theoriginalturk

Ill just say that this advice, the rushing and bogidope, has been regurgitated so many times on every available channel that an increasing amount of units are no longer accepting any rushing and can usually tell applicants that have utilized bogiedopes services from those that have their own professional development.

That hasn’t been the case in several years. There’s no shortage of inexperienced FNGs. There’s always been a shortage of people willing to stay past their ADSC, instructor pilots, staff etc, in the 11x world

All URT people will PCS to Randolph for the time being. You’ll get a “drop night” it’s probably gunna look like this 99% MQ-9s 30%creech 30%canon 30%somewhere else You’ll TDY to your training assignments and yes they bringing back IFT for the time being: after seeing how all around poorly everyone who didn’t have any background in flying and who didn’t go did/are doing I’d reckon you’d get it if you applied. Although our manning number are looking better, RPAs are still mostly inexperienced Lts. The glut is pretty substantial. On top of that they don’t really have a vision for what to do with RPAs in the next 10 years let alone 18xers. good luck.

That’d be great. I don’t see a good chance that the rest of ACC would be happy to see any additional staff jobs coded to allow 18xers: youre losing tons of talent by the time they qualify for staff on top of their general lack of a common operating picture, or shared experiences with 11x (particularly organic 18xers)

I agree that i think the 18X experiment seems to be failing and that theres not much at the CGO level that can be done to turn the ship around. I was wondering if you had the time to expand on why they should stop making 18Xers: i agree I just wonder what someone whos been around longer than I have is seeing that i might not be.

It certainly has been interesting to see how little things have changed in the grand scheme of things with RPAs. There have been a few resurrected threads of late, and the reaction from manned aircrew on how the RQ-4s have been so quickly tossed aside surprises no one. One of the things that this forum does well is allowing freedom of opinion and expression to flow across-platforms and up-and-down the ranks. When the same memorandum used to divest from RQ-4s comes down from HAF for the -9 (Spolied alert: the rumor is itll be fragged to be divested by FY25, and of course without a replacement) Id bet we would see a similar celebration from our aircrew brethren when the robots are all dead. The question will be what to do with the largest tactical aviator community. Anyone have a crystal ball that works?

People have been painting an unrealistically rosey picture of the state of RPAs. Wish I had some of that blue koolaid Read the RAND reports the GAO reports and the Mitchell is tires publications. Nothing much has changed for this community, manning has gotten better. Congress was/is tracking it and when it was as bad as it was, the only way to go is up. If you want to be a pilot, I would stay away from RPAs. You’ll only be a pilot in your tiny section of the Air Force. No one outside of it will see you as a a pilot, and likely you’ll be seen as an either a joke or a threat. If you want to fly, use your gi bill, go work for an airline, save yourself some trouble. If you want to fly at 1g, get no FAA certifications, fight to remain relevant even despite 20 years of combat ops, fight for funding while the Air Force is buying literal t-6s with weapons on them and locally piloted aircraft, have several additional duties at the squadron level, and occasionally get a chance blow some baddies up then go for it.

If they are still doing that stuff in RPA next just learn to play the game. There was gouge going around that pregamed most EPs just find some or build some, then memorize it and try to regurgitate it in front of everyone. If you don’t get through the EP hardly anyone cares, it doesn’t matter and everyone knows that. The RPA pipeline is a joke. Everyone knows it’s just a cost cutting measure to spare the real pilots from the box.

Sounds like what happened to the whole RPA community. I’ve heard argument against certifications and training that would improve airmenship, because it’s not the AFs job to give you the qualifications that would make leaving the organization easier.

If you happen to be in the right zip code, you can apply to have a temporary increase in BAH for a few paychecks. But it’s an application process and you have to demonstrate that your living costs have gone up.

I know how that community feels. But perception is reality, and the public's perception is pretty obvious. I only ask because 14 CFR § 61.73 is very specific that 18x are not to be counted as pilots, and if RPA drivers were trained to the same standard as UPT, there would be no need to differentiate them from the 11x community. Being A coded, Its good its to know that theres always a future in the Air Force for drone operators, as long as its at the only RPA wing, out of the active duty force, or Canon. The RPA community was an unwanted child that was dropped on its head by allegedly qualified leaders of a flying organization. Its been suffering ever since. Its one of several communities suffering. The Air Force has other obligations outside of manned flying and the leadership crisis certainly extends to manned pilots.

So where do RPA officers fall then? They’re not pilots and their machines aren’t airplanes.

Thats a great anecdote, but statistics dont lie and its no longer 2017-18. It could be helpful though, if youd be willing to share some more info about your story. Howd you go from being hired by a heavy unit to a fighter unit? What were your AFOQT scores like? Howd you get interviewed at heavy and or fighter units with the closest number to zero hours of flight time? Who were your letters of Rec? What was your GPA, educational background? What kind of leadership positions did you occupy? Who did you work for prior to the AF? There are always outliers, like yourself. With out more published data, people can begin to falsely believe theyre in the outlier category.

You should see the curriculum and product on the RPA side. I’d laugh if it wasn’t such a bad joke.

I wonder if there was another “pilot” group that could benefit from a legitimate pipeline, with shared experiences with the rest of the Flying Air Force? Of course the first step would be to stop systematically delegitimizing and disenfranchising them.