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Post by pat perry on Sept 14, 2016 3:56:50 GMT 9
TREA News this week: Pat P.
Enlisted Personnel to Once Again Pilot U.S Military Aircraft
They were not paid much, their opportunities for promotion were limited, and they were treated harshly in training, but that did not stop three generations of enlisted aviators from becoming pilots in the Army Air Corps.
Beginning in 1912, enlisted pilots played an important role in writing the aviation history being celebrated this year during the Centennial of Flight. These enlisted pilots were known as "flying sergeants" for the staff sergeant rank they received upon graduation from flight training irrespective of their previous rank.
Allowing enlisted airmen to earn their wings as pilots was a temporary response to drastic shortages of qualified pilot candidates during wartime. Two Congressional laws authorized the training: the Air Corps Act of 1926 and Public Law 99, which went into effect in 1941. Public Law 99 reduced the education requirement, making the average age of the sergeant pilot between 18 and 22, younger than most pilot training cadets with a college education.
Enlisted pilot candidates trained six days a week in class or in the air and spent Sundays doing drill. They flew in 22 campaigns from the Mexican-American War to World War II.
Seventeen enlisted pilots became fighter aces, and 11 became general officers. Many sergeant pilots' heroic deeds and accomplishments reached historic significance.
During World War II, 30 staff sergeant pilots flew transport missions in the China-Burma-India Theater, delivering supplies and people over the treacherous Himalaya Mountains better known as the "Hump."
The opportunity for enlisted men to become pilots ended in late 1942 with the Flight Officer Act. This law replaced the program's sergeant pilot rank with the warrant officer rank, which was also eventually done away with. Retired Brig. Gen. Chuck Yeager, famous for breaking the sound barrier, was in the last class of the enlisted pilot program when it was replaced. The following year, all sergeant pilots received orders to be promoted to the new "Flight Officer" rank. Now, however, things are changing. Once again, due to a pilot shortage and high operational demand the Air Force has announced that it wants enlisted personnel to eventually account for more than half of the pilots flying the RQ-4 Global Hawk drone.
Roughly 200 officers are authorized to fly the Global Hawk — yet enlisted personnel over the next several years will make up most of those slots, according to an Air Force spokesman.
By 2020, the Air Force hopes to have a little more than half of its 198 RQ-4 pilots be enlisted airmen. By that point, roughly 70 percent of the 121 airmen flying Global Hawk missions on a day-to-day basis — not performing other duties such as staff positions at the wing — will be enlisted airmen.”
The prospective applicant pool is huge — upwards of 50,000 airmen — though it’s not clear how many of those men or women will actually apply to make the move.
Also unclear is whether enlisted personnel who distinguish themselves flying the spy drones will eventually be allowed to pilot their armed counterparts. The Air Force has much larger inventories of these medium-altitude “hunter-killer” systems.
Remembering Pilot and TREA member Marvin A. Stout
Dedicated TREA member Marvin A. Stout was one of the Staff Sergeant Pilots in the U.S. Army Air Corps who had a distinguished career flying in World War II. He liked to say that he had “landed in every country that had a long enough runway.” He retired as a Senior Master Sergeant after serving 26 years.
After the Army he went to Palmdale California first to work for Lockheed and then establishing the very successful family business, Tax Service Specialists, where he worked until he was 87 years old and which is still run by his children. While doing all of this he served for years as Treasurer on both TREA’s and TSCL’s Board of Directors. The news that once again there will be enlisted pilots flying for the United States would have made him extremely happy.
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Post by Gene on Sept 14, 2016 5:34:44 GMT 9
my dad tried out during WWII, but color blind enough not to make it...funny he could be flight engineer on C 124 and C 141... but thats how it worked out... i coulda been an officers kid..
