As you build those hours and decide to apply for a manned aircraft, your flight hours will count pretty strongly for the board. WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- Public interest in remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) continues to grow thanks to increasing non-military uses and portrayal in popular culture. The only con I am seeing that most people agree with is base selection, I know each base is “what you make of it” but I can make a lot more out of Eglin on the beach in Florida than I can in the middle of New Mexico, but that’s just my opinion. Long hours - I can fill you in that leadership has heard the grumbles of the RPA community. Enlisted RPA pilot opportunity window open for NCOs, SNCO's: Apply before Nov.15 deadline Noncommissioned and senior noncommissioned officers interested in transferring to the Air Force’s newest enlisted aviation Air Force Specialty Code have until Nov.15 to submit their applications to meet the next selection board. CREECH AIR FORCE BASE, Nevada , Sept. 28, 2015 — The constant and insatiable demand for remotely piloted aircraft airpower, places stressors on nearly every career field within the RPA enterprise. If you come here thinking that you’ll be a real pilot (or anything really resembling a conventional pilot), get any kind of tangible aviation qualifications, receive respect for our battlefield effects, or that big Air Force will take care of you then you’ll be disappointed. I would put Ellsworth above every single one of those bases. On my last phase of training before I go operational stationed in Nevada. Some even chose it. Learn about great opportunities for enlisted airmen, officers and health care professionals. Press J to jump to the feed. level 2. Air Force— Pay, allowances, etc. I will send people to their maker and go home for a sandwich. I just did three years in Vegas. 3. U.S. Air Force - Career Detail - Remotely Piloted Aircraft Pilot Learn about great opportunities for enlisted airmen, officers and health care professionals. A multi-mission remotely-piloted aircraft (RPA… I’m biased but Creech is a great assignment. Are they just terribly misinformed? USAF's RPA pilot crews are nearing 100 percent manning, an increase from when the Culture and Process Improvement Plan process began. For the Air Force, remotely piloted aircraft are and will continue to be a vital mission set delivering vital airpower to combatant commanders throughout the world. The drone pilots get nicknames, or call signs, and stride the halls of the Air Force Weapons School in flight suits like any other pilots. Air Force Reserve ABMs utilize knowledge of aircraft, weapons I will be happy to answer. Your going to be more involved with combat ops in the first year than my entire career of flying. Beale, Edwards, Grand Forks, Sigonella Italy, and Guam. I’m interested in the same program, in the process of working with my recruiter now and heading to MEPS next week, I love the reaper airframe and mission. Sounds awesome ! Would you do it all over again? You’ll notice more than half of 18xs in the career field are Lts, and a noticeably high amount have prior AF experience. The lifestyle is what you make it - and in all honesty, if you were to compare it to mobility pilots for example, the RPA schedule is much, much better. New to the AETC flight training programs, the RPA pilot training program, known as Undergraduate RPA Training or URT, was built around the lessons learned from more than 65 years of U.S. Air Force pilot training and designed to train Pilot-in-Command skills to the fledgling RPA pilots. I do get to go home to my family and sleep in my own bed. Or am I way off with my expectations? I don't have holidaysso I think I'll adjust just fine lol. I just got picked up as an RPA and I'd love to pick your brain a bit. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Whiteman/Ellsworth as well. I received this information from a future Reservist RPA pilot. And there are plenty of pilots happy to raise their families inside the suburban confines of an Air Force base without needing to deploy abroad. We use cookies on our websites for a number of purposes, including analytics and performance, functionality and advertising. 19. For the first location, the Air Force identified Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona; Moody AFB, Georgia; Mountain Home AFB, Idaho; Offutt AFB, Nebraska; and Shaw AFB, South Carolina, as candidate bases to potentially host an operations group with mission control … I'm currently working 70hrs a week with only 4 days off a month. There have been a few RPA pilots I’ve met that’s gone back manned just because they miss it, but either way everyone I’ve met likes it. ... Top posts may 3rd 2017 Top posts of may, 2017 Top posts 2017. help Reddit App Reddit coins Reddit premium Reddit gifts. The Air Force's new Remote Combat Effects Campaign Medal is intended to recognize drone pilots and other airmen who make contributions to combat from a remote location. This is brief explanation of the grumbles I heard upon taking this job. “More specifically, the number of RPA pilot and sensor operator requirements has increased every year in support of the Air Force’s plan to create a new wing by 2024 that is needed to implement the combat-to-dwell policy,” the GAO states. If you're at cannon, you'll be more of an on 12's situation. 1.2k. The Air Force has announced their Retention Bonus program for the fiscal year 2020. - This may apply to my Nevada location, but, it’s around 40 minutes to an hour depending where you live. Guys went from flying F-16s with their bros to working 12-hour+ days in a shipping container. Father of 2 and married, you may get more out of Creech than elsewhere. First off, I got this job after being enlisted for 11 years, and let me tell you, I cannot believe how much they are paying me to do what I do. Plus you get to see your family and sleep in your own bed at the end of the shift. ... take a look at the public website for Creech Air Force Base. From what I hear in their minds, they all love it. AF selects Shaw AFB as the preferred location to host a new RPA unit. ... Community for current, future, and past members of the US Air Force. I chose lifestyle over flying “cool” planes. I have been selected for 92T3 and I’m scheduled to ship in January to OTS. A subreddit focused on the process of applying to, attending, and graduating from the United States Air Force Officer Training School. I got orders to Korea and the unit tried stopping me from going because manning/retention for RPAs is bad but intel wasn’t assignment frozen like the pilots and sensors at the time. I know our Guard PRA pilots (traditionals) have no problem getting AD orders and basically guard bumming thru a career. I. Hardison, Chaitra M. UG883.I53 2012 355.5—dc23 2012001174 The research described in this report was sponsored by the United States Air Force under Contract FA7014-06-C-0001. I love living in Vegas though. The US Air Force is proud to recruit many different people of different abilities into the service, with a growing range of roles. I’ll stay the course and continue preparing my application for RPA. There are other bases that are supposed to be opening in the next few years, Tyndall for example, but considering the fact Tyndall just left the game...it could be awhile. And now I’m in New Mexico. On the instruction side, the Air Force is pursuing a newly created program called RPA Training Next, which takes cues from the Pilot Training Next (PTN) project, according to Air Force Times. Of course I miss Vegas and want to go back. It’s mostly misinformation whenever people who have not been in the community talk so negatively about it.