{"id":307559,"date":"2019-09-09T06:00:56","date_gmt":"2019-09-08T20:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=307559"},"modified":"2019-09-09T06:00:56","modified_gmt":"2019-09-08T20:00:56","slug":"two-travis-airmen-selected-for-rpa-pilot-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/two-travis-airmen-selected-for-rpa-pilot-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Travis airmen selected for RPA pilot program"},"content":{"rendered":"
Tech. Sgt. Ron, 860th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron expediter, poses for a photo near a C-17 Globemaster III Feb. 19, 2019 at Travis Air Force Base, California. Ron was one of two Travis airmen selected to become enlisted remotely piloted aircraft pilots during the 2019 selection cycle. The Air Force conducted the first enlisted RPA training course in October 2016. Photo altered for security purposes. (U.S. AIR FORCE\/TECH. SGT. JAMES HODGMAN)
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Editor\u2019s Note:\u00a0\u00a0Surnames are withheld to comply with Air Force guidelines on the disclosure of identifying information for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance personnel.<\/em><\/p>\n

TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif.<\/strong>\u2014A C-5M Super Galaxy flight engineer and a flight line expediter at Travis Air Force Base were among the 24 airmen selected to become Enlisted Remotely Piloted Aircraft Pilots earlier this month when the 2019 ERPA selection board results were announced.<\/p>\n

Tech. Sgt. Ron, 860th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron flight line expediter, applied to become an RPA pilot three times. He said he was relieved to finally make the cut.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was getting used to applying and not being selected,\u201d he said. \u201cThis year, I got off shift and I looked up the selection list from home. I saw I was the fourth name on the list. I was just like, \u2018Wow, I finally got it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was happy, but kind of relieved because I\u2019ve put in a lot of hard work to get my private pilot license, my instrument rating and I put in a lot of hours,\u201d he said. \u201cI really wanted it, so I was relieved to finally see I was selected.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2015, the Secretary of the Air Force announced the service would train enlisted pilots to operate the RQ-4 Global Hawk, which conducts high-altitude reconnaissance missions up to 60,000 feet. The 2019 Enlisted RPA Pilot Selection Board convened Jan. 14-18 and considered 31 active-duty enlisted candidates. To date, 66 airmen have been selected to become RPA pilots and Ron said he\u2019s thrilled to be one of them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to be a pilot, I love aviation,\u201d he said. \u201cAircraft maintenance is a very rewarding job, but I\u2019m ready for more responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ron grew up in the village of Finasisu on the small island of Saipan. In July 2009, he enlisted in the Air Force and served his first four years as a flying crew chief on the C-17 Globemaster III.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never realized being a pilot could even be a possibility until my time as a flying crew chief,\u201d he said. \u201cI observed what the pilots did and said to myself, \u2018I can do that.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Ron has accumulated more than 2,000 hours as a flying crew chief supporting missions all over the world on five deployments. He also earned his private pilot license in May 2018.<\/p>\n

\u201cFlying provides a different kind of freedom,\u201d he said. \u201cAs a pilot, you\u2019re responsible for your safety and the safety of anyone flying with you. You\u2019re focused on the plane and everything associated with navigating to your destination safely.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said he\u2019s looking forward to increasing his knowledge as an RPA pilot.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really looking forward to learning,\u201d he said. \u201cIn your job you get to a certain level and things kind of come easier to you. I\u2019ve been doing this job for nearly 10 years so when something comes up, I usually have an answer pretty quickly. This opportunity will force me to learn a new job and challenge myself. That will be cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joining Ron on that journey will be Staff Sgt. Stacy, 22nd Airlift Squadron NCO in charge of supply, a C-5M Super Galaxy flight engineer and the second Airman selected from Travis to be an ERPA pilot.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was so excited when I found out I was selected,\u201d said Stacy. \u201cI printed the selection roster and immediately went to talk to my commander. I said, \u2018Sir, you need to read this\u2019 and I handed him the selection roster. My name was the last one on the list and he was just as excited as I was.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stacy also shared the news with his wife, co-workers, friends and family.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing selected is a huge honor and I\u2019m so thankful for this opportunity,\u201d he said. \u201cNow, I\u2019m ready to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

The application process to become an ERPA pilot is extensive. Applicants must pass a flight physical, the Basic Aviation Skills test, the Enlisted Pilot Qualification Test and be recommended by their commander.<\/p>\n

Stacy credits his squadron commander, Lt. Col. Paul Pawluk, with giving him the motivation to apply for the program.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he arrived in the squadron, he said, \u2018You have a choice. You can either be someone or do something. But it\u2019s very difficult to do both,\u2019 Stacy explained. \u201cMaybe I won\u2019t make chief master sergeant, but I have an opportunity here to do something, and if other airmen are interested in applying to become RPA pilots in the future, I\u2019ll be able to advise them on things they can do to help them along the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stacy, a native of Fresno, California, enlisted in the Air Force in August 2008 as an engine mechanic. In April 2014, he retrained into the C-5M flight engineer career field and arrived at Travis in January 2015.<\/p>\n

He said serving as a flight engineer enabled him to gain the experience he needed to apply for the ERPA program.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe job really is one of the hidden gems of the Air Force,\u201d he said. \u201cAs a flight engineer, you back up the pilots, you help read approach plates and review certain flight rules. It\u2019s a lot of responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

Enlisted RPA pilot training begins with Initial Flight Training in Colorado followed by the Remote Pilot Instrument Qualification Course at Randolph AFB, Texas, and practical training at Beale AFB, California.<\/p>\n

Ron said he hopes, with the success of the ERPA program, the Air Force will open more flying opportunities to enlisted airmen.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe place a tremendous amount of trust in our enlisted airmen every day,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is another way for Air Force leaders to allow enlisted airmen to reach their full potential. Many airmen have private pilot licenses, as well as bachelors or advanced degrees. There are also many airmen out there who are capable of so much more. I think this could be an initial step to more enlisted pilot opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stacy agrees.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy not?\u201d he asked. \u201cIf our airmen meet the standards, then why not allow them to fly different platforms and do more?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s Note:\u00a0\u00a0Surnames are withheld to comply with Air Force guidelines on the disclosure of identifying…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":307561,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[23572,23573,2297,23574],"class_list":["post-307559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","tag-aircraft-maintenance-squadron","tag-erpa","tag-staff-sgt","tag-two-travis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=307559"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307559\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/307561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=307559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=307559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=307559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}