Enlisted Drone Pilots to Get Same Bonus Pay as Officers: Cody

Enlisted drone pilots will be eligible for the same bonuses the Air Force plans to offer its officers, the service's top enlisted leaders said Wednesday.

"When you think about officers and enlisted in the Air Force, you pay officers more because of where they fall in the organization structure, not because [of] the nature of the technical job they do," Air Force Chief Master Sgt. James Cody said at the annual Air Force Association's Air, Space & Cyber conference near Washington, D.C.

"We absolutely have airmen -- officer and enlisted -- who do the same types of things every day, all day and always have. But if they're doing the same type of technical thing, and we're paying them for doing that technical thing, then yes, they'll get the same money. And that is exactly what will happen with [remotely piloted aircraft] pilots," Cody told reporters during a media briefing.

"They will get the same exact incentive pay; they would just get different base pay because of their rank," he said.