Fly Army 97 said:
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You are filling UAV operators with pilots are you not?
Only as a temporary measure while the RPA training pipeline got to full speed
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do you need a fully qualified aviator to fly every one of your UAS?
Absolutely not. Pilot's who got pushed into RPA's were definitely overqualified.
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how are you going address an attrition problem assuming their is one?
A couple thoughts that pilots are interested in:
1. Yes paperwork and desk jobs will always be necessary, but that does not mean they have to be done by pilots. They have started experimenting with adding civilians to run the training, programming, and standards/evaluation shops at certain units. This alleviates a lot of work and let's pilot fly.
2. People are really interested in a "Fly Only" career track, verses a "Command" career track. Essentially, people are willing to forgo promotion opportunities (maybe get capped at O-4) in exchange for more flying opportunities and fewer PCSes. This is essentially what the reservists pilots are doing anyway.
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5 years + 10 year ADSO. 15 years. Higher probability to retire.
I agree with this. There are a lot of prior enlisted guys who come through Pilot training, and they make excellent pilots.
There are a lot more ideas out there, and there definitely is a serious retention problem. My point in all this is: I do not think Warrant Officers or enlisted pilots really solve the problems that push people to leave the Air Force.