Posted on Jan 9, 2015
Air Force considers larger retention bonuses for drone pilots
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From: Air Force Times
The demand for drones to fly surveillance missions keeps going up, but the number of remotely piloted aircraft pilots is going down, so the Air Force is considering increasing retention bonuses for RPA pilots, said Col. Ray Alves of Air Combat Command.
"We're looking at incentives of how we maintain people in the career field and how we incentivize growth in the career field … to give them bonuses similar to what I received as a young major, my pilot retention bonus," said Alves, an F-16 pilot who later became an MQ-1 Predator squadron commander.
Under the current Aviator Retention Pay program, RPA pilots who transferred from flying manned to unmanned aircraft can earn a retention bonus between $15,000 and $25,000, depending on how long they extend their contracts. RPA pilots who originated in the 18X career field, which was created specifically for the RPA community, are not currently eligible for a retention bonus. As of now, the earliest they may receive a bonus would be 2016.
Meanwhile, the Air Force has offered fighter pilots up to $225,000 in Aviator Retention Pay in exchange for a nine-year commitment. Now the Air Force is looking at also increasing Aviator Retention Pay for RPA pilots, Alves told reporters on Thursday.
Alves could not say how much money RPA pilots might be offered, or whether the bonuses would be offered in fiscal 2015 or next fiscal year. When asked if the Air Force is considering involuntary extensions for RPA pilots, Alves replied: "We are looking at all options at how we manage the RPA pilot force right now."
The active-duty Air Force has about 85 percent of the RPA pilots it needs, and that percentage is decreasing as RPA pilots transfer to the Air National Guard, Alves said.
As of December 2013, there were more than 1,360 drone pilots operating almost 65 combat air patrols, falling short of the projected 1,650 pilots needed by fiscal 2017, according to a Government Accountability Office report released in April.
The head of Air Combat Command recently wrote a memo to Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh saying the RPA pilots are straining to fly all the missions being asked of them, as first reported by The Daily Beast on Jan. 4.
"We are above our program of record," Alves said. "We're actually at surge capacity right now – and surge, by definition, we cannot maintain forever. So we need to start looking at … how do we ensure that the enterprise is correctly manned to continue to meet the levels of demand that the combatant commanders are putting upon us."
One RPA pilot in an interview with Air Force Times said the Air Force needs to "immediately reduce" the number of combat air patrols that unmanned aircraft crews fly.
"I know that's kind of a dangerous thing to say because all of the operations that we're doing around the world are all vitally important to our national security, but I think we're at a time where we need to prioritize that because the system is 100 percent broken," said the pilot, who asked not to be identified.
RPA pilots face long hours, giving them little time to do the extra projects that wings value when they determine which pilots are most likely to get promoted, such as obtaining a master's degree, the pilot said. Another issue is that many RPA squadron leaders come from manned aircraft units, so they do not understand what makes RPA units unique.
"My previous squadron commander, he had a really hard time learning those lessons – made it very painful for everybody – as to why this can't look like an F-16 unit. It's like: 'But sir, you don't understand that an F-16 unit has not been flying 24-hour operations for the last 15 years.'
"You can take an F-16 unit and you'll put them on 24-hour ops and you'll surge for maybe a month, or three months at the most, but then you get time to reconstitute. This operation has been going on 24 hours a day, every day of the year for more than a decade. I guarantee there is no F-16 model – or F-22 squadron model – that fits that bill."
The RPA community is on the verge of an even more severe manpower shortage as pilots near the end of their service commitments and defense contractors offer lucrative jobs for both drone pilots and sensor operators, the pilot said.
Many traditional pilots who were selected to fly unmanned aircraft are about 18 months away from the end of their 10-year active service commitment, the pilot said. The RPA pilots who were trained through the 18X career field have a six-year commitment.
"Where the system is 100 percent going to fail is when the 18Xers come up on the end of their six-year commitment," he said. "When their commitments are up and they start voting with their feet … I don't think the Air Force can throw enough money at them to stay in."
http://www.airforcetimes.com/story/military/careers/2015/01/08/air-force-drone-pilots/21388565/
The demand for drones to fly surveillance missions keeps going up, but the number of remotely piloted aircraft pilots is going down, so the Air Force is considering increasing retention bonuses for RPA pilots, said Col. Ray Alves of Air Combat Command.
"We're looking at incentives of how we maintain people in the career field and how we incentivize growth in the career field … to give them bonuses similar to what I received as a young major, my pilot retention bonus," said Alves, an F-16 pilot who later became an MQ-1 Predator squadron commander.
Under the current Aviator Retention Pay program, RPA pilots who transferred from flying manned to unmanned aircraft can earn a retention bonus between $15,000 and $25,000, depending on how long they extend their contracts. RPA pilots who originated in the 18X career field, which was created specifically for the RPA community, are not currently eligible for a retention bonus. As of now, the earliest they may receive a bonus would be 2016.
