First three enlisted RPA pilots graduate, move on to Global Hawk training

The Air Force's first three enlisted airmen to train as remotely piloted aircraft operators graduated from their program May 5, and now head to another course to qualify to fly the RQ-4 Global Hawk.

Twelve non-commissioned officers who were chosen for the Enlisted Pilot Initial Class -- split into three groups of four enlisted members -- are the Air Force's first enlisted airmen allowed to train as pilots since World War II. The process, which began last October, includes initial flight training, RPA instrument qualification and fundamentals training classes in Colorado and at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph.

The first graduates will move to Beale Air Force Base, CA, for training tailored to Northrop Grumman's Global Hawk, the service said May 5. When deciding last year to allow all enlisted airmen to pursue RPA pilot careers, the Air Force limited their options to flying intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions on the Global Hawk, not strike missions on MQ-1 Predators or MQ-9 Reapers.

Each group of RPA pilot trainees begins with four enlisted members and 20 officers. In February, the Air Force chose another 30 enlisted airmen for RPA pilot training in fiscal years 2017 and 2018. The service expects to graduate 100 enlisted RPA operators within four years to grow the RPA ranks and ease the burden of around-the-clock operations on those pilots.

In the Fiscal Year 2017 National Defense Authorization Act, Congress told the Air Force to hire a "significant number of enlisted personnel" to fly RPAs by Sept. 30, 2020 for active-duty members and Sept. 30, 2023 for the Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard. About 70 percent of pilots flying daily Global Hawk missions should be fully trained enlisted members by 2020, according to the service.

The Air Force will look at how RPA training could change to better serve the growing RPA pilot pipeline as more enlisted members graduate.