USAF Offer $35,000 Bonus To Lure Drone Pilots

The US Air Force is facing shortage of fighter and drone pilots and is offering $35000 bonus for drone operators who sign-up for the contract.

The shortfall will likely rise to more than 700 pilots (from a force size of 3,500 fighter pilots) by the end of this fiscal year, and as high as 1,000 in the next two years, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James and the service's Chief of Staff, General David Goldfein, was quoted as saying by Thanhnien news daily.

Goldfein said the situation was a "crisis." Airlines are increasingly luring military fliers into the private sector, and many are choosing to leave due to the stresses of extended deployments overseas.

The shortage comes as America is engaged in air wars on multiple fronts, including in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and Libya. The US military relies heavily on its air dominance to wage war and avoid putting US foot soldiers in harm's way, the news daily reported.

The Air Force also faces a shortage of drone pilots, but James said recruitment and retention in that sector had improved.

The military is using increasing numbers of contract workers to conduct non-lethal drone patrols. "It is not all done yet but there is a lot going on," she said.

"We are well on the way to having 100 percent manning at our retraining units and having all those instructors in the schoolhouse means we are going to be producing more (drone) pilots."