guineapigfury

I did one RPA tour and am now at the FTU to be an instructor. Ops as a line RPA flyer was the worst experience of my life. That already miserable existence is going to get much worse in 2016 and 2017 for those flying the line. As we nearly double instructor manning at the FTU, ops squadrons are going to pay the bill. So already undermanned and overworked units are going to be undermanned even further. The squadron I came from has a bill for 18 IPs and there weren't 18 IPs in the entire squadron when I left. You can see where that is going. If (and this is a gigantic if) we can double production at the FTU while maintaining quality, things should improve in Ops squadrons around early 2018. That assumes the USAF can identify a previously undiscovered pool of talented folks who want to do this job. That is a very questionable assumption IMHO. If you are going to volunteer for this to improve your quality of life then you are making an uninformed decision. If your number 1 priority is avoiding TDYs and deployments, you're making a good decision. Understand that if you come to RPAs you are probably never leaving. I will add that my worst day flying was better than my best day in RPAs. TLDR: timing is everything, things are going to get significantly worse before they might get better, flying RPAs is miserable. Overall, I do not recommend this job.

We're not "almost unable to sustain the number of CAPs we have now", we are unable. We're cutting from 65 to 60 CAPs and that won't even begin to fix the problem. The number of pilots talented enough to do job well and willing to do the job long term on Active Duty might properly man 15 CAPs IMHO. The Air Force erred grievously in letting this niche capability expand to it's current level.

And now we're seeing a major influx of MC-12 guys at the MQ-9 FTU.

My bad for feeding the troll.

Yes. The Air Force deploys a relatively small number of crews to launch and recover our RPAs.

Whether you get in or not, you are making a good decision to not accept an RPA slot. I say this as an MQ-9 IP. Be aware if you go to UPT on Active Duty, you could get an RPA at the end of it.

My guess is that they're happier because they aren't doing Remote Split Ops. My understanding is they deploy as a unit and fly from downrange*. So when they're home ... they're home. Contrast that with the USAF's planned RPA career path of being deployed in garrison doing shiftwork for 20 years with the only possible break being instructing at the FTU in Alamogordo. Ugh. Also, at this point if you see a guy in an RPA squadron with real wings, he probably flew heavies or bombers. I've been doing this bullshit for 3 years and my previous squadron got exactly one guy direct from fighters, and he was medically unable to continue flying fighters. Out of a hundred or so pilots, we had about 5 with a fighter background. It might have been different at other locations. I've been at Holloman for several months and I have not seen a single fighter dude coming through as a student unless he's going to a Guard or Reserve unit. Lot's of 18Xers, heavies pilots, MC-12 people and a sampling of bomber dudes. I have seen noone go back to manned flying. *Someone correct me if I'm wrong on this.

I don't think putting enlisted folks in the left seat is going to be any more beneficial to their retention than keeping them in the right seat. SO retention is appalling and they already have a "cool job" that they should be proud of. My opinion is that the novelty of flying RPAs would wear off about halfway through that second mids rotation (just like it does for the 18X's). Then they'd be even more disgruntled than your officer pilots because they're making half as much money for the same work. I could be wrong. I think the ANG/ARC should get this mission because they're better at taking care of people. The inherent sucks of flying RPAs are so unmitigatable that we need a powerful counter. AGR being the new normal for RPA crews just might do the trick. Stand up a new squadron in every state that doesn't have a CAP and we'd go a long way toward fixing the problem. Or hire some contractors to take over this mission. Just my two cents.

I think we're in agreement. Had the Air Force treated RPAs as an ALFA tour from the beginning, they wouldn't have the retention problem they do now. The sooner Big Blue admits that it can't run this mission properly and hands it over to the Guard/Reserve and contractors the better off we will all be. And heavies to RPAs are very much a one way door right now as well.

You get the bad retention not by sending people to RPAs, but by making them stay there. An unwanted assignment is acceptable, an unwanted AFSC is not.

I read it as continuation to just before 18, I could have misunderstood.

YGBFSM.

This isn't the "What's right with the Air Force" thread.

I bet it was the guy who steals your govt phone in the cyberawareness one.

I've done both (MC-12 & MQ-9), and IMO manned ISR is the better solution most of the time. It's probably cheaper*, more flexible, deals better with weather, isn't confined to a soda straw view, has vastly superior SA and also has the added benefit of not being the worst "flying" assignment in the USAF**. * As mentioned that satellite time isn't cheap. ** This plays into the cost argument, as billions of dollars in pilot training costs have walked out the door rather than fly or continue to fly RPAs.

I know, but this is worse since in most cases we are starting with a lower baseline of talent(18s) and motivation(11s) than you see in UPT. Add to that we've been in push mode for years and we are about to go to double push mode.

You'd see some improvement in retention, but not much I think. The plan right now is to double output here at Holloman. We're about to cannibalize ops squadrons for dozens of their instructors to increase FTU manning. So ops manning will take a nasty hit the next year, and it's going to be the experienced dudes and dudettes squadrons can least afford to lose, especially en masse. So in the medium term, you'll have ops squadrons flooded with Lt's and not enough IPs to teach them MQT. It is going to be a very rough 2017 for dudes flying the line. To compound the problem, the current bottom of the barrel for 18Xers is terrifying. We had several dudes at my last squadron who I wouldn't trust to tie their own shoes. When we double the number of 18Xers, we're going to see the average quality go down. In the long term, perhaps increased manning will alleviate some issues, but I think we're 4 years out on that, best case. Either way, I don't plan on sticking around to find out. Bottom line: there's a hole in the bucket and the planned repair is to pour twice as much water in.

Slightly, but I suspect most of that is a function of not knowing what they're missing. Based on my conversations with the dudes at my last squadron, I expect most of the 18X Lt's to separate at the end of their 6 years. The prior enlisted and late-rate dudes are a different animal, but they're significantly closer to 20.

Nothing yet. I think if i'm going to get stop-lossed, then I deserve the courtesy of there being a declared war.

I'm actually dreading checking my email tomorrow morning. Fuck my life.

If he's just a 6th round draft pick who cheated his way to 6 superbowls and a supermodel wife then they should put him on Mt Rushmore.

Bolded for truth.

At least he's not a MIC, then you'd have to go to a Bronie convention to find him in his natural habitat.

I had a serious problem at home. Life got much better after I divorced her.

Better lucky than good remains a valid technique.