Arnold Reservist called to active duty to fly UAS Published Nov. 5, 2009 By Janae' Daniels AEDC/PA Arnold Air Force Base, Tenn. -- Lt. Col. Rob Perrin is answering his country's call to duty. In January, Colonel Perrin will begin training at Creech Air Force Base (AFB) just outside of Las Vegas to fly the MQ-1B, Unmanned Aerial System (UAS), more commonly known as the Predator. He will complete training in March and begin flying combat missions immediately. The Predator is a long-endurance, medium-altitude UAS for intelligence, surveillance and Reconnaissance missions. Currently he is the deputy director of Operations for the 717th Test Squadron at AEDC. Earlier this year, due to a shortage of pilots, navigators and air battle managers, the Air Force Personnel Center in San Antonio, initiated a voluntary recall of reservists, who were previously on active duty, to return to active duty for a limited period to fill pilot, navigator and air battle manager vacancies. "Initially, I wasn't going to apply because I'm a former KC-135R/Tanker navigator and did not want to return to active duty as a navigator since I now have my commercial pilot certificate. I'd rather go back as a pilot," he explained. "However, in the past this has never been an option unless one was an Air Force training pilot." Then the colonel found out the Air Force had "relaxed" its requirements for one weapon system and was now taking Air Force navigators who are also commercial pilots to pilot Predators. So he thought that might be something he'd like to do. "This is very exciting," he said. "It's new, cutting edge technology and Air Force leadership is really embracing its importance. Thirty years ago I flew small remote control airplanes and never dreamed I'd pilot a full-scale aircraft thousands of miles away via satellite. It's also cosmic to think I'll fly combat missions without being physically deployed, but rather virtually deployed. My wife and kids love this aspect of the Predator mission." Colonel Perrin will still have the opportunity to physically deploy, but not at the same rate he as been accustom to while crewing a tanker. When he was active with the tankers, he was typically deployed 50 percent of a year. "With a Predator, they've told me to expect to be deployed once every three years," he recollected. "This is a dramatic shift and one I am not complaining about." He also mentioned crew manning is different when compared to a tanker, and part of the reason why deployment rate is lower. "Ten years ago in my tanker squadron, crew manning was roughly 1.5 crews per tanker," he explained. "With a Predator, crew manning is higher due to UAS sortie durations and operations tempo. With a tanker, sortie durations were impacted by crew duty-day limitations. With a UAS, you aren't limited by a 'crew,' but by how much fuel the UAS has on-board. A UAS can fly for 20 plus hours." He continued, "Crews still have a duty-day limit based on Air Force instructions, but now due to technology, the UAS can stay in the air and a fresh crew can take over." This goes back to manning and Colonel Perrin's opportunity. "While a UAS is 'unmanned' from the standpoint of no one is on-board, it demands more manning than a manned aircraft per sortie," the colonel explained. "And the current 'lack' of Air Force pilots to 'man' a UAS is why the Air Force relaxed its requirements and is currently allowing navigators like me to return to active duty to pilot a UAS." According to General Atomics Aeronautical, the manufacturer of the Predator, the UAS has logged more than 405,000 flight hours, of which over more than half have been during combat area deployments to the Balkans, Southwest Asia and the Middle East where Predators operate in support of U.S. and NATO forces. The Denver and Murray, Ky., resident is a 1984 graduate of Murray High School and has a degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Embry-Riddle in Arizona. He was on active-duty for 11 years and flew KC-135Rs as a senior navigator. In 2003, he entered the civilian work force as a self-employed commercial aerial photographer. He joined the Air Force Reserves in 2001 and was assigned to Arnold in 2006. His wife, Lara, and their three children will move with him to Nevada.