U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo: Four junior and 20 sophomore U.S. Air Force Academy cadets received the first unmanned aerial systems-remotely piloted aircraft wings awarded in the school’s 55-year history during a function at the Dean’s Heritage House Feb. 25, here.
Lt. Gen. Mike Gould, the Academy superintendent and Brig. Gen. Dana Born, the dean of the faculty, presented cadets with certificates and UAS-RPA scarves during the event.
“I’m thrilled to recognize the first class of cadets to graduate from Airmanship 200, Airmanship 201 and Airmanship 202 and become the catapult leaders for the UAS-RPA program at the Air Force Academy,” General Born said. “You are all pioneers.”
Cadets dined and spoke with Generals Gould and Born as well as other leaders in attendance.
“I’ve been with RPA’s since the beginning,” General Gould said. “At first, it was tough going until we realized what a tremendous impact they could have on the application of airpower. Now, we can’t build them fast enough to satisfy demand.”
The Air Force’s role in that history began in the mid- to late-1990s, awarding General Atomics a contract to build the first MQ-1 Predators for $3.2 million apiece.
Teams with the 11th Reconnaissance Squadron at Indian Springs Air Station (now Creech AFB), Nev., flew Predators during Operation Allied Force in 1999. RPA mission frequency stepped up during Operation Enduring Freedom in October 2001 as Air Force officials started deploying Predators in greater numbers to gather intelligence.
“Back then, we were doing good to get two Predators in the air for 20 hours a day,” General Gould said.
The number of RPA missions leaped after Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates demanded more ISR capability from the Air Force in June 2008. Today the Air Force flies approximately 40 combat air patrols, or CAPS, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, primarily over Iraq and Afghanistan to provide persistent reconnaissance and strike capability.
The Air Force is programmed to go to 50 CAPs and may go as high as 65, said Maj. Gen. James Poss, the director of Air Force intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance strategy, integration and doctrine at the Pentagon.
“I’d tell you that you’re the wave of the future, but you’re not; you’re the wave of the present,” the general said. “That’s the kind of impact you’re going to have.”
Cadet 2nd Class Jeff Nakayama, a native of Warner Robins, Ga., is one of the four juniors forming the Academy’s instructor pilot cadre and an economics major with Cadet Squadron 34. He first found out about the Academy’s UAS-RPA program through Cadet 2nd Class Bradley Sapper, an astronautical engineering major with CS 03.
“They were looking for people to head up leadership in a brand-new (UAS-RPA) program,” said Cadet Nakayama.
“I said, ‘You know what? Let’s see what happens,’ and it took off from there,” he said.
The instructor pilots visited Nellis AFB and Creech AFB, in the summer of 2009 to learn more about RPAs in the operational Air Force.
“It was an interesting experience, seeing the operational side and watching Airmen actually conduct a mission out there,” Cadet Nakayama said. “We were able to go through the program first, experiment and spend a little more time on the airplane than the 2012 cadets did, and we got to teach them, which was the biggest challenge and learning experience.”
The UAS-RPA program will take another step forward next year when the Academy acquires a Scan Eagle, a 40-pound unmanned aircraft that launches from a hydraulic system similar to the catapult systems on aircraft carriers and lands using a skyhook and Global Positioning System guidance.
“Everyone’s going to be learning again,” Cadet Nakayama said.
And while the four Class of 2011 cadets will go into Air Force history as the Academy’s first RPA instructor pilots, Cadet Nakayama said the real catapult leaders will be cadet instructors from future classes.
“I think it’s going to be more the (classes of) 2012 and 2013 who really take off with the program, set it in full force and expand it to what General Gould, General Born and General McCarthy envision,” he said.
