Launch Your Career: Internship Opportunities at Air Force Bases

Internships at Air Force Bases offer invaluable opportunities for students and graduates to gain hands-on experience, contribute to the nation's defense, and potentially secure full-time employment. These programs provide a pathway to rewarding careers within the Air Force Civilian Service (AFCS) and the Department of Defense (DoD). They provide a collaborative workplace that values professional growth and experience.

Gaining Real-World Experience

As an Air Force Civilian Service (AFCS) Intern, you'll make an impact from day one. Interns work side by side with men and women in uniform and civilians, gaining invaluable hands-on experience in their chosen field. This experience equips them with the insight, know-how, and ability to succeed and excel in the future. Interns play a critical role supporting our warfighters by ensuring our military remains mission-ready and the tip of the spear stays as sharp as it can be.

Premier College Intern Program (PCIP)

AFCS's full-time PCIP prepares college students for a number of promising career fields within AFCS, including Science and Engineering, Cybersecurity, IT, Acquisition, and other mission-critical specialty positions. Over the 10 to 12 week paid summer internship, you'll work side by side with current AFCS and military professionals, gaining invaluable hands-on experience and making tangible contributions to real-world projects in support of the Department of the Air Force and its critical mission. We'll help you tap into your creativity and ambition to tackle challenges, both known and unforeseen.

Following college graduation and completion of PCIP, you may qualify for a full-time, paid position within one of AFCS's comprehensive training programs, where you'll further hone your expertise and specialized skillsets through either PALACE ACQUIRE (PAQ), which prepares students for a wide range of careers from Science and Engineering to Cyber and IT, or COPPER CAP (COP), which readies students to become Contract (procurement) Specialists. Once the program is successfully completed, you'll be placed into a professional-level position at AFCS, where you'll receive federal health and retirement benefits, tuition assistance toward a graduate degree while in the PAQ Program, repayment of student loans for those who qualify, and a generous Recruitment Bonus for certain positions. The Premier College Intern Program will ensure you're ready when it arrives.

Benefits of Internships

Air Force Base internships offer a comprehensive package that extends beyond just work experience. As a paid, full-time intern, you’ll be eligible for tuition assistance, student loan repayment, paid post-graduate studies, an attractive sign-on bonus for certain positions, as well as competitive compensation and other generous perks like federal health insurance, federal retirement benefits, and paid federal holidays. Upon completion of your internship, you may qualify for a permanent, full-time position supporting the warfighter by ensuring the Department of the Air Force is lethal and mission-ready.

Air Force Test Center (AFTC) Internship Programs

Every summer since 2018, the Air Force Test Center has hosted a variety of internship programs for students 18 years old and up. AFTC executive director, Dr. Eileen Bjorkman said, "Intern programs are a great recruiting tool, and they help us to hire the right college graduates. First of all, the intern programs help us reach college students who might otherwise not be aware of the exciting opportunities we have in the Air Force Test Center.

Katherine Ficklin, AFTC S&E Talent Acquisition manager, said, “I have over five years of experience working with the Force Renewal Programs in Air Force Life Cycle Management Center and Air Force Sustainment Center. I am responsible for acting as the liaison between AFTC organizations, interns, and Air Force Personnel Center/Air Force Material Command S&E Career Field Team Program Offices,” “The best part of the job for me is recruiting the best and the brightest S&E candidates to fill AFTC’s pipeline to ensure we are providing warfighters quality products, at or below cost in a timely manner,” said Ficklin. “Being able to follow the career of interns from recruiting all the way to becoming a PM or Supervisor.

One former intern, Brunet, shared his experience at the 772nd Test Squadron Benefield Anechoic Facility: “At the 772nd Test Squadron Benefield Anechoic Facility, I worked several projects relating to our antenna patterns and radar target simulator capabilities. These included developing software for instrument automation, characterizing new equipment, and leading an effort to evaluate and upgrade our polarimetry system,” “My favorite experience as an intern has probably been the opportunity to work with our radar target generator, ARES. This capability allows us to simulate a target for a radar so that the radar can be tested without having to actually fly the plane around."

Opportunities at Tinker Air Force Base

The 76th Software Engineering Group (SWEG) at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City offers engineering and computer science internships. The 76 SWEG is the largest engineering organization on Tinker Air Force Base and is responsible for software design, development, integration, and sustainment of many of the Air Force’s Mission Critical Computer resources.

The SWEG Summer Internship provides an opportunity for current students to gain engineering experience during a 10-12 week summer program or opportunities may exist for part-time semester work, following summer internships, and/or conversion to full-time employment after graduation. In addition to completion of a 3-month internship experience, PCIP may qualify you for a future spot in the Palace Acquire Program (PAQ). Students in PAQ receive funding for the full-time pursuit of a technical Master’s degree while collecting a salary for full-time employment.

Read also: Interning with the US Air Force

SMART Program

The SMART Program provides science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students with the tools needed to pursue higher education and begin a career with the DoD. With a full scholarship, students pursuing STEM degrees will be able to focus on complex research to further the DoD’s mission and create lasting impact.

SMART is a one-for-one commitment; for every year of degree funding, the scholar commits to working for a year with the Department of Defense (DoD) as a civilian employee. Summer internships prepare scholars for full-time employment and get them accustomed to working with the DoD.

Workforce Recruitment Program (WRP)

AFCS is a champion of persons with disabilities. The Workforce Recruitment Program (WRP) is a federal program connecting employers with qualified candidates with disabilities for temporary employment and potentially permanent positions. The program provides invaluable federal work experience to those who qualify, offering the potential of securing permanent positions upon completion of the program.

The Air Force and Space Force seeks to build upon the strengths and abilities of all individuals to create a workforce that’s capable and passionate about public service. Which is why we’ve partnered with the Department of Labor and the Department of Defense to implement the WRP. The WRP's goal is to recruit, train, and retain persons with disabilities in the federal workforce. If you’re a student or recent graduate with a disability, you know better than most just how much you have to contribute - if only given the chance. You’ll be encouraged to know that you’re not alone in your determination to overcome challenges. The Air Force Civilian Service shares your commitment to ensuring that disability is never a barrier to success.

To apply for the WRP, you typically need:

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Your college or university must be participating in the WRP program.
Proof of disability/Schedule A Memorandum.
Resume and transcript(s) to support experience and education as appropriate.

AFCS: Behind the Mission

AFCS provides much of the muscle behind the might of the Department of the Air Force (DAF). We launch rockets, oversee and maintain the nation’s constellation of Global Positioning Satellites (GPS), guard the country from cyberattacks, and do whatever it takes to maintain the supremacy of the Air Force and Space Force in air, space, and cyberspace. Whether it’s conducting cutting-edge research in the world’s most sophisticated labs, maintaining the equipment and infrastructure that allows the Air Force and Space Force to be ready at a moment’s notice, ensuring the health and wellbeing of warfighters and their families, or training them to achieve the next level of proficiency - behind every mission, every milestone, every Airman, and every Guardian, there’s someone like you.

Boeing and Air Force Partnerships

Boeing is more than airplanes, more than satellites, and more than cutting-edge cyber solutions. Boeing works together with advanced technology on projects for the defense and intelligence communities. Electrical engineers work closely with our customers to develop electronic and electrical systems for Boeing aircraft, and world-class autonomous robotic systems for space, terrestrial, and underwater hardware.

Discover how you can make a difference at Boeing as an industrial engineer, a product security engineer or a test and evaluation engineer. Boeing HR professionals support our employees as they manage their career path, develop their teams and chart the course for career development. As a software engineer at Boeing your code will power products that defy gravity and fly faster than the speed of sound.

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