Drone Pilots: We Don’t Get No Respect

[guineapigfury]

I wouldn't worry about the contractors pulling dudes away.  Guys would be leaving whether those good deals are there or not.  Not being a USAF RPA pilot is the cake, contractor money is the icing on that cake.

[scoobs]

Do contractors have better hours? I see lots of flying jobs out of Creech. Some without Pred time.

[Champ Kind]

Do contractors have better hours? I see lots of flying jobs out of Creech. Some without Pred time.

So now you're a drone fan boy?  Once again, say quals.

[flyguy2181]

Looking for info; headed to Holloman to train in the MQ-1 (Sept - Jan).  

- Any good things to do while I'm there?  Is the airport still open?  Can I take glider lessons while I'm there?

-  I imagine lots of free time to travel/explore.  Any must see towns, national parks, hiking trails, etc?

-  Anything feedback for the training course?  base?  lodging?

 

 

 

[GKinnear]

Looking for info...

 

 

 

 

The info in the FTU thread (https://www.flyingsquadron.com/forums/topic/18898-rpa-school-at-holloman/ is still fairly accurate

 

Edited August 24, 2015 by GKinnear
'cuz

[deaddebate]

The Medical Standards Directory (MSD) recently updated and fully created an independent RPA category.  Previously FCIIU generally was only considered or pursued as a back-up following waiver denial for other higher categories (FCI, IA, or IIX).  It can now be more easily screened and pursued individually by local MTF's, and most importantly waivers will be easier to delineate and pursue for solely FCIIU applicants.

Basically this marks a change to accommodate more RPA applicants.  I imagine this is just further cultural shift towards the RPA community and to more quickly disposition borderline pilot exams and push more folks to RPA than a simple, universal DQ in some instances.

Edited September 1, 2015 by deaddebate

[matmacwc]

So now you're a drone fan boy?  Once again, say quals.

Not gonna happen, civilian all the way is my guess, thus the contracting question.  Or......TIMMMMAAAAYYYYYY

Edited September 2, 2015 by matmacwc

[Guest ThatGuy]

Does anyone have any good gouge on places to live in Grand Forks? I am single, pinning on O-4 in December, and I have a dog. Additionally, I have two vehicles (Tundra & Accord) I know I will need to plug in during the winter months. I noticed some apartments have heated underground parking for this reason. The housing management office sent me links to Cardinal Point apartments and Oxford Realty. A rental home would be nice for my dog but I'm not trying to have to shovel snow.

Also, which internet provider is the best? I'm going to have to ditch my DirecTV NFL Sunday Ticket and stream it online if I live in an apartment more than likely. 

Edited October 20, 2015 by slick999

[nsplayr]

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/10/drone-pilot-book-213263

[GKinnear]

The Navy may be getting rid of the X-47, but this is still a leap forward in the RPA's development.

X-47B UCAV AARs w/Omega Tanker

 

DARPA is also looking into RPA-to-RPA, Manned-to-RPA, and RPA-to-Manned AAR solutions

DARPA RPA tests

 

 

[Ram]

As long as DARPA can figure out how to shark fin the UAV's vertical stab on the tanker out of a cloud bank so the receivers stay popeye, we won't be able to tell the difference.

[deaddebate]

I don't read this thread much.  Was this ever posted before?

https://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA608598

Anybody seen this?

[guineapigfury]

I remember taking the survey and have seen the presentation put together based on the results of the follow up survey in 2014.  TLDR: Overwork and shift work lead to lack of sleep.  The new data used manned platforms as control variables and discovered that flying RPAs for the Air Force tends to result in declining physical and mental health, obesity, sleep deprivation, binge drinking, reliance on absurd amounts of caffeine to get through the work day (5+ energy drinks daily), reliance on OTC sleep aids, divorce, low morale, and depression.  However, PTSD remains rare.

[Lawman]

I remember taking the survey and have seen the presentation put together based on the results of the follow up survey in 2014.  TLDR: Overwork and shift work lead to lack of sleep.  The new data used manned platforms as control variables and discovered that flying RPAs for the Air Force tends to result in declining physical and mental health, obesity, sleep deprivation, binge drinking, reliance on absurd amounts of caffeine to get through the work day (5+ energy drinks daily), reliance on OTC sleep aids, divorce, low morale, and depression.  However, PTSD remains rare.