Meanwhile, the Air Force has offered fighter pilots up to $225,000 in Aviator Retention Pay in exchange for a nine-year commitment. Now the Air Force is looking at also increasing Aviator Retention Pay for RPA pilots, Alves told reporters on Thursday.
Alves could not say how much money RPA pilots might be offered, or whether the bonuses would be offered in fiscal 2015 or next fiscal year. When asked if the Air Force is considering involuntary extensions for RPA pilots, Alves replied: "We are looking at all options at how we manage the RPA pilot force right now."
The active-duty Air Force has about 85 percent of the RPA pilots it needs, and that percentage is decreasing as RPA pilots transfer to the Air National Guard, Alves said.
As of December 2013, there were more than 1,360 drone pilots operating almost 65 combat air patrols, falling short of the projected 1,650 pilots needed by fiscal 2017, according to a Government Accountability Office report released in April.
The head of Air Combat Command recently wrote a memo to Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh saying the RPA pilots are straining to fly all the missions being asked of them, as first reported by The Daily Beast on Jan. 4.
"We are above our program of record," Alves said. "We're actually at surge capacity right now – and surge, by definition, we cannot maintain forever. So we need to start looking at … how do we ensure that the enterprise is correctly manned to continue to meet the levels of demand that the combatant commanders are putting upon us."
One RPA pilot in an interview with Air Force Times said the Air Force needs to "immediately reduce" the number of combat air patrols that unmanned aircraft crews fly.
"I know that's kind of a dangerous thing to say because all of the operations that we're doing around the world are all vitally important to our national security, but I think we're at a time where we need to prioritize that because the system is 100 percent broken," said the pilot, who asked not to be identified.
RPA pilots face long hours, giving them little time to do the extra projects that wings value when they determine which pilots are most likely to get promoted, such as obtaining a master's degree, the pilot said. Another issue is that many RPA squadron leaders come from manned aircraft units, so they do not understand what makes RPA units unique.
"My previous squadron commander, he had a really hard time learning those lessons – made it very painful for everybody – as to why this can't look like an F-16 unit. It's like: 'But sir, you don't understand that an F-16 unit has not been flying 24-hour operations for the last 15 years.'
"You can take an F-16 unit and you'll put them on 24-hour ops and you'll surge for maybe a month, or three months at the most, but then you get time to reconstitute. This operation has been going on 24 hours a day, every day of the year for more than a decade. I guarantee there is no F-16 model – or F-22 squadron model – that fits that bill."
The RPA community is on the verge of an even more severe manpower shortage as pilots near the end of their service commitments and defense contractors offer lucrative jobs for both drone pilots and sensor operators, the pilot said.
Many traditional pilots who were selected to fly unmanned aircraft are about 18 months away from the end of their 10-year active service commitment, the pilot said. The RPA pilots who were trained through the 18X career field have a six-year commitment.
"Where the system is 100 percent going to fail is when the 18Xers come up on the end of their six-year commitment," he said. "When their commitments are up and they start voting with their feet … I don't think the Air Force can throw enough money at them to stay in."
http://www.airforcetimes.com/story/military/careers/2015/01/08/air-force-drone-pilots/21388565/
Retention
Air Force
Military Pay
Drones
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 6
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All I'm going to say is it takes maintainers to put the planes in the air....what about their ops tempo and retention rates?
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Lt Col (Join to see)
Just have to convince your fellow maintainers to start bailing after their first or second enlistment...because that is what the drone pilots are doing.
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I'm going to voice an opinion here, that has probably been voiced before: Why does the USAF hold the opinion that only officers make adequate drone pilots. Let's face it, those officers are sitting in a comfy chair, in an air conditioned environment, exposed to absolutely no personal danger whatsoever. I hold the opinion that anybody can play a video game; it takes no special training or leadership ability at all to do so.
If those officers, who make a bunch more money than the enlisted force, think they're being unfairly treated and underpaid, then let them go on to other things. They can be replaced by airman straight out of high school who have been playing X-Box and PS3/PS4 games for years. One video game is just like another video game.
If those officers, who make a bunch more money than the enlisted force, think they're being unfairly treated and underpaid, then let them go on to other things. They can be replaced by airman straight out of high school who have been playing X-Box and PS3/PS4 games for years. One video game is just like another video game.
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MSgt John Carter
I most respectfully disagree. Flying a drone is no different that flying a simulated aircraft in a "real world" flight simulator. Yaw, pitch, roll, thrust, drag, etc.; it's simply physics. A sufficiently realistic video game--or flight simulator--factors in the physics of flight. Our kids spend hours playing these games.
