BIG BONUS: Air Force offers $125K in incentives to retain drone pilots.

To attract and keep a drone pilot workforce that’s been stretched thin by rising demands for global surveillance, the Air Force announced Wednesday that it’s offering as much as $125,000 in bonuses to keep the pilots from leaving for the private sector. Personnel eligible for the cash awards would be the more experienced and current pilots in the force. Military personnel must be active-duty lieutenant colonels or below who already have six years of experience flying remotely piloted aircraft and meet specific education and ratings requirements. Drone pilots “are increasingly critical to national security, and our ability to retain experienced [drone] pilots will enable us to meet current and emergent mission requirements,” said Lt. Gen. Jay Raymond, Air Force deputy chief of operations.

The cash bonuses would amount to $25,000 annually for five years, but eligible recipients could elect to receive up to half of the bonus in the first payment, the Air Force announced in a news release. The bonuses are meant to compete with the private sector, where drone pilot salaries start at about $102,000 yearly, according to the jobs website Indeed.com. The Air Force has spent much of the year addressing the strain that rising demand for unmanned surveillance, intelligence gathering and targeting support have placed on the force. Because of ongoing operations
in Iraq and Syria, and rising requests for drone surveillance in Africa and the Pacific, the current force of drone operators is badly strained, Air Force chief of staff Gen. Mark Welsh said earlier this year.

“We can’t afford to lose these people.”

SOURCE

The salary sounds great but I could not do this type of job. Killing an individual or group based on what? Military intelligence? I was in military intelligence as a GS-12 and let em tell you they are not that intelligent. To me ..... M.I. was nothing more than a political guessing game.

I published an article about drone pilots accusing the U.S. military of murder. See enclosed article:

HERE

I guess these guys didn't care about the money and I don't blame them. At the end of the day we all have to live with the decisions we make.

Could you do the job?

I would love to do the job. These pilots who complain about morality of killing don't belong there in the first place. A target is a target. I don't care about who dies on the other end because I am not the one who has to deal with the after thought when the person who ordered the strike gets the hammer. Too bad I'm too old to transfer from the army to air-force.

War has collateral damage. End of Story.

a reply to: 4N0M4LY

I wonder if they will allow inexperienced contractors for the job Being a drone pilot sounds like a good bit of fun.

a reply to: 4N0M4LY
Not caring about who is on the other end is sociopathic. Seeing a child that is about to needlessly die because your country's leaders are conquering war pigs and you have to pull the trigger for them or jeopardize your career puts thing into a different perspective. If it doesn't you should seek help.

If they still require FULL pilot training and physical reqiurments then good luck.

This xbox warfare with god mode on must be the most cowardly act in warfare apart from the politicians and war hawks cheering from safety many miles away after giving the orders

Think the army used drones with more morality than the CIA

There was a film recently about drone operators from Vegas,with one being a USAF pilot with combat experience who gradually hated what he had become

a reply to: CraftBuilder

War is hell. If the target that is a threat to nearby friendly soldiers then the target must be eliminated. Children with suicide vests are no exception.

Better to be one dead than a platoon of soldiers dead because you chose to do nothing.....

Ua reply to: 4N0M4LY

We'll see how arrogant your tone is when the next target is rubbing elbows with your mother who is babysitting your child, while at the grocery store. But hey they're collateral damage right? No problem! Turning them into red goo because of suspicious activities and liasons is enough evidence to make those sacrifices for "National Security" based on your bulletproof intell? Right?

When you're scraping your kin off the curb, be sure to hum the National Anthem.

They could outsource it to India for pennies on the dollar.
Don't worry - it will happen eventually.

a reply to: Pyle

They're allowing some missions to be flown by contractors now, and the RQ/EQ-4 Global Hawk is about to start allowing enlisted pilots to fly their missions. They won't require full pilot training, but they will require full pilot training on the type of aircraft. The Navy is going to allow enlisted pilots to fly smaller UAVs based on weight.

a reply to: Zaphod58

They're allowing some missions to be flown by contractors now

oh cool beans
certainly puts my mind at ease

Been a dron pilot for years in the private sector - mining engineer. I get to fly everyday at my job because i introduced the drone to mining applications

It sounds like a boring job,probably why they have a hard time retaining people.
They don`t get to blow things up everytime they fly, they probably go for days,weeks, months of just flying and looking at desert without ever attacking anything.

originally posted by: trifecta
Ua reply to: 4N0M4LY

We'll see how arrogant your tone is when the next target is rubbing elbows with your mother who is babysitting your child, while at the grocery store. But hey they're collateral damage right? No problem! Turning them into red goo because of suspicious activities and liasons is enough evidence to make those sacrifices for "National Security" based on your bulletproof intell? Right?

When you're scraping your kin off the curb, be sure to hum the National Anthem.

You don't win wars by being nice...

I hate war and innocent deaths as much as anyone and truly understand your point. My problem is you cannot win a war fighting with kids gloves. Either go to war to win as quickly and brutally as possible or don't go at all is my position. If we can win a necessary war quicker and save more lives long term by indiscriminately blowing shiz up, then I'm all for it.

I can see why some of these pilots can suffer from PTSD knowing they pulled the trigger, but if they don't have the mental cojones to deal with it they need to find new jobs.

a reply to: Tardacus

Right now they have 60 orbits in operation, requiring 1,000 pilots and sensor operators. A Global Hawk mission can last 20 hours or more, and a Predator mission 14+ depending on locations. The vast majority of that is staring at a screen looking for a needle in a field of haystacks.

I thought AI was suppose to take all the jibs?