Predator: Reserve Command manning up in unmanned aerial vehicle program

Citizen Airman, June, 2004 by Bo Joyner

"We believe this represents a significant milestone where, once again, the Air Force has identified new ways to organizationally transform itself to meet our battlefield challenges and provide joint force commanders the tools they need," added Gen. T. Michael Moseley, Air Force vice chief of staff. "This attempt could be the first step in implementing new and innovative ideas that will ease the demands placed on our deploying forces and ensure the maximum utility of our Airmen who perform their valuable missions at home station."

The Predator program is the Air Force's second so-called "blended" organization. The first, the 116th Air Control Wing, was created at Robins AFB, Ga., in Sept. 2002 to fly the Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System aircraft. That wing was formed by merging the Guard's 116th Bomb Wing and the active-duty 93rd ACW. The 116th had flown B-ls, which were retired as part of an Air Force consolidation plan.

Air Force Secretary James Roche said the 116th ACW has performed "just beautifully" during Operation Iraqi Freedom and it makes sense to expand the blended concept to other areas.

"It doesn't work in every case, but we're finding more and more places where it is in the interests of both the Guard and active force to bring the experienced folks from the Guard together with the full-time people in active duty, and you get a much higher crew ratio," he said. "And if you have to go to war, the active people take it, but then, coming behind them, are the Guard folks who supplement the original active group."

Secretary Roche said other blended units could be created in the future.

"We are looking at other areas," he said. "We have some in space, some for helping out Strategic Command, and we expect to do this with the F/A-22. It appears to be something that where it makes sense to do, it really, really pays off."

The Predator has certainly been a star in the war on terrorism. In recent months, the UAV has made headlines for helping capture Saddam Hussein and helping rescue Army Pvt. Jessica Lynch. While U.S. forces closed in on Mr. Hussein's hideout near Tikrit in December, a Predator UAV flying overhead sent video images to military leaders at command posts at Nellis and in Qatar. The amazing thing is that the crew operating the unmanned plane during that historic mission was 7,500 miles away.... safe and sound at Nellis.

"The fact that a Predator crew could operate the aircraft safely from the ground has always been one of its biggest selling points," Colonel Breeden said. "Now that we can keep our pilots and sensor operators at Nellis and fly missions all over the world from here, it's an even bigger advantage."

That being the case, the colonel said the main advantage Predator brings to the fight is persistence.

"We can stay airborne for more than 20 hours and can swap out pilots and sensor operators so we are always fresh," he said. "During Operation Iraqi Freedom, I was over downtown Baghdad for more than 10 hours hitting targets. By comparison, F-16s would have 20 minutes of station time once they got to Baghdad. A-10s would have 40 to 50 minutes of station time. Even our F-15Es would only have 90 minutes of station time. We can use our persistence to rack and stack targets to get these other aircraft on their targets more quickly."