Piloting drones: Air Force expands training program for Predator operators.

• Author: Erwin, Sandra I.
• Position: Predator schoolhouse to train pilots for unmanned aircrafts

A steady surge in the demand for unmanned aircraft operators in the Air Force has resulted in a tenfold increase in the number of students attending the Predator schoolhouse at Creech Air Force Base, Nev.

Just about a year ago, the school was offering four classes a year that could accommodate 12 Predator crews. Each crew consists of a pilot and a sensor operator. By mid-2006, classes grew to eight a year, and each class has 120 crews.

"It's an explosion around here," says Danny Broyles, site manager responsible for the Predator training program at Creech. Approximately 150 pilots and sensor operators graduate each year from the Predator schoolhouse, says Broyles, who works for CAE, the company selected by the Air Force in 2003 to manage the Predator training program under a five-year $10 million contract.

Pilot students are assigned to Predator after serving at least one tour in another aircraft from active duty and the Air National Guard. Pilots from nearly every combat aircraft specialty have been assigned to Predator, Broyles says.

Most sensor operators--who are taught how to manage and manipulate the imagery downloaded from the aircraft--are first-term airmen and generally arrive at Predator training fresh from the Air Force intelligence school at Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas. Some students come from the active duty senior enlisted and junior officer ranks of the intelligence community and the Air National Guard.

Flight training includes basic Predator operations for both pilot and sensor operator students. Each student must complete 11 flights and 22 hours of training. The basic Predator qualification course lasts 70 days.

The crews sit in a ground control station and operate the Predator using computers that are linked to the aircraft via satellite. This requires crews to think as if they were in the aircraft yet also operate computer resources that are not available to aviators in-flight, such as chats with units and agencies to coordinate missions, on-line weather, on line flight planning and instant access to current intelligence.

Most students arrive with some basic computer skills. But that typically is not enough to operate the Predator in combat.

"Predator operations are way beyond the skills required to play video games," says a CAE spokesman. "Predator crews can quickly become overloaded while operating in an environment that is observed at all levels of command."

In coming years, the Air Force plans to upgrade the...