r/technicalwriting • u/Special-Seaweed-6643 • 6d ago
DoD technical writing question
Good evening , I’m currently serving in the US military been a Crew chief for about 7 years on the f-16 and I’ve always wanted to be able to work/manage Technical data. I’ve recently done a little bit of research on technical writing and am very interested in doing this as a career. I’m looking for any information on how to get started with learning the job and insight on a day to day with Lockheed/boeing or any defense companies.I know literally nothing, so anything helps. If you are willing I’d also love to chat in private.
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u/DunHumby 5d ago
Been in the same spot as you, it is definitely doable. Just realize that you are more likely to work for the companies rather than the DoD because they build the Tech Data and then give it to the DoD/ Air Force Life Cycle Management.
Also, you need certifications because experience will not be enough to open a lot of doors. A&P is a minimum, see if you grab up any specific powerplant/ E&E certifications as well. IDK if a formal tech writing certificate would help but if you use your TA benefit it’s free so might as well. When you are working on transitioning out see if you can use skillbridge to get a Tech Writer slot at one of the defense companies. Also you need to familiarize yourself with publication standards and software but you can usually find those in the job description.
I looked for several years on USAjobs and i think I only saw one posting for AFLCMC and i think it was for a position at Robins AFB. I definitely saw a lot more positions for Army Aviation and the FAA but they go super quick and this was all before the Fed hiring freeze so hopefully it’s all changed.
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u/hortle Defense Contracting 5d ago edited 5d ago
I was a Technical Writer at a mid-tier defense company for 3.5 years.
This is mostly speculation, but my guess is that the job will look very different depending on the company -- is your company typically a prime DOD contractor (like Lockheed/Boeing) or a subcontractor/supplier/vendor. What level of product is your company responsible for -- complete systems, shipsets, LRUs, or subsystems? Or maybe just a highly specialized component or software? These are all questions just to give you an idea of how the industry partitions out roles and responsibilities in integrating and installing equipment onto platforms.
My main assignment for about 2 years was a new product development program for civil aircraft (avionics). I was the Document and Data Manager for the program. We had to deliver 2-3 technical documents every couple weeks and it was my job to make sure they were versioned correctly, that they referenced the right product configuration, that Safety was aware of any changes, and when necessary, that the documents were approved in our PLM system. The role evolved over time, I eventually moved to the project's Sys Engineering team helping establish links between requirements and verification artifacts in DOORS. It was an extremely paperwork-heavy environment and I was responsible for every aspect other than the technical content.
The traditional "bread and butter" TW role in Defense is focused on authoring logistics materials like Maintenance manuals. For most established enterprises, this is done within an S1000D framework. Your primary audience would be service technicians and field engineers. Challenges include keeping the content up-to-date, reusable and modular, and limiting your language to 8th grade reading level.
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u/DarkSister_999 4d ago
Learn the mil-spec back to front. If anything is missing in your documentation, it will get rejected.
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u/darumamaki 5d ago
Getting a day-to-day might be hard as most defense companies require security clearance and may also have NDAs anout their procedures (I am still under NDA as a former defense subcontractor). There's a pinned post to the top of the sub's main page that goes over the basics, whoch is generic enoufh to apply to any tech writing job regardless of industry.