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UAVs, not just an Air Force gig anymore

Hozer

Jobu needs a refill!
None
Contributor
another beauty from duffle blog...

NEW YORK, NY – Famed television personality Bill O’Reilly is in critical condition today at a New York City hospital after being wounded by gunfire in the latest battle of the War on Christmas.
O’Reilly, a political commentator of Fox News’ “The O’Reilly Factor”, also serves as Commanding General of the Christian Philosophy Brigade, which has been fighting the dark forces of the Secular Empire since 1997.
“The secularists have fought us in many battles,” O’Reilly said in one segment where he highlighted key engagements. “At every turn, we have been able to maintain our perimeter and ensure the safety of Christmas for every Christian, Jew, Muslim, and Buddhist who celebrates it.”
O’Reilly was allegedly shot by atheist machine-gun fire as he walked out of Fox studios. Although critically injured, O’Reilly, who is no stranger to combat, fired back at the hordes of secularists and anti-religious bigots with his Uzi 9mm. The Secular Empire fighters quickly disbursed and rushed to a nearby church, where they kicked over a nativity scene and exclaimed their love for Satan.
“Not only did they shoot at me,” O’Reilly later remarked, “but the bastards said Happy Holidays as they were fleeing. That was the real slap in the face.”
This latest gunfight is just another in a long history of battles. On Dec. 22, 2007, a cashier at a Kentucky Wal-Mart gave a customer back his change and said “Have a nice day” in lieu of “Merry Christmas”, causing the man to later suffer debilitating post-traumatic stress.
Another incident occurred in 2009 outside a Home Depot in Florida, where customers were forced to buy items the store called “Christmas trees”, rather than the preferred “Celebration of The Birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Trees,” which O’Reilly has demanded.
Although doctors have said O’Reilly is in critical condition, they have expressed high hopes for his recovery.
“We’re very confident that Bill will recover and be able to fight on for another day,” said Dr. Robert Kleiner. “He’s been in and out of consciousness, but when he’s been awake, he’s been saying that he’s hopeful about getting Feliz Navidad banned from the radio, due to the singer replacing Merry Christmas with ‘a Marxist-Spanish phrase’.”
end threadjack...​
 

sevenhelmet

Low calorie attack from the Heartland
pilot
WTF was that? Are you even in the right thread dude? I've had a few, but I'm not THAT drunk...
 

HAL Pilot

Well-Known Member
None
Contributor
^^^...seething...

We already got drones to explore the planets for us. Maybe we can get them to fly missions, fight in the trenches, drive ships, tanks, and our personal automobiles, climb mountains, do our critical thinking, and have fun for us too. Then we can all sit around and bitch about politics and put the drones in for medals.
When he thought it was real....

WTF was that? Are you even in the right thread dude? I've had a few, but I'm not THAT drunk...
When he realized it wasn't....

hook-line-sinker1.jpg
 

sevenhelmet

Low calorie attack from the Heartland
pilot
Holy crap, I just re-read all that. The perils of drunken posting cannot be overstated.
 

pdt1530

Member
Just out of curiosity (and let me know if I'm out of line in any way), with the recent developments of UAV's in the Navy, where do these pilots come from? As in, what pipeline would they have entered? I'm guessing jets? I can't find any info on how they chose pilots for UAVs. Is this the reason why the Navy is looking for more pilots right now? I know this is a pretty new thing for the Navy...
 

RadicalDude

Social Justice Warlord
Navy UAVs do not have pilots. They are semi-autonomous and have "operators." Not sure of the rules, but I believe many of them are enlisted.
 

pdt1530

Member
O ok, thanks! I just thought it was weird because the operators are in full pilot suits, even with flotation and helmets.
 

picklesuit

Dirty Hinge
pilot
Contributor
I do lots of things in my "pilot suit" to include:
Paperwork, oil changes, yard work, "pilot stuff" and lunch in public...don't let the pajamas fool you into thinking we are all Top Gun Aviators!
Pickle
 

Gatordev

Well-Known Member
pilot
Site Admin
Contributor
O ok, thanks! I just thought it was weird because the operators are in full pilot suits, even with flotation and helmets.

Many of them are pilots from various communities who are doing a stint flying a UAV. Sometimes they're NFOs and depending on the system, they can be enlisted. One of the Firescout dets had a helo pilot, a VAQ NFO, and I think another helo guy (can't remember), as well as two enlisted sensor operators.
 

OscarMyers

Well-Known Member
None
Many of them are pilots from various communities who are doing a stint flying a UAV. Sometimes they're NFOs and depending on the system, they can be enlisted. One of the Firescout dets had a helo pilot, a VAQ NFO, and I think another helo guy (can't remember), as well as two enlisted sensor operators.

Are these billets considered disassociated sea tours?
 

Gatordev

Well-Known Member
pilot
Site Admin
Contributor
Are these billets considered disassociated sea tours?

It depends. Currenlty, the sea-going deployed Firescout dets are coverd (mostly) by the Reserve side with some AC help. In the past, the FS dets were manned by AC LAMPS squadrons. I can't speak to the fixed-wing side.

With the creation of HUQ-1, things are even more hazy, as they fall under the AC HSC wing but also have a Reserve UIC, but an AC HSM squadron (-35) is planning to deploy with them, as well.

On the Navy side, the whole Firescout process has been a goat rope for a while (administrately speaking). They're trying to put it all under one roof, but there are still a lot of cats to herd.
 

zippy

Freedom!
pilot
Contributor
Navy UAVs do not have pilots. They are semi-autonomous and have "operators." Not sure of the rules, but I believe many of them are enlisted.
First BAMS-D pilot was a P-3 guy. They used winged aviators, just like the Air Force did during testing. Not sure what the long term plan is but my spidey sense is telling me this could be a path for VP community non screen/OP-T DH pilots. The community has been kind of quiet on how manning these new squadrons will be accomplished.
 
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