The Air Force has approved the plan to give incentive pay to officers who commit to flying remotely piloted aircraft and enlisted airmen who pledge to operate RPA sensors, service officials announced Wednesday. The incentive pay is equivalent to current aviation incentive pay programs and is available to officers in the 18X RPA pilot career field and enlisted members on the new 1U0X1 RPA sensor operator track. These incentives are scaled based on an airman’s time within these fields. “This represents a significant step forward in building a career field of RPA professionals,” said Lt. Col. David DuHadway, USAF’s rated force policy chief. There are slightly more than 400 airmen in RPA career fields today, a number expected to grow to more than 1,000 over the next few years to support burgeoning wartime demands for overhead imagery and armed reconnaissance. (SAF/PA release by SSgt. J.G. Buzanowski)
The Space Force wants to grow its enlisted force faster than its officer corps, the top enlisted Guardian said May 5, part of a push to make enlisted personnel the service’s primary operators.