Prior to 2009, the Air Force Specialty Codes (AFSCs) for Ground Radar and Airfield Systems were 2E0X1 AND 2E1X2 respectively. Those were changed in November of that year to 3D1X5 and 3D1X6 as part of the newly established Cyberspace Support Career Field, along with a variety of seemingly disparate specialties including Cable and Antenna Systems (3D1X7) and Knowledge Operations Management (3D0X2). The likely reason for the catch-all flavor of the careers placed in Cyberspace Support is that the Air Force probably felt it was playing catch-up, and that specialties that didn’t belong in the new field could be moved at a later date.
That’s precisely what happened five years later to the month when Ground Radar Systems and Airfield Systems were given their current 1C8 designations in CC Systems Operations. Both specialties fit much more naturally into that Career Field, and the similarities in the technologies and training between the two is revealed in their AFSCs—they are the only two codes in their Career Field that share the same career subdivision number.
So the announcement that the two specialties would merge in November, 2017 to form on AFSC did not come as a huge surprise. Even before the merger was made official, the two specialties served as “feeders” for the C1890 Superintendent position once they reached the rank of Senior Master Sergeant.
The newly merged position offers advantages for both the Airmen in those specialties as well as the Air Force as a whole. A wider range of skills means each Airmen will be suited for deployment to a greater variety of positions or locations, while simultaneously enhancing their employment opportunities in the private sector when they service in the Air Force comes to an end.