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Post by Jim on Sept 14, 2016 7:23:03 GMT 9
Are they really pilots? No, they will never be pilots, model airplane operators, yes. Will the training they receive qualify them to sit in the cockpit and operate the controls of the aircraft they are in? There is a hell of a lot of difference in the 2 skills, one of which is that the operator of the model airplane will never die in a crash of that airplane. Putting a flight suit on them and pinning some sort of wings on them and giving them flight pay and combat pay and fancy combat service ribbons on their chest, doesn't make them a pilot. It just makes them highly paid model airplane operators. And the Air Force probably has several hundred of them that would gladly become remote controlled aircraft operators just for the hell of it!!!!!! I have a brother that has been operating a remote controlled B29 with a 12 foot wing span and 4 McCulloch weed trimmer engines for more than 40 years, and I have yet to hear him call himself a pilot.. Unless he is talking about flying his Cessna or his old Cub.....And yes, the flying Sgts became flight officers, and the four that I knew were never WOs, but when the war was over, those that had college (it was Hap Arnold that said that pilots would be holders of a college degree-even if it was in basket weaving!!!) and wanted to stay in the USAAF got commissioned 2nd Lts., and one was commissioned a 1st Lt. because he had received the Distinguished Flying Cross.... Remember when the garbage man became a sanitation engineer and a sales clerk became an Associate? Just give him one of today's AF fancy chrome plated badges, a spot promotion and P2 propay, but don't call him a pilot
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Post by LBer1568 on Sept 14, 2016 23:47:29 GMT 9
TREA News this week: Pat P.
Enlisted Personnel to Once Again Pilot U.S Military Aircraft
They were not paid much, their opportunities for promotion were limited, and they were treated harshly in training, but that did not stop three generations of enlisted aviators from becoming pilots in the Army Air Corps.
Beginning in 1912, enlisted pilots played an important role in writing the aviation history being celebrated this year during the Centennial of Flight. These enlisted pilots were known as "flying sergeants" for the staff sergeant rank they received upon graduation from flight training irrespective of their previous rank.
Being a pilot is a physical skill. But modern aircraft require additional skills to operate the sophisticated avionics systems. The USAF has a mindset that being a college graduate qualifies you for a higher degree in flying aeroplanes. Back in my early days of Flight Simulation we would sit on edge of simulator and reach in to teach pilot candidates the proper procedure to do such things as trim out the airplane, set up throttle and trim for landing and follow navigation using instruments. I can remember one young pilot whom I had assisted for weeks all of a sudden pushed my hand away and said I can do this myself sarge. I called over to the major sitting on sim next to me and asked, did this guy solo yesterday and response was how can you tell. While stationed at RAF Upper Heyford on F-111E simulator, we sim troops were required to become certified by Stan Eval for basic cockpit duties. That mean Take off, landing navigation and all "Bold Face" procedures. We were sometimes asked to sit in with a crew member who needed some additional training. We had Flight Simulator (Me) and WSO Nav type sim troops. They had a different AFSC and were basically there for radar, IR etc. They were certified to do WSO duties and they also would sit in on missions when WSO not available. The reason I bring this up is the USAF had war Plans for all contingencies. In the 70's in England it was thought that if the balloon went up that a large number of crew members would load up their families and try to get across the Channel. In that case they would not have sufficient crew members to fill all seats. So one of war plans called for us to be paired with flight instructors to fly missions. Can enlisted fly drones? Of course, they can do wonders on computer games and I Pods etc. It is a physical skill. But the USAF won't give them authority to launch missiles, just fly drone to target and use sensors to gather data on target before a real pilot/operator gives consent to launch. It's the bars on shoulder that make the real pilot. just ask a crew member their thoughts on enlisted pilots. It's a good ole boy network.
Lorin
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Post by Jim on Sept 15, 2016 2:08:54 GMT 9
who wrote what here? Lorin if you are posting a comment regarding Pat's post, it needs to be out side the hi-lited area so a dummy like me can understand who is saying what
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Post by LBer1568 on Sept 15, 2016 4:05:50 GMT 9
Sorry, must be the drugs. I would never screw up like that...lol Lorin
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