UAVs, not just an Air Force gig anymore

[Autorotate]

All UAV jokes aside, the guys sitting in the box in Nevada running the things, are killing terroists, everyday... and for a cost that is almost non-existent.

Anybody else see the article on the Reaper pilots in a recent issue of one of the major men's magazines? I think it was Men's Health, or GQ.

They're doing a fine job, but to hear them talk about it (in typical AF fashion), it's the toughest thing they've ever done. What with working 12 hour days and all, instead of the standard THREE month deployments they're used to. I'm 90% sure they receive combat pay for living in Las Vegas...

 

[Single Seat]

Anybody else see the article on the Reaper pilots in a recent issue of one of the major men's magazines? I think it was Men's Health, or GQ.

They're doing a fine job, but to hear them talk about it (in typical AF fashion), it's the toughest thing they've ever done. What with working 12 hour days and all, instead of the standard THREE month deployments they're used to. I'm 90% sure they receive combat pay for living in Las Vegas...

Ya you can talk shit all you want, I've got a new found respect for what those guys do, having seen it first hand. What did you do this week?

 

[SemperGumbi]

Hate to sidetrack more, but doing great or not, I think at a time when we have some guys on the ground living in pretty tough austere conditions, members of the military doing high-profile things (i.e. when they are being interviewed) should keep that in mind. I don't care how great they are doing, they don't need to be talking about how awful it is, or how it is one of the toughest jobs in the military right now. It makes them look silly.

I think it sucks that some guys are basically pulled from their jets for a 7 day a week/long hour/possible carreer ending job, but they should still keep it in perspective. Saying it is one of the toughest jobs in the military (as was said by an AF UAV pilot in an article I read in mainstream media) shows a myopic view.

I know some of the media are just looking for quotes like that to jazz up the article, but I can't imagine that they are painting a totally off picture of what those guys say.

 

[Scoob]

Saying it is one of the toughest jobs in the military (as was said by an AF UAV pilot in an article I read in mainstream media) shows a myopic view.

Let's not forget the source, now. (AF drama queen, not the mag.)

 

[hfrog84]

Hate to sidetrack more, but doing great or not, I think at a time when we have some guys on the ground living in pretty tough austere conditions, members of the military doing high-profile things (i.e. when they are being interviewed) should keep that in mind. I don't care how great they are doing, they don't need to be talking about how awful it is, or how it is one of the toughest jobs in the military right now. It makes them look silly.

Couldn't agree more. When I was it the Died back in 05 All I ever heard was whining and bitching about how bad it sucked. OK it sucked (yes I know only for 120 days) but not near as bad as every where else.....I mean come on there was a massusse on base fercryinoutloud.

We (AF) usually lose sight of the fact the the boys with boots on the ground are doing THE mission, and we are ALL support assets in one way or another.

 

[HackerF15E]

The problem for the UAV guys is that it is non-stop. Yes, they are physically located in southern Nevada, but what difference does that make when you're pulling 12-on, 12-off for months and months and months at a time. It's barely better than being deployed -- it just has better food and a better bed. It's certainly nowhere near the pace of a normal job where you get weekends off regularly.

Pretty sure we've all ready had this very same discussion on this board a few months ago...

 

[squeeze]

12-on-12-off sucks no matter how you slice it. That being said, talking to a Predator guy flying out of Tonopah while drilling silly circles over Karmah was pretty entertaining... until he told me he gets to go home and drink beer and sleep with his wife after the day is done. Bastards.

 

[SemperGumbi]

...you're pulling 12-on, 12-off for months and months and months at a time. It's barely better than being deployed -- it just has better food and a better bed. It's certainly nowhere near the pace of a normal job where you get weekends off regularly.

Pretty sure we've all ready had this very same discussion on this board a few months ago...

Yeah, that sucks and all, but barely better than being deployed? For whom? Me? Maybe. My buddies on the ground? I somehow doubt it.

I don't think about dodging IED's very often. A great quote I heard about patrolling in Iraq was very simple and very telling; "You're always thinking you are about to get blown up. It's a shitty feeling." I acknowledge that I am sitting in an ECS controlled cockpit whining about the lack of built-in comfort of the ejection seat. Ergo I don't say I have "probably one of the toughest assignments in the military."

I think this is actually a slightly different topic than the discussion previously. In this instance, their choice of words is well below average.

 

[HeyJoe]

12-on-12-off sucks no matter how you slice it. That being said, talking to a Predator guy flying out of Tonopah while drilling silly circles over Karmah was pretty entertaining... until he told me he gets to go home and drink beer and sleep with his wife after the day is done. Bastards.

Slight correction. The Predator/Reaper homeplate is Creech AFB (formerly Indian Springs). Roughly same neighborhood as Tonopah, but not the same place and much closer to Nellis AFB/Vegas.

 

[PropStop]

We won't be praising the UAVs come Judgement Day.

Oh, way to be a buzz kill man!

 

[squeeze]

Slight correction. The Predator/Reaper homeplate is Creech AFB (formerly Indian Springs). Roughly same neighborhood as Tonopah, but not the same place and much closer to Nellis AFB/Vegas.

The guy said he was from Tonopah.

 

[bobbybrock]

The problem for the UAV guys is that it is non-stop. Yes, they are physically located in southern Nevada, but what difference does that make when you're pulling 12-on, 12-off for months and months and months at a time. It's barely better than being deployed -- it just has better food and a better bed. It's certainly nowhere near the pace of a normal job where you get weekends off regularly.

Pretty sure we've all ready had this very same discussion on this board a few months ago...

I can only speak for the Army guys but I'd think most would prefer 12 on 12 off and still be at home station. The 12 months I did in Iraq is 12 months I won't get back with my wife and kids.
I won't get into the chronic fatigue of flying 6-8 hours a day in combat zone. They might endure some stress but I don't see them felling the same trempadation as somene on in country.
When was the last time one of these guys had a rocket or morter fly over their house during there 12 off?
Look, what these guys do is very important. But they will get no sympathy from me for the conditions they work in.

 

[HeyJoe]

The guy said he was from Tonopah.

Very odd as the Wing and all the other UAV activity is concentrated at Creech AFB. Tonopah is a good two hours to the north. Maybe he was trying to create the allure of the former F-117 and Red Eagle mystique when he was just a dude from Indian Springs (land sometimes treated like red-headed stepchildren).

 

[HackerF15E]

Tonopah is a good two hours to the north.

I seem to remember the drive from Nellis to TTR taking somewhere on the order of 4+ hours.

 

[HeyJoe]

I seem to remember the drive from Nellis to TTR taking somewhere on the order of 4+ hours.

I was talking about Creech to TTR