Marines · 6048
Your Flight Equipment Technician experience maps to civilian jobs like Aircraft Mechanics and Service Technicians and Maintenance and Repair Workers, General—and well beyond. Explore the specific roles below, see what each pays and requires, and build from there.
The federal crosswalk lists only a broad “Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Workers, All Other” bucket for 6048—so here are the specific civilian roles Flight Equipment Technician experience genuinely maps to. See what each involves, what it pays, and why it fits.
$75,020/yr mediantypical $46k–$115k~138K U.S. jobs
Typical entry: Associate degree, apprenticeship, or vocational training
Diagnose, adjust, repair, or overhaul aircraft engines and assemblies, such as hydraulic and pneumatic systems.
Why it fits: Inspecting and maintaining flight and survival equipment maps to aircraft maintenance.
$46,700/yr mediantypical $31k–$73k~1.5M U.S. jobs
★ Bright Outlook — many openings
Typical entry: Associate degree, apprenticeship, or vocational training
Perform work involving the skills of two or more maintenance or craft occupations to keep machines, mechanical equipment, or the structure of a building in repair.
Why it fits: Equipment repair and upkeep map to general maintenance and repair.
$45,850/yr mediantypical $32k–$72k~585K U.S. jobs
Typical entry: High-school diploma plus short on-the-job training
Inspect, test, sort, sample, or weigh nonagricultural raw materials or processed, machined, fabricated, or assembled parts or products for defects, wear, and deviations from specifications.
Why it fits: Life-critical inspection transfers to quality inspection.
$70,100/yr mediantypical $39k–$105k~48K U.S. jobs
Typical entry: Associate degree, apprenticeship, or vocational training
Install, repair, and maintain mechanical regulating and controlling devices, such as electric meters, gas regulators, thermostats, safety and flow valves, and other mechanical governors.
Why it fits: Precision assembly supports control and valve repair.
$61,240/yr mediantypical $40k–$93k~30K U.S. jobs
Typical entry: High-school diploma plus short on-the-job training
Assemble, fit, fasten, and install parts of airplanes, space vehicles, or missiles, such as tails, wings, fuselage, bulkheads, stabilizers, landing gear, rigging and control equipment, or heating…
Why it fits: Closely related to your Flight Equipment Technician occupations on the manufacturing & production side—a natural next step.
$77,420/yr mediantypical $47k–$107k~21K U.S. jobs
★ Bright Outlook — Rapid growth
Typical entry: Associate degree, apprenticeship, or vocational training
Install, inspect, test, adjust, or repair avionics equipment, such as radar, radio, navigation, and missile control systems in aircraft or space vehicles.
Why it fits: Closely related to your Flight Equipment Technician occupations on the maintenance, repair & installation side—a natural next step.
$39,110/yr mediantypical $32k–$54k~25K U.S. jobs
★ Bright Outlook — Rapid growth
Typical entry: High-school diploma plus short on-the-job training
Service aircraft with fuel. May de-ice aircraft, refill water and cooling agents, empty sewage tanks, service air and oxygen systems, or clean and polish exterior.
Why it fits: Closely related to your Flight Equipment Technician occupations on the transportation & logistics side—a natural next step.
$50,270/yr mediantypical $36k–$72k~48K U.S. jobs
Typical entry: High-school diploma plus short on-the-job training
Construct, assemble, or rebuild machines, such as engines, turbines, and similar equipment used in such industries as construction, extraction, textiles, and paper manufacturing.
Why it fits: Closely related to your Flight Equipment Technician occupations on the manufacturing & production side—a natural next step.
$77,830/yr mediantypical $50k–$114k~11K U.S. jobs
★ Bright Outlook — Rapid growth
Typical entry: Associate degree, apprenticeship, or vocational training
Operate, install, adjust, and maintain integrated computer/communications systems, consoles, simulators, and other data acquisition, test, and measurement instruments and equipment, which are used…
Why it fits: Closely related to your Flight Equipment Technician occupations on the engineering & technical design side—a natural next step.
$49,990/yr mediantypical $35k–$74k~23K U.S. jobs
★ Bright Outlook — Rapid growth
Typical entry: Associate degree, apprenticeship, or vocational training
Repair and adjust electrical and mechanical equipment of inboard or inboard-outboard boat engines.
Why it fits: Closely related to your Flight Equipment Technician occupations on the maintenance, repair & installation side—a natural next step.
Roles selected from the O*NET occupations that fit Flight Equipment Technician experience; the Department of Labor's own crosswalk lists only the broad “Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Workers, All Other” category for this code. Pay is BLS OEWS (May 2023). See the O*NET crosswalk.
Use the level that reflects what you actually did—not rank alone. Two people with the same code and very different experience should not submit the same résumé.
Lead with hands-on tasks, tools, equipment, qualifications, safety discipline, and the conditions in which you performed. Do not inflate supervisory scope.
Add team leadership, training, inspections, work allocation, quality control, readiness, and the people or assets you directly supervised.
Emphasize multi-team operations, schedules, resource forecasting, safety systems, policy enforcement, advising leaders, and organization-level results.
A translated title isn't enough. These four moves turn Flight Equipment Technician experience into evidence a civilian hiring manager can act on.
List the systems, vehicles, equipment, and tools you personally operated as Flight Equipment Technician—plus qualifications, certifications, and the recurring high-stakes tasks you owned.
Marines led, dollar value of equipment you were accountable for, workload, readiness rates, and safety or quality outcomes. Scope beats adjectives.
For any target role, name the license, degree, or software it requires and start now—your GI Bill and credentialing assistance can cover most of it.
Recruiters rarely search “6048.” Search job boards by the equipment, skills, and outcomes above as much as by “Flight Equipment Technician.”
You don't have to make this jump alone. These programs exist specifically to move service members into civilian careers—most are free, and several pay you while you train.
Train or intern with a civilian employer during your last ~180 days on active duty—at full military pay.
Earn a paycheck while you train for a trade or technical role; USMAP can credit the military training you already have.
Corporate fellowships and hiring events that place transitioning service members and military spouses.
Free career training and nationally recognized certifications for service members, veterans, and spouses.
VA-funded high-tech training (IT, cyber, data, software) that does not touch your GI Bill entitlement.
Free local career centers plus certification and state-by-state license finders for any field.
Registered apprenticeships in the skilled trades—your discipline is the prerequisite.
Maintenance, logistics, and operations pathways that actively recruit veterans.
How to use this: Treat these as targets, not limits. Your exact duties depend on your assignments, so lead with what you actually did—and remember that regulated careers require their own license, certification, or degree.