The Air Force will choose its next class of enlisted airmen seeking to fly remotely piloted aircraft in 2017.
In a Wednesday release, the Air Force Personnel Center announced that 305 active-duty enlisted airmen are in the running for the second phase of the enlisted RPA pilot program. Those airmen, who made it past the initial qualifying phase, must now submit their application packages — including a medical screening and commander's recommendation — to AFPC by Dec. 16, and medical waivers by Jan. 27, according to the release.
The selection board will meet from Feb. 6 to Feb. 9, and announce its results by the end of the month.
In an email, AFPC spokeswoman Paige Hughes said that 37 of those airmen could be chosen to become pilots -- though that number could change -- and they could begin training as early as May 2017.
The first four enlisted airmen began training to fly RQ-4 Global Hawks Oct. 12 as part of the Enlisted Pilot Initial Class, or EPIC. Eight more — or 12 in all — will follow in two more classes over the next few months.
Wednesday's release did not say how many of the 305 enlisted will be chosen for the second phase of RPA training.
But AFPC said there is a great deal of interest in flying RPAs among enlisted airmen. Undergraduate flying training typically draws applications from about 200 candidates, but AFPC said it received more than 800 this time.
The applicants answered a call for nominations in July, and passed the Air Force Enlisted or Officer Pilot Qualifying Test and the Test of Basic Aviation Skills, which were then combined with their flying hours to create their pilot candidate selection method, or PCSM, score.
PCSM scores that were high enough were combined with assignment limitation and availability codes, retainability and other factors, which then were used to decide which airmen would move on to the next step.
After a lengthy review, the Air Force officials last December announced they had decided to open the door to enlisted airmen to fly the RQ-4, an unarmed drone that conducts intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions.
"We have an incredibly talented pool of enlisted airmen, and we're confident that this rigorous selection process will yield excellent enlisted aircrew who will continue to provide combatant commanders with the ISR they need to win today's fight," Senior Master Sgt. Rebecca Guthrie, AFPC's career enlisted aviator assignments manager, said in the release.
Stephen Losey is the air warfare reporter for Defense News. He previously covered leadership and personnel issues at Air Force Times, and the Pentagon, special operations and air warfare at Military.com. He has traveled to the Middle East to cover U.S. Air Force operations.
