I’m not sure if you are joking. “E-3 AWACS” radar operators. They were mostly senior master sergeants, and the most senior AWACS operators in the Air Force. I met them at in a formal setting at Tinker, in a closed area, not a bar in Oklahoma City. (I like Oklahoma City, and it actually has some nice bars.) I think you have to be an E-4 before you are even qualified to have a seat on an E-3 AWACS.
Inserting AWACS fixes it for me.
“They were mostly senior master sergeants”
OK. When I saw “E-3” I thought enlisted pay grade E-3.
“you have to be an E-4 before you are even qualified to have a seat”
Absolutely. And the associated schools and training.