to predict the impact of failures and isolate root causes.

The ability to understand and predict how interconnected components function together allows you to troubleshoot and optimize complex systems.

Procedural Compliance

Maintaining HAWK systems demands strict adherence to detailed maintenance procedures, technical manuals, and safety protocols to ensure proper operation and prevent accidents.

Your meticulous adherence to established protocols ensures quality, safety, and efficiency in any regulated environment.

Degraded-Mode Operations

You maintain system functionality even when components fail or under stressful conditions.

Your ability to troubleshoot, adapt, and maintain operational effectiveness under pressure translates to resilience and problem-solving in challenging situations.

Situational Awareness

As a supervisor, you are constantly monitoring the status of equipment, the progress of maintenance tasks, and the readiness of your team, requiring a keen awareness of the overall operational environment.

Constant monitoring of your environment, team and equipment allows you to anticipate problems and maintain high levels of productivity.

Non-Obvious Career Matches

Robotics Technician

SOC 49-9062.00

You've been working with sophisticated electromechanical systems for years. Robotics combines mechanics, electronics, and programming, allowing you to leverage your troubleshooting and maintenance skills in a cutting-edge industry.

Industrial Machinery Mechanic

SOC 49-9041.00

You've honed your skills in diagnosing and repairing complex systems. In this role, you'll maintain and repair industrial machinery, using your technical expertise to keep production lines running smoothly.

Quality Control Analyst

SOC 19-4041.00

You have a proven track record of following procedures and protocols. As a Quality Control Analyst you will be inspecting and analyzing products to make sure they are up to quality standards.

Training & Education Equivalencies

HAWK Fire Control System Maintenance Course, Fort Sill, OK

840 training hours21 weeksUp to 9 semester hours recommended in electronics technology

Topics Covered

  • HAWK missile system overview
  • Battery Control Central maintenance
  • Pulse Acquisition Radar maintenance
  • Range Only Radar maintenance
  • Information Coordination Central maintenance
  • Engagement Simulator maintenance
  • Electronic troubleshooting
  • Preventive Maintenance Checks and Services (PMCS)

Certification Pathways

Partial Coverage

CompTIA A+60% covered

Study current PC hardware, operating systems, and troubleshooting techniques not specific to HAWK systems.

CompTIA Network+50% covered

Focus on modern networking protocols, topologies, and security concepts beyond those used in the HAWK system.

Certified Electronics Technician (CET)70% covered

General electronics troubleshooting, components, and industry best practices outside of HAWK specific training.

Recommended Next Certifications

CompTIA Security+Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)Project Management Professional (PMP)

Technical Systems Translation

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

Military SystemCivilian Equivalent
HAWK (Homing All the Way Killer) Missile SystemSurface-to-air missile system maintenance and repair
HAWK Fire Control EquipmentRadar and target tracking systems maintenance
HAWK Battery Control CentralCentralized control systems for defense systems
Pulse Acquisition Radar (PAR)Long-range radar systems for surveillance
Range-Only Radar (ROR)Distance measurement radar technology
Information Coordination Central (ICC)Data fusion and information management systems
Radar Engagement Simulator EquipmentSimulated radar environments for training and testing

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