UAV Sensor Operators May Get Own AFSC

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AIR FORCE
Airman 1st Class Kyle Bridges sits in the sensor operator's chair at an RQ-1 Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicle ground control station at Balad Air Base, Iraq.

UAV Sensor Operators May Get Own AFSC

By Michael Hoffman - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Jan 25, 2009 10:51:53 EST

Sensor operators for unmanned MQ-1 Predators and MQ-9 Reapers could have a new Air Force Specialty Code by the end of January, according to a revision of the Air Force Enlisted Classification Directory set to be released Jan. 31 that was obtained by Air Force Times.

An AFSC change would pluck enlisted sensor operators out of the intelligence career field coded “1N1XX” and place them in their own Unmanned Aerial System Sensor Operator career field coded “1U0XX,” according to the directory.

Ed Gulick, an Air Force spokesman, confirmed that the change is planned but said it is not official because Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz has not signed off on it.

The change would be more than a formality; if it goes through, sensor operators could dispense with training that some consider unnecessary.

Sensor operators control the sensor suite on Predators and Reapers while also communicating with troops and commanders in the war zone and intelligence specialists watching the UAV feeds at U.S. bases.

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