Unmanned Aerial Systems: Air Force Should Take Additional Steps to Improve Aircrew Staffing and Support
Fast Facts
Since 9/11, demand has grown dramatically for the Air Force’s remotely piloted aircraft (“drones”), and their pilots and sensor operators. The intensity of operations, shift work, and other factors take a toll on these personnel. The Air Force is trying to reduce burnout and improve retention.
A goal of the Air Force is to have enough pilots and sensor operators by 2024 to allow breaks from combat operations. But we found the Air Force hasn’t met its staffing goals for these personnel and doesn’t track its progress in achieving the 2024 goal.
We made 2 recommendations, including that the Air Force better track its staff-building efforts.
A drone pilot flies a simulated mission
Pilot, computer screens, equipment
Highlights
What GAO Found
The Air Force does not have enough pilots and sensor operators to meet its staffing targets for its unmanned aircraft—also called remotely piloted aircraft (RPA). It also does not track its overall progress in accessing and retaining enough RPA personnel needed to implement its combat-to-dwell policy, which is intended to balance RPA units' time spent in combat with non-combat activities. Officials stated that to fully implement combat-to-dwell the Air Force needs to access and retain more RPA personnel because since fiscal year 2016 it has had fewer RPA personnel than authorized (see figure for RPA sensor operator example). The Air Force has provided financial incentives to address retention of RPA personnel, but it does not yet have enough historical data to help predict RPA pilot retention trends going forward given the newness of the career field. Officials additionally expressed specific concerns about sensor operator retention particularly due to the possibility of lucrative private-sector jobs. Further, the Air Force does not have a comprehensive metric (or set of metrics) to know whether its accession and retention efforts are on track to generate the additional RPA personnel needed to implement its combat-to-dwell policy by 2024. Without a metric (or set of metrics), it is unclear whether any adjustments are needed to meet its implementation timeframes.
Number of Assigned Air Force Active-Duty Remotely Piloted Aircraft Sensor Operators Compared with Requirements and Authorized Levels, Fiscal Years 2016 through 2019
The Air Force has not fully identified the number of RPA pilot and sensor operator instructor positions needed at its formal training unit and since 2016 has experienced instructor staffing shortages. Specifically, the number of instructor positions required is understated because they are based on a 2009 program of instruction with 49 training days while the current program of instruction is 83 training days. Moreover, since fiscal year 2016, the formal training unit has had fewer assigned instructors than authorized positions even though those numbers of instructor positions are underestimates of actual needs. To help address the effect of the instructor gap, officials temporarily reduced the length of training. Without updated information to inform the number of required instructors, the Air Force does not know the correct number of instructor positions necessary to train RPA aircrews to be ready to complete their mission.
Why GAO Did This Study
High demand and constant combat operations have created challenges for Air Force RPA pilots and sensor operators who conduct missions across the world. In January 2017, the Air Force approved a combat-to-dwell policy to better balance RPA units' time in combat with non-combat activities. It plans to fully implement the policy in 2024.
Senate Report 115-262 included a provision that GAO review ongoing challenges in the Air Force RPA community. This report assesses, among other things, the extent to which the Air Force (1) met overall RPA pilot and sensor operator staffing targets and tracked its progress in implementing its combat-to-dwell policy and (2) identified and met instructor staffing levels at its RPA formal training unit. GAO analyzed selected Air Force accession, retention, and instructor staffing data; held non-generalizable focus groups at three RPA military bases; and interviewed officials at various levels of the RPA enterprise.
Recommendations
GAO recommends that the Air Force establish a comprehensive metric (or set of metrics) to track the progress of its efforts to access and retain enough RPA personnel needed to implement its combat-to-dwell policy, and update the number of required RPA instructor positions. The Air Force partially concurred with the first recommendation and concurred with the second one. GAO continues to believe the first recommendation is valid, as discussed in the report.
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of the Air Force | The Secretary of the Air Force should ensure that a comprehensive metric (or set of metrics) is established to track the progress of its combined accession and retention efforts to obtain sufficient quantities of RPA pilots and sensor operators needed to achieve its objective of implementing the combat-to-dwell policy as planned. (Recommendation 1) |
DOD partially concurred with this recommendation. However, this recommendation remains unimplemented as of September 2024. According to Air Force officials in May 2024, the Air Force is now able to use the same metrics for RPA personnel as other communities. When we made the recommendation, this was not the case because there was not enough historical data given the career field had been recently established. Going forward, the Air Force will be able to use these metrics to monitor recruitment and retention for RPA pilots and sensor operators. Moreover, the Air Force has implemented its combat-to-dwell policy for RPA pilots and sensor operators, according to Air Force documentation we reviewed in June 2024. According to officials, the Air Force was able to implement this policy because it had sufficient personnel due to reduced requirements and high retention. Because our recommendation was intended to assist the Air Force in achieving sufficient quantities of RPA personnel to implement a combat-to-dwell policy, and because the Air Force now has a sufficient number of personnel to implement this policy and can apply the standard metrics moving forward, we would not make the same recommendation today and recommend closing the recommendation as no longer valid.
|
| Department of the Air Force | The Secretary of the Air Force should ensure that the number of instructor positions needed at the RPA training unit at Holloman Air Force Base is updated by applying more complete, accurate and timely information to better reflect the training curriculum and instructor needs. (Recommendation 2) |
DOD concurred with this recommendation. It noted that it is planning to conduct a study on the appropriate pilot and sensor operator instructor manning. The Air Force completed the study in March 2021 and provided us a copy in December 2022. In September 2024, Air Force officials told us the Air Force is in the process of calculating instructor requirements for Fiscal Years 25 and 26. Officials noted that they will provide documentation of this in November 2024. We will continue to monitor the status and results of the Air Force's efforts.
|