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Officials extend UAV jobs freeze

Airmen operating unmanned aerial vehicles had better get comfortable — they will be staying put until at least Sept. 30, 2011.

The freeze on UAV operators, which began in fall 2007, was extended Oct. 16 by Air Force Secretary Michael Donley and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton A. Schwartz. Airmen can change jobs, but only to one of the bases where UAVs are flown, such as Creech Air Force Base, Nev., and Cannon Air Force Base, N.M.

The demand for UAVs, and the low number of airmen trained to fly them and drive their sensors, prompted the freeze, Donley and Schwartz said.

“We have closely examined [unmanned aircraft systems] demands from commanders in the field. To support their warfighting requirements, we must extend limits on reassignments through FY11,” Donley and Schwartz wrote in a memo addressed to airmen who work with the Air Force’s MQ-1 Predators and MQ-9 Reapers.

The Air Force has increased the number of combat air patrols it can fly by 600 percent over the past six years. It now flies 37 continuous UAV combat air patrols — or orbits — over Iraq and Afghanistan, with a goal of flying 50 by 2011.

The jobs freeze will affect about 11 percent — or 70 — of the UAS pilots and sensor operators at Creech. Other UAS bases, such as Cannon, have units so new that their airmen’s UAV tours all extend past 2011.

Service leaders extended the freeze to 2011, but Lt. Col. Dewey DuHadway, chief of rated force policy for the Air Force personnel directorate, said it will not necessarily end in 2011.

“It will end when we have enough people. ... If the requirement continues to go up, then it will be hard to not limit outflow,” he said.

Expanding the UAV pilot and sensor operator training pipeline at places such as Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., will address the shortfall of UAV airmen, DuHadway said.

“We are trying to normalize this as fast as we can, but the priority remains supporting the combatant commanders today,” DuHadway said. “Further down the road, we will make this look like every other career field.”

Pilots trained to fly manned aircraft such as F-15s or B-1s who are now flying Predators and Reapers have said they are worried that flying UAVs too long will hurt their careers. The pilots said they worry they will fall behind their peers, who can continue logging flight hours on manned aircraft.

DuHadway said Air Force career field managers recognize the pilots’ concerns and will keep them in mind when it comes time for promotions and choosing new assignments.

Years spent working with UAVs won’t hurt airmen when they are up for promotion, DuHadway said.

“There is an abundance of opportunities within the UAS world,” he said. “The fact that UAS airmen are fully engaged in the war gives them a great opportunity for operational experience, which helps when it comes time to promote.”