RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas –
Students from two new Unmanned Aircraft Systems training courses, fourteen Airmen in all, participated in the first-ever joint graduation ceremony at Randolph Air Force Base Oct. 23.
Air Force officers in class 09-07, Unmanned Aircraft Systems Instrument Qualification course, and enlisted Airmen in class 10-02 Basic Sensor Operator Course comprise the first Beta 1 class, which is unique in that it is the first class to take officers from non-flying career fields and enlisted Airmen who have newly cross-trained into this career field and turn them into pilots and enlisted aircrew.
"Randolph has been here since 1929, and literally thousands of graduates of all types have come here to train, but you are the newest type," said Gen. Stephen Lorenz, Air Education and Training Command commander. "I do not know where this career field is going, or how it will look when it gets there, but you graduates are on the cutting edge. You're breaking the ground for future Airmen and are creating a new way forward for our Air Force."
The new enlisted sensor operators will control the sensor suite on either the MQ-1 Predator or MQ-9 Reaper, while the new pilots will remotely fly the aircraft. The crews will also communicate with service members and commanders in the deployed theater of operations and intelligence specialists watching the UAS feeds at stateside bases.
In the next phase of training, officers and enlisted sensor operators will now be paired together for a month-long UAS Fundamentals Course at Randolph, to build one cohesive team as they add to the basics they have just learned in their previous training and learn to function as an aircrew.
Unlike previous classes, this graduating class of officers has not attended Undergraduate Pilot Training, an Air Force program that trains pilots to fly manned aircraft. Now, the Air Force will have the chance to compare the ability of UAV pilots having been through, or not been through UPT.
"I'm fired up for the UAS Fundamentals Course. We'll be interacting with the graduates of BSOC, as well as Undergraduate Pilot Training graduates," said 2nd Lt. Michael Petrelli, 12th Operations Group, Detachment 1 UAS student. "The fascinating part will be seeing how the education and training we received in the UIQ course will affect our performance in these next courses when compared with those who graduated from UPT."
Airmen in this program know that when their training is over, their next step is combat. Actual mission sorties give combatant commanders on the ground a real-time, continuous stream of information about their enemy.
"Learning and understanding the capabilities and the role UAS platforms play in the day-to-day operations in hostile areas of the world really opened by eyes to what we'll be doing once we move on to our initial squadrons," said Staff Sgt. Kelby Cox, 12th OG, Det. 1 BSOC student. "This is the future of the Air Force. This mission is, and will continue to be, on the front lines of battle."
Once these Airmen complete their joint UFC training at Randolph, officers will progress to the Joint Firepower Course at Nellis AFB, Nev., then to the Formal Training Unit at Creech AFB, Nev. Enlisted sensor operators will also progress to Creech AFB, but will attend the Initial Qualification Training course, where they will begin to fly their missions.
"I am very excited for you. You are part of something very special," General Lorenz said. "There will be bumps along the road, but when you're breaking new ground, who knows what will happen?"