As a "contracting officer," you will likley be assigned to a base-level office where you will be entered into a training program for about two years. During these two years, you will learn the ropes of the career by actually DOING the jobs that the airmen, NCOs and civilians perform as purchasing agents and contract administrators. You'll get a desk, a pencil and a phone.
On the "outside", people who function as "contracting officers" for businesses often have law degrees. However, within the government (Air Force), you don't. The entry requirements are that you DO need (straight from the AFPC guide on entry requirements for the contracting "64P" AFSC):
3. Specialty Qualifications:
3.1. Knowledge. Knowledge is mandatory of contracting process fundamentals, federal acquisition and contracting directives and publications, budgeting and funding procedures, and contract pricing.
3.2. Education. The following education is required for entry into this specialty: a baccalaureate degree with a minimum of 24 semester credit hours (or the equivalent) of study from an accredited institution of higher education in any of the following disciplines is mandatory: accounting, business finance, law, contracts, purchasing economics, industrial management, marketing, quantitative methods, and organization and management.
3.3. Training. For award of AFSC 64P3, it is mandatory to complete a basic central system or operational level contracting officer course, and Principles of Contract Pricing course, or completion of the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) Master of Science Program in Contracting Management.
3.4. Experience. For award of AFSC 64P3, a minimum of 12 months of experience in contracting assignments is mandatory. Also, experience in functions such as determining applicable methods of contracting; developing invitations for bids and requests for proposals; evaluating bids and proposals; and awarding, administering, and terminating contracts.
So you can see, you'll have a lot to learn before becoming competent in the ways of Air Force contracting. You will attend a 5-week course shortly after your 60-days of leave where you will get the big-picture view of the career field, and then over the next two years, you will be sent to training courses (from 2-3 weeks long each) learning contract law, contract pricing, and contract administration.
Once you are done with your training (about the time you make first lieutenant, you will likely take over as a branch chief of one of the contracting areas (commodities, services and construction).
Typical workday? 7am-ish to 5pm-ism - varies by office - Monday thru Friday
Deployments? As with any AFSC, expect to go at least once in your first tour. You will be going TDY more for training than anything else in your first couple of years.
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Contracting is a proffessional business career field that involves obligating government funds. There are 17 different types- of which you will learn 3 as an introductory assignment. A "contracting officer" is not acheived until after intial training and experience at which point you my be granted a warrant. The "contracting officer" title is only to those military and civilian individuals who have been deemed educated, experienced, and responsible enough to be given a warrant and sign contracts. In order to get there, you begin as a contract specialist in which you are the buyer of multiple ites. In the beginning it may be office, medical, or base supplies, eventually learning how to purchase and negotiate/monitor service contracts (by now you may be a contract manager) or you may work with the construction branch in renovations etc for the base. This is called operational contracting which is located at nearly every base. You will learn to price out items, do market research, find the best value for the government, negotiate, write and modify contracts, and manage contractor performance just in the first few years of this career field.
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