The pool of drone pilots who have been spying on Islamic State terrorists in the Middle East and keeping tabs on Boko Haram militants who have been kidnapping schoolgirls and killing Christians in northern Africa is starting to expand.
Drone pilots have been conducting covert military operations in various parts of the world 13 to 14 hours per day about six days a week under constant pressure and continued duress, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James warned during a Jan. 15 briefing on the State of the Air Force.
Air Force officials worried about the fatigued drone pilots asked Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve personnel to alleviate some of the stress associated with the drone mission, she said.
The Air Force Reserve is responding by adding 18 Air Force Reserve pilots to that group, Air Force Reserve spokesman Lt. Col. Bruce Bender told The Washington Times. The reserve will also supplement that drone pilot shortage by providing five airmen skilled at operating the sensors on the high-tech weapons, he said.
Meanwhile, the Air National Guard is still in the process of working with the Air Force to best decide on how they can help to alleviate the stress on those pilots conducting multiple counterterrorism and intelligence missions. Discussions on how the Air National Guard can further help the Air Force are underway, said Air National Guard spokesman Jeremy Webster.
As of January, the Air Force had only 990 drone pilots, but not all of them were busy conducting military operations over various hotspots across the world, said Air Force spokeswoman Vicki Stein.
Some of those pilots were tasked with other jobs, working as staff personnel or actively attending classes instead of supporting those operations, she said.
In addition to adding new pilots to the pool, the Air Force has also begun looking through its tight fiscal budget for funds that it could free up to bolster the retention bonuses for drone pilots, Ms. James said during the State of the Air Force briefing.
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh, who also attended the briefing, expressed concerns similar to that of Ms. James.
“We have just got to get ahead of this,” he said.
The Air Force can train only 180 drone pilots a year and has been losing about 240 drone pilots a year, “which is not a winning proposition,” he said.
“Our crew force out there actually will tell you they enjoy the mission, they like the work, they’re excited about the future,” Gen. Welsh said. “They’re just worn out, because this is not a new problem. It’s been going on since 2007, as the requirement keeps increasing, and all our solutions to it keep lagging the requirement change.”
• Maggie Ybarra can be reached at mybarra@washingtontimes.com.
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