Flying a drone is simply another type of flight simulator or video game. The "pilot" sits in a comfortable chair in a climate controlled room hundreds, or thousands, of miles away from the operating location of the drone. If that pilot crashes the drone, he/she simply grabs another soda, takes a break, and "respawns".
I do know I'm oversimplifying drone operations, but I'm also very confident that I'm spot-on with the basic principles. Until that drone pilot has the same amount of "skin" in the game that an actual fighter pilot, he is nothing more than a paid "video gamer".
J.
Flying a drone is simply another type of flight simulator or video game. The "pilot" sits in a comfortable chair in a climate controlled room hundreds, or thousands, of miles away from the operating location of the drone. If that pilot crashes the drone, he/she simply grabs another soda, takes a break, and "respawns".
I do know I'm oversimplifying drone operations, but I'm also very confident that I'm spot-on with the basic principles. Until that drone pilot has the same amount of "skin" in the game that an actual fighter pilot, he is nothing more than a paid "video gamer".
J.
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This could be because I don't understand it but why do they get a retention bonus? Or why is it needed? Training for drone pilots honestly can't be that hard and when considering the guys I know get bonuses are combat airmen, at least those make sense. With all of the people that go in to putting aircraft in the air or these drones, I find it odd that they focus on giving them a bigger bonus but offer zero bonus to those responsible for putting them in the air.
I guess my question would have to be, does the Air Force really put a lot of money into training drone pilots?
I guess my question would have to be, does the Air Force really put a lot of money into training drone pilots?
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SMSgt Lance Goeman
Shooting from the hip, is say is because for whatever reason this is a job that is in high demand or that nobody wants to do anymore
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SSgt (Join to see)
That would be a real kick in the pants if that is the reason. Time will tell but to offer a larger bonus while other AFSCs that aide them go without seems illogical.
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Lt Col (Join to see)
Because they are getting out faster than we can train new ones. Maintainers are not. Drone pilots are getting out as soon as their ADSC is over, all while combatant commanders are demanding ever more drone coverage in areas like Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan. They spend 12 hours at a time staring at a screen, with little opportunity to do the "career-broadening" things that the Air Force demands of CGOs if they want to be promoted (they can't be spared to go to schools, for example). They are working at a deployed pace, while at home.
I don't know what life is like on the UAV maintenance side of the house, but my guess is that the retention numbers reflect the reality. If you can convince a bunch of your maintainer buddies to get out as soon as their first enlistment is up, then you have a chance at seeing a retention bonus for maintainers.
It isn't about the job they are doing versus the job you are doing. It's about the number of people willing to stick around. Until MX manning is as short as pilot manning, I wouldn't expect a bonus.
I don't know what life is like on the UAV maintenance side of the house, but my guess is that the retention numbers reflect the reality. If you can convince a bunch of your maintainer buddies to get out as soon as their first enlistment is up, then you have a chance at seeing a retention bonus for maintainers.
It isn't about the job they are doing versus the job you are doing. It's about the number of people willing to stick around. Until MX manning is as short as pilot manning, I wouldn't expect a bonus.
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MSgt John Carter
I hold the opinion that the USAF has "shot themselves in the foot" regarding drone pilot. They insist that only officers are capable of piloting a drone so they have effectively limted their potential drone pilot "pool" to a very few individuals. I suggest the program be opened to anyone who has the ability to perform the job.
Officers are needed to pilot actual aircraft, not because an officer is necessarily a better pilot than an enlisted individual, but because the USAF has structured itself around the concept of an officer commanding a group of aircraft. (I think I said that badly; bear with me.) What I mean to say is that an officer must be in command of a group of other officers. As a master sergeant, I cannot legally command an officer to perform a duty. The most I can do is request, or suggest.
Drone pilots simply don't operate like that. I don't think you'll ever see a "Finger Five" formation of drones approaching a target as you would a formation of F-15's or F-16's. Therefore, enlisted personnel should be qualified to fly a drone.
I'm not saying this because I think I should have been a UAV pilot. My skill set, reflexes, and aptitudes don't match that required to be a drone pilot. But both of my sons could do it and excel at it.
J.
Officers are needed to pilot actual aircraft, not because an officer is necessarily a better pilot than an enlisted individual, but because the USAF has structured itself around the concept of an officer commanding a group of aircraft. (I think I said that badly; bear with me.) What I mean to say is that an officer must be in command of a group of other officers. As a master sergeant, I cannot legally command an officer to perform a duty. The most I can do is request, or suggest.
Drone pilots simply don't operate like that. I don't think you'll ever see a "Finger Five" formation of drones approaching a target as you would a formation of F-15's or F-16's. Therefore, enlisted personnel should be qualified to fly a drone.
I'm not saying this because I think I should have been a UAV pilot. My skill set, reflexes, and aptitudes don't match that required to be a drone pilot. But both of my sons could do it and excel at it.
J.
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