Civilian looking into Military UAV transition
 

Hey everyone,

Been recently looking into having a career as a UAV pilot/operator. I know it sounds crazy since it seems people in UAV's want to get out. But ive been a computer gaming geek so I feel this would be a great career for myself. Heres a little about myself:

I'm a civilian student pilot. I have close to 200hrs total time. PPL with instrument rating. Currently working on commercial cert then on to CFI. Also working on my degree at ERAU in San Diego ( one of my aerodynamics prof works for general atomics on the reaper design which got me into thinking about UAVS).

Anyways, the civilian UAV route seems tough to get into right now. The mins seem to be comm cert with 300-500 hrs minimum, and it seems most UAV operators have military experience.

I'm looking into the US air force. How is the air force transitioning into the UAVs?

1. Are there a lot of slots open for the program?
2. How is the competition for them?
3. Is it worth my time? ( I just turned 25 years old, will I make the cut in time? )
4. Am I better off waiting for the civilian sector to pick up? ( if it ever does? )


Any information would be great on this topic. Thank you for your help. I look forward to discussing this with everyone.:cool:

PS: If you would like to share information on reserve/ANG that would be good. I would like to keep an open-mind with any UAV route.

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I'll try to answer your questions:
First, forget about the aircraft in your picture, the AF is getting rid of them, too expensive.
I'm not sure if the UAV only pilot training track is up and running yet. But that may be worth keeping an eye on.
You are going to have to attend OTS so consider going to UPT and then decide what you want to do. You already have more flying experience than half the people who go to UPT. Don't sell yourself short.
Yes there are a lot of slots and competition would be minimal. However that is not the case for senior pilots trying to get in. People are realizing the UAVs are the future and a way into the civilian sector. I would not wait for the civilian sector to pick up.
Where do you live? The National Guard has a few bases that fly them and they may have slots.

I live in San Diego. My closest ANG is March ARB which i believe has the 196th unit? which is apart of the 163rd recon. However they only operate the MQ drone and want to get the reaper but because of budget cuts they are concerned about their likelihood. I wouldn't mind flying actual manned aircraft in the AF but I would rather choose UAV because of the chance in the long term run of civilian use in the NAS ( if it gets developed and passed, who knows what will happen 20-30 years from now). From what I hear AZ and NV are the place to be for ANG UAV careers. I wish i had more information on this kind of stuff so I can make a realistic decision on my career path. I still have prob a year before I earn my degree, but I would like to prepare for my decision asap. I feel like there is a newer generation of pilots specifically suited for UAV operation and I would love to be apart of it. I never grew up wanting to be a pilot, I actually wanted to get into computers before I came to being a professional pilot, so maybe thats why I'm more passionate about the UAV sector than a lot of pilots who go or want to go into the AF or any other branch.

I wouldn't plan your career based on a civilian UAV career...there is no such thing yet.

Despite the fact that a lot of organizations would like to fill the NAS with UAV's there are some very significant hurdles, primarily the see-and-avoid" issue. This was highlighted again very recently overseas by near-collisions with airliners.

It would probably be prudent just become a pilot, then jump into UAV's when and if that makes sense.

I think planning your career for the civilian UAV market right now could be like me having planned my career over 20 years ago on the basis that the MV-22 was "just around the corner" (back in the late 80's - early 90's). Yep - it finally hit the fleet - right as I retired!!

USMCFLYR

Like the other have said - become a pilot in the AF first...Then worry about UAVs.

I was a computer geek as well and back in the day the best place to be was the USAF as a computer geek. Got my PPL at Yokota AB, Japan thru the Aero Club there. Then finished 4 year degree, got commissioned as a 2Lt. Did the officer thing as a engineer. Got out and now do IT work supporting UAS in NoVa.

The USAF UAV career field is up and running. At 25 you probably have time if you get your degree knocked out soon.

I'm confused about this. I thought after UPT the lower group gets the UAV slots? Is the UAV training not apart of UPT anymore?

I'll be around 26 with a degree and most likely a cfi by then.

Thanks for all the feedback.

I think you're the only person I've ever heard say that they WANT to fly UAVs. As others have pointed out, you can go to OTS and UPT then request them after pilot training. Another option is enlisting in the Army and getting the UAV Operator MOS. They have a few UAVs, of which the Hunter and the Shadow are decent size (The Raven is a hand-launched mini UAV).

Good info, Yeah it sounds crazy that I'm asking for UAV slots only. Ive thought about this for a couple of weeks and Ive realized I'm looking more towards Reserves/ANG because it seems the active duty route via Air Force is not the best route for me ( family wise > I want to be close to my family when I do have one ). I do agree that focusing on just UAV's was a mistake that I made. I think its smart to have the other options open, such as flying for kc-135's or other aircraft.

