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Air Force AFSC · Support

61DX Physicist/Nuclear Engineer

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Overview

Physicists and Nuclear Engineers conduct and manage scientific programs and projects that support highly technical operations and intelligence. They provide expertise in areas including lasers, electro-optics, semiconductors, nuclear weapons, and nuclear technology.

Minimum clearance: Secret

Core Skills

  • Laser, electro-optical, and semiconductor research
  • Scientific program budgeting, monitoring, and evaluation

Civilian Career Paths

Career associations are editorial assessments of the cited evidence, not an official crosswalk unless the evidence explicitly says so. O*NET supplies civilian occupation information, not proof of a military match. Related experience does not confer civilian qualifications. Tasks and tools below describe civilian work, not military training.

Physicists

Military experience selecting research methods, performing experiments, interpreting data, and publishing results transfers directly to civilian physics research.

How to prepare: Compare your degree and research experience with openings in your strongest physics specialty to identify suitable applied roles or a doctoral-training route. Independent research positions typically require doctoral training, while some applied roles accept other degree-and-experience combinations.

What the civilian work involves
  • Analyze data from research conducted to detect and measure physical phenomena.
  • Perform complex calculations as part of the analysis and evaluation of data, using computers.
Civilian tools and software (examples)
  • Python
  • C++

Materials Engineers

Experience in the specialty's materials-science research area transfers to laboratory testing and materials-performance analysis.

How to prepare: Build a laboratory test case study connecting your materials research to a product failure or performance question.

What the civilian work involves
  • Analyze product failure data and laboratory test results to determine causes of problems and develop solutions.
  • Conduct or supervise tests on raw materials or finished products to ensure their quality.
Civilian tools and software (examples)
  • Microsoft Excel

Nuclear Engineers

For officers with the N suffix, nuclear technology research and nuclear hardness work overlap with nuclear equipment development.

How to prepare: Develop a design-focused work sample on radiation shielding or nuclear instrumentation to target equipment-development roles.

What the civilian work involves
  • Design or develop nuclear equipment, such as reactor cores, radiation shielding, or associated instrumentation or control mechanisms.
Civilian tools and software (examples)
  • Python
  • C++

Notes & Sources

Evidence for this guidance (4 documents)
  1. DAFOCD, 30 Apr 26: PHYSICIST/NUCLEAR ENGINEER (61DX)

    [1] Specialty Summary section "PHYSICIST/NUCLEAR ENGINEER"; normalized cached text lines 10329-10356; family-level section (61D4, 61D3, 61D1)

    Supports: Laser, electro-optical, and semiconductor research, Scientific program budgeting, monitoring, and evaluation, Physicists (O*NET 19-2012.00), Materials Engineers (O*NET 17-2131.00), Nuclear Engineers (O*NET 17-2161.00)

  2. O*NET: Physicists

    [2] O*NET 30.3 occupational data

    Supports: Physicists (O*NET 19-2012.00)

  3. O*NET: Materials Engineers

    [3] O*NET 30.3 occupational data

    Supports: Materials Engineers (O*NET 17-2131.00)

  4. O*NET: Nuclear Engineers

    [4] O*NET 30.3 occupational data

    Supports: Nuclear Engineers (O*NET 17-2161.00)

Defense contractor jobs for 61DX

Descriptions may be summarized for clarity. Verify all information with your branch career counselor or official military documentation before making career decisions.

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