UAV pilot career field could save $1.5B

[unhappycamper]

Lt. Col Debra Lee, the 46th Expeditionary Reconnaissance and Attack Squadron commander at Joint Base Balad, Iraq, flies an unmanned MQ-1 Predator on Feb. 13. Having specifically trained airmen rather than manned aircraft pilots fly unmanned aerial vehicles could save $1.5 billion over the next six years, an Air Force audit found.


UAV pilot career field could save $1.5B
By Michael Hoffman - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Mar 1, 2009 10:39:54 EST

Having specifically trained airmen rather than manned aircraft pilots fly unmanned aerial vehicles could save $1.5 billion over the next six years, an Air Force audit found.

The report, released in December by the service’s Audit Agency and obtained in February by Air Force Times through a Freedom of Information Act request, recommends establishing a career field for UAV pilots and developing a cadre of experienced UAV pilots, instructors and weapon system experts.

Auditors estimate the Air Force would save at least $500,000 per pilot if it revamped its training programs. Today, a manned aircraft pilot completes undergraduate and graduate pilot training programs. The service spends more than $2.6 million to train a fighter pilot. Training for an airlift pilot, relatively speaking, is far less — about $600,000.

The audit recommends “eliminating 20 unnecessary weeks of the current undergraduate pilot training program, deleting unnecessary graduate training on other aircraft,” and adding an eight-week UAV undergraduate course and 12 weeks of UAV graduate training. The cost, the report estimates, would be a little more than $135,000 per pilot.

Air Force leaders weren’t surprised by the findings and were rethinking UAV pilot training long before the audit was released, said Col. Scott Forest, deputy chief, operational training division.


Rest of article at: http://airforcetimes.com/news/2009/03/airforce_uav_audit_030109/%2e

[dipsydoodle]

1. Would also allow

some of those now physically disadvantaged due to wartime injuries to continue their careers.