USAF wants combat systems officers—lieutenants through majors—to fly remotely piloted vehicles. Those airmen who qualify have until Nov. 20 to volunteer. Those who are selected will be notified in December and begin training in January. Once trained, they “will possess the 18X Air Force specialty code and become permanent [unmanned aircraft system] assets,” said Lt. Col. Jeffrey Kwoka, UAS career field manager. The Air Force leadership announced the creation of the 18X specialty code in September. CSOs without a commercial instrument rating are eligible to apply, but those with such a rating have only until Dec. 31 to apply and be able to go directly to a formal training unit, bypassing the full UAS pilot training course, said Maj. Gregory Nita, chief of UAS and intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance assignments, noting a policy change. (Air Force release)
A recent seven-day exercise sent Air Force F-22s—along with other USAF aircraft—to austere, challenging environments across Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. Agile Reaper, taking place for the second time after its inaugural edition last year, featured 800 Airmen and 29 aircraft across five different locations from April 10-16, training…