Posted on 04/29/2002 9:08:53 AM PDT by Stand Watch Listen
It's in his blood, says Air Force Capt. Braxton Rehm. When he was nine, he got an aerial view of Abilene, Texas, in a plane his grandfather, a World War II pilot, built in the garage.By 16, Capt. Rehm himself was flying. And before he could legally drink, he'd learned to fly fighter jets for the Air Force. The young pilot was dodging gunfire over northern Iraq a year ago in an F-16 Fighting Falcon when he was given his next assignment: flying robotic reconnaissance planes called Predators -- from the ground.
"You can't even come close to translating the Predator and an F-16," says the 32-year-old pilot. The needle-nosed F-16 soars at 1,500 miles per hour; the Predator goes about 115 mph. Capt. Rehm admits to throwing stuff around his room after he was told of his new assignment. "I was not happy," he says.
After their recent successes reconnoitering Afghanistan, unmanned aerial vehicles such as the Predator are all the rage in defense circles. Politicians love them because they are cheaper than manned aircraft -- and Americans don't get killed flying them. After years of cultural resistance, the military is embracing them, too. Every branch of the armed forces is now clamoring for its own pilotless plane. Big contractors, including Boeing Co. and Northrop Grumman Corp., are pouring millions of dollars into developing all sorts of these aircraft, from helicopters to stealth bombers.
But one group remains decidedly cool toward this kind of 21st-century warfare: pilots. "There's a big difference between flying an F-15 at 30,000 feet going Mach 1.5 and sitting in a trailer watching a TV screen," says Air Force Capt. James McGrew. Not unlike Capt. Rehm, he'd been spending his days flying over southern Iraq when he was tapped to fly the Predator. Both men spent about three months in Afghanistan earlier this year.
Not only are fighter jockeys concerned that they are losing their edge while grounded on two-year assignments flying unmanned aircraft, they also gripe that this is a sorry reward for the time and energy they put into training to fly fighter jets. "We signed a lengthy contract with the Air Force to fly and went through a rigorous and long training,' " says Capt. Rehm, now stationed at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.
Pilots assigned to duty on unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, say they worry it is career-limiting work -- a sign they have fallen out of favor with the higher-ups. The grousing caught the attention of Air Force Secretary James Roche as he visited troops around the world over the past five months. In response, he and Air Force Chief of Staff John Jumper began sitting down with pilots on UAV duty, serving both as therapists and problem solvers, in the hope of coming up with ways to ease problems.
"The kids were right. Their feelings were somehow being shunted," says Sec. Roche. "But they are pioneers, taken out of the cockpit in order to teach us about this new technology."
That's small solace for men and women who got into the business of flying supersonic jets for the thrill, skill and glamour involved. Operating a Predator is about as far as it gets from rocketing through the skies, pumped full of adrenalin, in the high-atmosphere equivalent of a Ferrari. Predator ground stations resemble shipping containers. Inside, they're like office cubicles, offering nothing like the panoramic view they have in the cramped quarters of a cockpit.
When flying a UAV, a pilot and navigator sit side by side, each with two TV screens -- one with a map of where the aircraft is flying and the other with a view of what the aircraft's cameras are seeing. Maneuvering the craft requires a keyboard, flanked by a throttle button on the left and a joystick on the right. Two brake pedals are under the table, a poor substitute for the real ones that pilots can use to outwit an enemy plane coming up from behind. Currently, there are 71 UAV pilots, with another eight expected to join their ranks in early May. That number is expected to grow greatly in years to come as more of these machines are deployed, though openings for pilots in the armed forces have yet to be cut as a result.
During missions in Afghanistan, Predator pilots played a key role calling in attacks on targets detected with the aircraft's on-board cameras. But that's expected to diminish with the next-generation UAVs, which will render the pilot little more than a witness to the proceedings. The newest UAV addition, the Global Hawk, which made its battlefield debut in Afghanistan, is programmed for its flying mission before it ever takes off. All the pilot has to do is flip a power switch, tap a few strokes on a computer keyboard and click the on-screen "execute" box. Unless there is a problem or a change in mission, the aircraft does the rest.
To add insult to injury, the accommodations for Predator operators on recent missions were nothing like the well-appointed barracks or hotels that normally await Air Force pilots in distant lands. Many of the Predator pilots who did 90-day tours in Afghanistan spent most of their time sleeping in a squat, one-story building crawling with spiders and mosquitoes, with beds just a few feet apart from each other. "I thought 'What have I gotten myself into?' " says Capt. Elissa Beddow, a 30-year-old who used to pilot cargo planes.
The Air Force requires pilots to control the UAVs, because of their understanding of how aircraft work. Both manned and unmanned aircraft, Air Force officials say, are susceptible to similar problems, such as icing on the wings, engines cutting out and turbulence. Knowing the different sorts of weaponry available facilitates the speedy flow of information in the heat of a fight.
That may be so, but pilots feel that they have been trained for something much grander and more difficult. Air Force pilots spend one year doing intensive class-work, flight training and grueling physical workouts in order to win their silver wings. Once they join a squadron, the training continues nonstop, including so-called Red Flag exercises that take place in two-week chunks, four times a year. In those sessions, pilots conduct simulated dogfights, conduct risky low-altitude bombing runs and dodge dummy surface-to-air missiles.
Once posted to a UAV squadron, though, they are effectively grounded. The more time spent not flying, the harder it is to regain previous levels of expertise, they complain. Recently, "I put a dollar into a fighter game at an arcade, but I didn't do so good," says Capt. McGrew. At times he pretends he's in an aircraft and concentrates on the controls in the cockpit and the radio commands -- just to stay fresh. "But all that information seems to be draining away," he says.
