Unmanned vehicle operators require diversity of skills.

• Author: Edwards, John
• Position: REMOTE CONTROLLERS

As the pilot carefully studies the terrain just 300 feet below, a suspicious vehicle suddenly materializes on the display. Seconds later, nearby troops are alerted to the existence of a possible suicide bomber squad. A potential disaster is averted.

It's not just another day on the job for a seasoned military pilot. These days, a growing number of military missions are being handled by an entirely new breed of pilot, one who never sets foot inside the vehicle he controls.

In today's era of tighter budgets and ever more sophisticated flight control technologies, the military is increasingly relying on remotely piloted, unmanned vehicle systems for a wide range of tasks, including intelligence gathering, remote surveillance and target applications.

Various unmanned vehicles are used in the air, on land, on sea and under the sea for missions that require a high degree of stealth or that could be dangerous for humans onboard a manned vehicle.

"It's the way things are headed across the military," says Paul McDuffee, unmanned aircraft system (UAS) advocacy vice chairman for the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems, based in Arlington, Va.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The term "unmanned vehicle system," although widely used, is a misnomer in many cases. While unmanned vehicles don't carry any humans, expert operators are required to remotely control the vehicles. Most operators specialize on no more than a handful of specific systems. "Unmanned vehicles are like snowflakes, there are really no two alike and there's not a one-size-fits-all solution to training or the operation of these platforms," McDuffee says.

While unmanned systems operators are still viewed by many people as ex-video game addicts who have finally managed to find their true calling, there's only a grain of truth in that stereotype. "People come to us with all types of skill sets," says McDuffee, who is also a business development executive at Insitu, an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) manufacturer located in Bingen, Wash. "But they all have the ability to understand computers and software and are able to manipulate those systems."

Most unmanned vehicle operators launch their careers in the military. "Our operators are recruited the same as any other marine," says Capt. Dale Fenton, an assistant operations officer at the Marine Corps Air Station in Cherry Point, N.C. "Basically, you get a cross-section of society."

Training programs and operator qualification requirements vary significantly, depending on the vehicle and service branch (or civilian employer). Recruits applying to the Marine Corps program to learn how to fly the RQ-7 Shadow, made by AAI Corp. of Hunt Valley, Md., must achieve at least a 105 score in the General Technical portion of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, the skills test all recruits face. "That's higher than most Military Occupation Specialties but it's not the highest," Fenton says. "They also have to have normal color vision and they...