Ive read base ops and wantscheck but I would really like your guys opinion on this situation. I have about a year before I earn my degree so I need to get this ball rolling, I'll be 26 by the time Im qualified. :p:p:p


and what happens if I cant get a UPT slot because of the competition, is my last route the Air Force?

The UAV career pipeline is up and running for the USAF. If you apply for OTS you can select RPA (Remotely Piloted Aircraft) as a career field that you want to apply for. The number of RPAs getting dropped to UPT studs has dropped significantly since the RPA career field opened up. In fact a lot of the recent ones have been people who actually put it near the top of their dream sheet (why is beyond me haha).

There's some decent gouge on the training over at baseops.net; but for the most part it seems like if you are selected you go to IFS in Colorado and fly a Diamond DA-20 for about 40 hours, then after that you go off to where ever they do RPA training to get your instrument training and all of that.

If you really want to fly RPAs then I would highly suggest getting in touch with your local OTS recruiter, the Air Force I'm sure loves to have volunteers for the program, since most pilots absolutely hate them, haha.

I also have another question. If I were to go OTS route and then to flight training via Air Force. What base would I be transfered to for flight training. Are there multiple bases I might be sent to? Do I get an option to choose? Is there one base only?

I have a girlfriend that I want to bring with me, however with some bases requiring mandatory living on base. Im trying to figure out if Im able to live off base with my girlfriend while doing flight training. Any information would be great.

You won't have a choice in the matter, so it's not worth worrying about.

Harsh reality that you would do well to come to terms with: This is going to be hard on the girl. Dragging her along in GF status is going to be rough, for both of you. The good news is that if she puts up with that, she's probably OK wife material. The bad news is that anything but full understanding and total support is going to screw up your odds in training. Sounds like you're somewhat serious about this one. I would suggest...

1) If she's the one, get engaged then leave her home while you do training. That way you've put down your marker, she knows you're serious but she won't be a daily distraction to you. She'll be less lonely at home with family & friends than in a military town in BFE while you spend all your time training. If in the end it winds up being too hard for her, well you found out the cheap way, you can get store credit on that ring.

2) If you're not sure, break up with her. Let her know that it's for her own best interests and you're open to resuming things when you finish. If she waits around maybe she is a keeper.

Or if you're dead serious, and you're sure she is, marry her and leave her home until you get a feel for training. Bring her out if you think you both can manage.

Bottom line if she can't deal with some separation, she's probably a suitable military spouse (or airline spouse for that matter). Not talking out my butt here, BTDT (fortunately the one smart thing I did in my youth was to employ the engagement-ring-before-separation test...saved myself a lot of dough).

I don't know when Rick went thru UPT but when I went thru (99-00), then you were able to fill out a dream sheet where you wanted to go for UPT. The AF tried to work with you dream sheet. But remember it will still be whats best for the AF. UPT bases are Columbus AFB-Columbus MS, Vance AFB-Enid OK, Laughlin AFB-Del Rio TX, and if you are lucky ENJJPT at Shepard AFB-Wichita Falls TX.

If you bring your girl she needs to understand this year long program is like collage on steroids. Your first priority is UPT. You can't afford to screw it up. My bet advise is to study Sunday afternoon thru Thursday Night. On Friday go to the Officers club, or someplace you can let your hair down. Spend all day Saturday and Sunday morning with the family and then start the hit the books again. Repeat week after week until you receive those silver wings.

The training track begins at Pueblo, CO at an IFS school, then back to Randolph AFB for the remainder of training. The USMC is standing up this career field at the end of the summer. First handful of officers are projected to start training probably by Oct. Good luck with your decision.

I think your college could have used a little "juice". :D

does anyone know any UAV/UAS bases I could get possibly get a tour? I would like to see first hand what its like, Im getting free air fare through my intern with UAL so it doesnt matter how far it is.

I now have a commercial cert, been interning with UAL for awhile now, even did 40 hours in 737 sim training... got to see the whole commercial side of life and I'm not very "into" it. Hopefully someone can help me out with this so I can compare and make my long term career decision, I have about 3-4 months to decide which way to go.

Uhhh, Creech 30 min north of Las Vegas and AF(Cannon)stan in NM.

Good luck. I don't think you'll get a good tour due to the obvious security clearance stuff - but I'm sure you'll meet a lot of the pilots.

My advice wrxsteve would be to try and go do something aerobatic in a glider/decathalon/UPT - I think you'll dig it more than real life call of duty.

If you're serious about it, PM me and I can put you in touch with some of the guys that fly them.