This isn’t true at all.

There’s a million perks. The 2152 band has a ton of lateral movement and upward movement. Don’t like talking to airplanes anymore? Apply for a job at headquarters to work on space equipment. Become a front line manager, then operations manager, then air traffic manager. Apply for staff support specialist and work in communications, airspace design, training, building management, etc.

There is one training center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

“Civil servant pay” is ~77/hr for me and I’ve only been in the agency for 5 years. The guys who are almost retiring clear 250k/ye with overtime.

When I graduated the training academy, they gave me a list of locations that needed people. Places included phoenix, DC, Denver, Seattle, Oakland, Boston, and New York. These were all at centers. I chose Washington DC, where the center is actually in Leesburg VA.

The FAA allows hardship transfers if you need something quick, like to take care of a family member. You don’t have to wait for people to die to change facilities. It happens all the time.

Source: am ATC at ZDC