The culture of the Air Force is in many ways like high school. Fighter pilots are the jocks, the cool kids who rule the campus. And drone pilots? They’re the AV club.

As has been frequently said here (and as described in the book), the stereotype is that Air Force fighter pilots are the glorious rulers of the Air Force.  A Stars and Stripes article says that the Air Force cultural dominance of the fighter pilot may be at an end, just as the dominance of strategic nuclear bombers passed on to fighters decades ago.

While the dominance of the fighter pilot may be fading in some people’s estimation, the cultural stereotype lives on: 

“There’s a certain amount of pomp and swagger that goes with being a fighter pilot,” said Lt. Col. David Kent, an F-15E pilot who recently flew Reapers.

Some sent to fly drones believe they are only there “to baby-sit an airplane,” said Senior Airman Jesse Grace, who as a sensor operator controls the drone’s camera alongside a pilot.

One of the Air Force’s solutions to the stigma?  Change the name:

To change such entrenched attitudes, the Air Force is contemplating renaming the unmanned aerial systems command “remotely piloted vehicles” because officials want to emphasize that the drone mission is pilot-centric.

The article describes the Air Force’s continuing policy of pulling brand new pilots right out of pilot training to fly UAVs–and notes that not a single one has been a volunteer.

When the announcements are made there are “a lot of sad faces,” with pilots “a little bitter about where they are headed,” said Col. Trey Turner, who oversees UAS training at the Pentagon.

There may be a cultural shift, one that replaces the machismo of the fighter pilot with that of the “RPV,” but it appears at this point to be a slow and reluctant one.