It was just yesterday that we brought you word on how the U.S. Air Force has taken steps to financially reward their drone pilots with a bonus amounting to $125,000 (which will be paid out over the span of five years) in order to retain their service. It looks like other reforms are also in place now, with the Air Force enabling enlisted personnel to fly drones for the first time – making it a shift in policy, so that the demands for increased surveillance over global hot spots could be met.
This was not a rashly made decision, as it had gone through months of study, and is part of the Air Force’s efforts to overhaul the growing drone program. So far, this drone program has seen a lack of officers to serve in the area, and as counter-terrorism operations step up to go against the likes of the Islamic State, you can be sure that the existing batch of drone pilots are overworked and totally stressed out.
Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James shared not too long ago, “This group of people have been front and center of the war effort for the past 15 years. If you talk to combatant commanders around the world, which I do regularly, and ask them, ‘What is the one more thing you need from the Air Force?,’ they will always reply, ‘I want more ISR.'”
The new policy will see those enlisted personnel who are qualified to pilot the unarmed RQ-4 Global Hawk spy drone, and in due time, might be given the green light to handle the MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper drones.