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Sensor operators finally rewarded

Once in awhile the Air Force does something right.

On Oct. 2, the service announced the enhanced stature of enlisted sensor operators in the unmanned aerial vehicle community.

For too long, the sensor operator who sits beside a pilot in the “box,” the ground-based crew compartment that controls the flight of a UAV, has been treated as a second-class citizen.

The treatment was wrong when you compared a sensor operator with the pilot operating the same UAV. It was also wrong when you compared a sensor operator with other kinds of enlisted crew members, such as flight engineers and loadmasters.

Now, enlisted airmen working as sensor operators for the MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper will be designated as career enlisted aviators. They’ll qualify for incentives received by other enlisted aviators. They’ll receive flight pay and wear enlisted aircrew wings.

“This is a victory for enlisted airmen,” said Chief Master Sgt. Steve J. Hanson of the 214th Reconnaissance Group, a component of the Arizona Air National Guard in Tucson.

“The Air Force intent is to develop a professional, sustainable population of unmanned aerial system airmen as part of viable career fields that include equitable opportunities for promotion, developmental education, leadership and command,” Maj. Gen. Darrell Jones said in a statement.

The change in the status of enlisted UAV crew members is part of a larger change that also will foster pilots trained exclusively to fly UAVs. A pilot can be in the “box” rather than in the sky and still be deemed a “rated officer” and receive flight pay.

Until this change, working in the UAV career field — the term “unmanned aerial system” is also used — was a passport to a second-class career. It took the Air Force far too long to realize that a sensor operator and a loadmaster ought to be paid the same and given the same prospects for advancement.

UAVs perform important duties. That’s why recognition for their crews is long overdue.

For now, the service has taken a step in the right direction. It’s a big step, one that many didn’t expect.

Air Force leaders deserve credit for making it.

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Robert F. Dorr is an Air Force veteran who lives in Oakton, Va. E-mail him.

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