Saw an article where the USAF is planning to assign recently graduated flight school pilots directly to drones rather than assigning them an aircraft. I don't think this is even legal without giving the UPT grad the option of getting out of the service altogether. I remember a similar circumstance years ago when the Navy tried to cutback a pilot class for budget reasons that was already underway and a lot of the students got a lawyer and read the fine print to the Navy who eventually rolled over and reinstated them in subsequent classes. A contract is a contract.

They've done it before. And a contract is not a contract. Big Blue always wins.

They sent lots of guys directly to RPA's (remotely piloted aircraft) from 2009ish until 2013ish when they established a pipeline for separate (much cheaper) training for RPA's. I don't think they give them out to UPT students anymore but one could always get assigned an RPA later in their career.

I too thought it was BS for a UPT student to incur a ten year commitment for operating RPA's.

When I was in (Vietnam era) they could not have done it without giving the newly-commissioned officer the chance to get out altogether, which is what I would advise anyone caught up in this goat-screw to do. Today's article in the WSJ indicates they are planning to attempt this with upcoming graduating UPT classes.

Navy got rid of dozens of student pilots at end of cold war era and later. No reinstatement into pilot training. It was ugly for many. Big Navy always wins like Big Blue. Needs of the service..... :/
Contract is to get to flight school and obligation if complete. I was never guaranteed a fleet bird though by contract.

Link?


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My information was that the Navy DID reinstate those students who fought it by assigning them to later classes. What would the Navy accomplish by not doing so? In the USAF you were offered a slot in OTS and a career field. When you completed OTS and the career field training they could not move you to another career field until you had served a specified time in that career field. They could also not change your career field at OTS graduation without your consent.

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There isn't any such restriction on Big Blue or legal recourse for the student. There is no contract or guarantee when a student accepts an assignment to SUPT.

As was posted, for 3-4 years there were Preds dropped on assignment night. That stopped once the Beta/18x program got up and running as their own separate training pipeline.

The career field, if one graduates, is still "11X" -- pilot. Just because their assigned aircraft is remotely piloted, that doesn't change their AFSC.

An 11X who goes to fly Preds is still an 11X, even if they're working/flying right along side 18Xs.

Here's the ugly truth: the AF can and will do anything to you that suits it's interests. They will change the rules on any contract/agreement, to include retirement and BAH for married members. They can force you to stay beyond whatever commitment you signed. You are nothing but an unimportant cog in the machine that is the AF, replaceable and of trivial value.

What I'm saying is don't go active duty under any circumstances, and for the love of god don't sign anything that says they own you for 10+ years. It's not worth the pain.