Defense
Secretary Ash Carter approved dropping the number of combat air patrols flown
from 65 to 60 as part of an overarching effort to rebalance operational demands
on remotely piloted aircraft crews. Air Force leaders hope the “CAP reset” will
alleviate the surge footing in the RPA community, according to a May 20
release. Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James
and Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh have
spoken repeatedly in the past several months on the
state of the RPA force, saying USAF must find a way to balance risk in areas
such as retention, training, manning, and combat capability in the RPA force.
Current USAF Active Duty RPA pilot production stands at 180 pilots a year, but
demand stands at 300 pilots a year, Welsh noted. USAF plans to add 100 more
pilot graduates to its pipeline a year, but this won’t be an easy task because
there also is a shortage of RPA instructors. For example, RPA training
squadrons at Holloman AFB, N.M., are staffed at 63 percent, according to a
recent Government Accountability Office report.
In addition to previously announced incentives, USAF is working on more funding
for its RPA school house capacity, increased reserve component augmentation
days, and some contracted RPA recovery efforts.