Sec. Roche got an earful about this lack of contact with real airplanes. In response, he's looking into refurbishing old T-3 training aircraft -- not exactly state of the art, but better than nothing -- and assign them to the UAV squadrons so pilots wouldn't go through their two-year stints entirely landlubbers. Sec. Roche also is reversing the order that said UAV pilots shouldn't get flight-time credits for the hours they spent operating the drones. That hurt their flight pay, determined by the flight time logged at various points in their career.
Air Force officials are also seeking ways to make the experience of sitting in the windowless container more like flying a plane. They are working on ways to give ground operators a more panoramic view by putting additional cameras on the sides of a Predator. "We're trying to make it feel more like a plane," Sec. Roche says.
Even so, pilots are yearning for the day they can squeeze back into a real cockpit. "In a fighter, the sound and the senses come together to make the whole picture," says Capt. McGrew. In a trailer, he adds, there's just no way to get "that seat-of-the pants feel."
-- Greg Jaffe contributed to this article.
Stick with the proven manned aircraft.
Hell, I have a Flight Simulator on the computer and I could do this.
Here's an interesting parting though: how about a Predator with a nuke strapped on it, send it right up SoDamn's a$$...that would be good. F the recon, use them as Kamakazi's.
I know they would likely be shot down, but it is an interesting thought
I see the problem. Give these aircraft to the real warriors instead of these spoiled brats.
As for "stick with tried and proven manned aircraft," you remind me of the Army general who, after Hitler's Panzer divisions had pretty much run roughshod over France, said that the US Army should stick with the tried and proven horse. Good thing we ignored him. If it hadn't been for World War II, we'd have developed an Interstate Bridle Path program instead of an Interstate Highway system.
Unmanned aircraft are coming, like it or not. With the level of smarts they will have by 2025, tactical pilots will be obsolete--not only will the aircraft be able to out-turn a human pilot, they will be able to out-think him as well.
What do you think a TLAM-N or ALCM is, anyway?
Being nintendo jocks in a run down mobile home trailer is below them.
Get used to it Fighter Pilot Mafia. The joys of 'ex-steel worker culture shock' are on your to do list.
Alright dudes and dudettes, today we're going after the Iraqi SCUD launchers in sector 9 on your computer desktop map displays. Mission weather calls for clear skies, unlimited visibility and stiff winds of 270/10. A gust spread to 15 kts is predicted putting you right at startup limits. Station time at your terminals is 0900 with a 1000 launch time. Remember to climb and maintain your max service altitude of 5000 ft MSL and try and keep yourselves above your stall speed of 55 kts while engaging your targets. You should reach mission altitude 120 NM from takeoff, and just prior to reaching your IP. If you engage a SCUD that's on the move, break off your attack and select another SCUD that's stationary. No use wasting ordnance on a vehicle that can out run you.
Also, let's keep the web browsing down to a minimum during the 2 hour enroute time. I'm still sore from the ass reaming I got last month after that 3 aircraft midair you people had while you were busy downloading MP3 files of the latest Brittany Spears CD. Remember, we pay you to be combat joystickers, not geeky, slacker web surfers. Oh, and one other thing....watch where you lay your beverages! Yesterday, your former flight lead, Silverman, spilled his Mountain Dew all over his keyboard and damned near caused a fatal error catastrophe. He's been re-assigned to moniter air cargo drones with an obsolete IMac over Diego Garcia for the rest of the campaign.
Today, it gives me special pleasure to recognize our newest ace and flight lead for today's mission, Specialist Mary Ann Spleener, who downed her 5th Iraqi remote controlled stealth suicide hang glider drone in a pitched battle over Baghdad yesterday. I'm sure that Iraqi joysticker is cursing Allah over her trademark F10 keyboard entry and right click mouse maneuver that caused him to overcontrol during a wind gust and spin in. Now that's what I call combat keyboarding!
One last thing. You can expect heavy hacking attempts as you approach your target area. Remember to activate your system firewalls after takeoff and keep your secondary video display focused on your wingperson. Be prepared to take over your wingperson's portion of targets if their system crashes or loses telemetry.
Try and land your drones professionally today after the mission. No buzzing the SATCOM vans, PFC Jones! We have the SECDEF, Mr. Bill Gates, visiting the base today and providing us Windows 2010 upgrades for our systems. Remember to backup your mission files on disk prior to downloading the program. I'll expect your completed Power Point post mission briefs with streaming video e-mailed to me within one hour after landing. Now, let's go video control some laser energy on those SCUDS!
sigh...I'll miss those fighter jocks....
As far as the nuke, umm...ahh...must have been an overzealous Airman!
Your point is well-made. We should just get it over with and nuke his a$$.
Ya might as well resign yourself to it. The pilot is the limiting factor in today's fighter. Robots fighters will soon be faster, more agile, and more deadly than anything now flying.
We'll see. I'm skeptical on the UAV concept as anything more than a supplement to our manned aircraft right now. And weren't the Spec Ops guys on horses in Afghanistan during this war?
As much as I hate to see it, being USAF retired, you're dead on. There was a time when warfare in Western Civilization was focused on a armored knight on a war horse similarly armored, but those days were ended by the longbow and gunpowder. Time marches on. Still, I think it will take a pilotless FIGHTER (not a toy prop job, like the Predator, either) shooting down one of our MANNED FIGHTERS to change the attitude of many.
It's called the military Miss.
All you have to do to get out of it is resign your commision.
There are airlines just waiting for you to become available.
They'll pay you better, and put you up at the Howard Johnsons.
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