New technology requires newly trained and skilled people to properly conduct the task at hand. And so it goes with the demand for unmanned aircraft, in fact the Air Force is launching two new training programs, including an experimental one that would turn out up to 1,100 pilots to fly the drones over Iraq and Afghanistan. Predators are playing a crucial role on the battlefields in Iraq and Afghanistan, providing real-time surveillance video to troops on the ground, targeting and firing Hellfire anti-tank missiles at militants, and locating enemy efforts to plant roadside bombs. In this image provided by the U.S. Air Force, Capt. Richard Koll, left, and Airman 1st Class Mike Eulo
As many as 700 Air Force personnel have expressed some interest in the test program, which will create a new brand of pilot for the drones that are flown by remote control from a base in Nevada. The new drone operators will learn the basics of flying a small manned plane, but will not have to partake of the longer, more rigorous training that the fighter jet pilots endured.
The goal is to have 50 unmanned combat air patrols operating 24 hours a day, primarily over Iraq and Afghanistan by the end of September 2011. Currently there are 30 air patrols.
To generate the pilots for the increased flights, the Air Force hopes to create separate pilot pipelines for its manned and unmanned aircraft. The Air Force is planning to shift about 100 manned-aircraft pilots directly from training into jobs flying the drones. The unmanned aircraft are mostly Predators — hunter-killer planes that fly in the war zone but are operated by pilots sitting at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada. Until now, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle System pilots have had to complete at least one tour of flight duty before moving to the drone jobs.
The urgency for more drone pilots is a direct response from Defense Secretary Robert Gates who criticized the Air Force’s failure to move more quickly to meet war commanders’ needs. Gates established a task force in April to find more innovative ways to get the aircraft to the battlefield more quickly.
Two pilots have just been selected to go directly from training to the unmanned program. Once there they will get an additional four to six weeks of schooling on how to operate the drone, how the weapons systems work, and how to coordinate with troops on the ground. Eventually that will expand, sending as many as 100 a year through the drone program for the next three years. Meanwhile, the test program for non-pilots is aimed at Air Force captains who have four to six years of experience, but no flight training. Their schooling would take up to nine months, and they would not have to meet all of the more stringent standards that jet fighter pilots must such as height or vision requirements.
