ET Career Guide
ET: Electronics Technician
Career transition guide for Navy Electronics Technician (ET)
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Real industry tech roles your ET background maps to — picked from BLS-anchored occupations using your training, cognitive skills, and systems experience.
Network Engineer
Infrastructure
Your experience maintaining and repairing electronic equipment for communication, cryptography, and navigation systems directly translates to network engineering. Your training in RF communications and troubleshooting techniques are highly relevant. You've worked on systems like the Navy Standard Telecommunications Program (NSTP), which has civilian equivalents in enterprise-level telecommunications management systems.
Typical stack:
Security Engineer
Security
Your work with cryptographic equipment (KG-84, KIV-7) gives you a solid foundation in security principles. Your experience troubleshooting and repairing electronic systems helps with identifying and mitigating security vulnerabilities. The Navy's focus on secure communication aligns with the responsibilities of a security engineer.
Typical stack:
Systems Administrator
Infrastructure
Your experience maintaining electronic equipment and troubleshooting malfunctions is directly applicable to systems administration. You have experience using test equipment and hand tools, and can repair electrical/electronic cables and connectors. This background will allow you to effectively manage and maintain computer systems and networks.
Typical stack:
Embedded Software Engineer
Engineering
Your background in microprocessors, digital logic circuits, and radar systems provides a solid foundation for embedded systems. Your systems thinking from a hardware perspective translates well to understanding how software interacts with hardware in embedded systems.
Typical stack:
Skills You Already Have
Concrete bridges from ET experience to tech-industry practice.
- Electronic Troubleshooting→ Problem Diagnosis
- Schematic Interpretation→ Code Comprehension
- RF Communications→ Networking Protocols
- Radar Systems→ Signal Processing
- Procedural Compliance→ Change Management
- System Modeling→ Systems Thinking
- Cryptographic Equipment (e.g., KG-84, KIV-7)→ Hardware Security Modules (HSMs) and encryption appliances
Skills to Learn
The concrete gap to bridge — specific to the roles above, not generic.
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 ProgramsCivilian Career Pathways
Top civilian roles for ET veterans, with average salary and market demand data.
Electronics Technician
Avionics Technician
Skills to develop:
Field Service Technician
Skills to develop:
Marine Electrician
Skills to develop:
Wind Turbine Technician
Skills to develop:
Salary estimates from VWC career data
Hidden Strengths
Cognitive skills your ET training built — and where they transfer.
System Modeling
Understanding complex electronic systems including radar, communications, and navigation equipment at the component level
Deep hardware-level systems thinking — applicable to electronics engineering, telecommunications, and embedded systems development
Pattern Recognition
Diagnosing electronic faults through oscilloscope analysis, signal tracing, and recognizing failure patterns across multiple systems
Electronic troubleshooting from signal-level indicators — valued in test engineering, quality assurance, and field service
Procedural Compliance
Following strict maintenance procedures, calibration standards, and safety protocols for high-voltage and radiation-emitting equipment
Operating in safety-critical technical environments — transfers to medical equipment, telecommunications, and industrial electronics
Degraded-Mode Operations
Maintaining radar and communications systems at sea with limited spare parts and no shore-based support
Independent technical problem-solving in isolated environments — the field engineering mindset behind remote site support and managed services
Non-Obvious Career Matches
Biomedical Equipment Technician
SOC 49-9062Your electronics diagnostic skills and safety discipline transfer directly to medical equipment maintenance — where the same attention to detail saves lives instead of ships.
Automation Engineer
SOC 17-2199Your understanding of sensors, control systems, and electronic integration gives you a foundation for industrial automation — programming PLCs and designing control systems.
Semiconductor Test Engineer
SOC 17-2072Your signal analysis skills, oscilloscope proficiency, and systematic troubleshooting methodology apply directly to semiconductor testing and validation.
Training & Education Equivalencies
Electronics Technician (ET) 'A' School, Naval Station Great Lakes, IL
Topics Covered
- •Basic Electronics Theory
- •Digital Logic Circuits
- •Microprocessors
- •Troubleshooting Techniques
- •Electronic Test Equipment Operation
- •Radio Frequency (RF) Communications
- •Radar Systems
- •Navigation Equipment Maintenance
Certification Pathways
Partial Coverage
Commercial standards, FCC regulations, and consumer electronics repair
Commercial operating systems, mobile devices, and printer troubleshooting
Recommended Next Certifications
Technical Systems Translation
Military systems you've used and their civilian equivalents for your resume.
| Military System | Civilian Equivalent |
|---|---|
| AN/SPS-48 Radar | Airport Surveillance Radar (ASR) |
| AN/SPS-49 Radar | Long-range air surveillance radar systems |
| AN/URN-25 Tactical Air Navigation (TACAN) | Commercial aviation VOR/DME navigation systems |
| Global Command and Control System - Maritime (GCCS-M) | Maritime domain awareness software platforms |
| Navy Standard Telecommunications Program (NSTP) | Enterprise-level telecommunications management systems |
| AN/USQ-143 Naval Modular Automated Communications System (NAVMACS) | Automated message handling systems for secure communication |
| Cryptographic Equipment (e.g., KG-84, KIV-7) | Hardware Security Modules (HSMs) and encryption appliances |
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