Facing a shortage of drone pilots, the US Air Force said on Thursday it will increase pay for those who operate the robotic planes and draw on troops from the reserves to fill the gap.
The growing demand for drones has stretched the US military’s resources and placed a major strain on the pilots, who work an average of about 14 hours per day, six days per week, US Air Force Secretary Deborah James told a news conference.
“This is a force that is under significant stress from what is an unrelenting pace of operations,” James said.
Plans to bolster the number of drone pilots come as the US presses ahead with an air war against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, which has involved daily missions for the robotic aircraft.
The military had expected the need for drone flights to decline slightly with the withdrawal of most troops from Afghanistan. However, the US-led air campaign against the Islamic State, formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, launched in August last year has fueled requests for the more than 360 additional unmanned aircraft in the air force fleet, officials said.
“We thought we were drawing down and had a plan in place to man this enterprise that would, if we had actually drawn down, we’d be fine right now,” US Air Force Chief of Staff General Mark Welsh said.
James unveiled what she called “first steps” designed to relieve the pressure on the pilots.
However, additional measures are being drawn up, possibly including initiatives to be funded in the Pentagon’s budget request to US Congress next month.
“We will maximize the use of the US National Guard and reserve and indeed, we will be redirecting some resources in order to provide the money to bring additional personnel on active duty,” she said.
Some troops who have been trained as drone pilots, but have since moved on to other assignments will be asked to return to the drone mission. Drone operators who are due to leave for other missions will be ordered to stay on temporarily.
Drone operators are paid the same rate as conventional pilots, but are not eligible for bonus “incentive” pay offered to persuade airmen to remain in the military as they near the end of their term of service, officials said.
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