So similar to every non deployed service member ever...

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[pcola]

flying RPAs for the Air Force tends to result in declining physical and mental health, obesity, sleep deprivation, binge drinking, reliance on absurd amounts of caffeine to get through the work day (5+ energy drinks daily), reliance on OTC sleep aids, divorce, low morale, and depression.  However, PTSD remains rare.

FIFY.  (Strikethrough "RPAs" for those of you viewing on the baseops app.)

[BFM this]

So similar to every non deployed service member ever...

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

While a lot of your contributions are salient and well thought out, at other times you're clearly out of your element.

[Lawman]

While a lot of your contributions are salient and well thought out, at other times you're clearly out of your element.

Bro it was a joke as to the negative trends in the lifestyle required by military service (missing meals, drinking rip it's every day, eating high carb processed crap full of sodium and going to bed because of ops cycle, etc) not a stab at the drone community to "suck it up."

I don't know how many more different types of surveys and trackers (PDHRA, GAT, this one, etc) military leadership is going to need to do to understand the same conclusion... In general Military living is bad for you.

[guineapigfury]

I'll see if I can get my hands on the slides, but what I was trying to communicate was this:  RPA crews have been compared to other aircraft crews (AWACS & C-17) in a scientifically valid way and have significantly worse health/life outcomes when controlling for all other variables (Age, Rank, O/E, Gender, Marital Status, etc).

[nsplayr]

This seems like potentially a big deal: https://www.airforcemag.com/DRArchive/Pages/2015/November 2015/November 12 2015/Major-RPA-Restructure-Coming.aspx

"Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James and Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh will announce a major restructure of the remotely piloted aircraft career field's force structure and basing by "early next week," Air Combat Command chief Gen. Hawk Carlisle said Tuesday. Speaking with defense reporters in Washington, D.C., Carlisle said USAF recently wrapped up a month-long assessment by a team of 50 people visiting RPA sites and talking to those in the career field. They recommended the Air Force "open up some new locations" for RPA operations because of the austerity at some of the facilities where RPA mission control elements are based now, especially Creech AFB, Nev. Additionally, Carlisle said, "We could ... move them to different parts of the world, to get different time slots as well," presumably so RPA operators don't have to work as much off-cycle from the locations where they live. Airmen in RPAs want three things, Carlisle said: time to spend with family, to go to schools, to have "different jobs," and to take vacation, etc; a "strategic plan for the enterprise," meaning insight into where the MQ-9 Reaper mission is going and the different roles it could fill in the future; and to know that "we're listening to them. And we are." Carlisle said it's not well understood outside of the RPA community that the enterprise has been in "surge mode for 15 years" with no letup in expansion or demand, and it's still not clear how big the RPA enterprise is going to get."

[guineapigfury]

CSAF will be at Holloman next week, I'll update if he has any good news.

[Chaff]

RUMINT is that team of 50 recommended a 4 month on 8 month off AEF cycle to match deployed type ops tempo with other MWSs. Allegedly Holloman will meet the output requirements for that sometime in the next 1-2 years.

I also hear that 80% of said team was not aircrew. Maybe finance and MPF have secured a way to make themselves less accessible to shift worker.

[guineapigfury]

RUMINT is that team of 50 recommended a 4 month on 8 month off AEF cycle to match deployed type ops tempo with other MWSs. Allegedly Holloman will meet the output requirements for that sometime in the next 1-2 years.

I also hear that 80% of said team was not aircrew. Maybe finance and MPF have secured a way to make themselves less accessible to shift worker.

Great, now all we need to do is triple RPA manning.

[GKinnear]

Great, now all we need to do is triple RPA manning.

Haven't you heard? We're over manned with 11M's...these problems solve themselves

[matmacwc]

Our state is pushing dual qual, we would go to RPA's twice a month for a shift and get to fly jets as our primary job.  Mother AF has fought it, that being said, our WG/CC is already dual qualed.  I think that would release a lot of stress at least in our state.

[1969RPOL36]

Our state is pushing dual qual, we would go to RPA's twice a month for a shift and get to fly jets as our primary job.  Mother AF has fought it, that being said, our WG/CC is already dual qualed.  I think that would release a lot of stress at least in our state.

That makes too much sense.  Unfortunately, the AF cannot come to grips with the fact that it's quite possible to "fly" these things and be proficient, even if it's an additional duty.