Another article, this time from USA Today, paints the Air Force with the “new culture” mantra in light of the modern emphasis on UAVs, RPA, and other unmanned vehicles:
The rise of drone warfare has meant a dramatic cultural shift for the Air Force…
Like other media reports on the topic, the article doesn’t really say what the “dramatic cultural shift” actually is. (It does take a swipe at fighter pilots, saying Read more
The X-47, an experimental unmanned “combat air system,” has been hoisted onto the USS Truman for “carrier deck handling tests.” Presumably, these tests do not yet include carrier launches or landings (though a catapult launch on a land-based site has already occurred, complete with PR video).
Current generation unmanned vehicles essentially began their lives as surveillance assets and were modified to carry weapons. The progeny of the X-47 will be combat attack vehicles by design, and may even have autonomous capabilities.
Observers will be forgiven if their first thought is “Skynet.”
In a FoxNews article that ponders, among other things, the effects of video games on modern combat, we also get the answer to the question on everyone’s mind:
Well, does a bear…oh, nevermind.
In 2009 the Air Force conducted beta classes in which it trained officers who had not previously been pilots to be UAV operators. (It also created new “wings” for the RPA pilots and granted them flight pay.) Earlier this year, the first non-pilots graduated into the RQ-4 Global Hawk, a keyboard-operated UAV.
Now, the first non-prior pilots have graduated to become MQ-9 Reaper operators:
This marks the first time a student pilot Read more
An Air Force Times article has an interesting summation of the feelings about RPA/UAV pilots in the Air Force:
Becoming a fighter pilot is still a hotly coveted goal at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo.
But slowly, a culture change is taking hold.
Initially snubbed as second-class pilot-wannabes, the airmen who remotely control America’s arsenal of lethal drones are gaining stature and securing a permanent place in the Air Force.
The article then says part of the reason for the “draw” to the drone career is the very-public successes of drone missions: Read more
The Washington Post writes that drone pilots may soon get a medal tailor-made for their uniforms:
[Charles V. Mugno, head of the Army Institute of Heraldry] said most combat decorations require “boots on the ground” in a combat zone, but he noted that “emerging technologies” such as drones and cyber combat missions are now handled by troops far removed from combat.
The Pentagon has not formally Read more
Air Force Space Command, the division in charge of US Air Force nuclear missile operations, has declared that its space and missile operators can no longer wear flight suits.
Air Force Space Command said Friday that its men and women who aren’t assigned to flying operations will not be allowed to wear flight suits or Air Force leather jackets after Oct. 1.
So goes the story, once upon a time silo sitters had a unique uniform for Read more
The US Air Force announced that it would continue its Aviator Continuation Pay, more popularly known as the pilot bonus, in fiscal 2012. This year, certain career fields can even get 50% up front, as opposed to equal yearly payments previously offered.
“Our goal this year is to influence retention in very specific mission areas based on forecasted shortages,” [Lt. Col. Gerard] Ryan said. “While the program is open to all initial eligible pilots, this year’s program further incentivizes our critical shortages in RPA Read more