Job: Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Operator (15W)

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To be a U.S. Army Soldier is to be a part of the strongest fighting force in the world. You'll spend your days training, working and serving together to protect America's freedoms. But you'll also have time after work for family, friends and personal interests. From recruitment to retirement, the U.S. Army provides a unique and diverse lifestyle for Soldiers.


Having the ability to observe both conventional and unconventional enemies is absolutely necessary to plan for our national defense. Intelligence specialists, like the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Operator, are integral to providing Army personnel with information about enemy forces and potential battle areas. Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Operators are remote pilots of unmanned observation aircraft, who gather and study information that's required to design operational plans and tactics. Some of your duties as an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Operator may include:

* Prepare and conduct air reconnaissance, surveillance, targeting and acquisition missions
* Deploy and redeploy the UAV ground and air system
* Plan and analyze flight missions
* Perform pre-flight, in flight and post-flight checks and procedures
* Launch and recover air frame from runway
* Perform operator level maintenance on Communications equipment, power sources, light/heavy wheeled vehicles, crane operations

Job training for an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Operator requires nine weeks of Basic Training, where you'll learn basic Soldiering skills, and 23 weeks and three days of Advanced Individual Training and on-the-job instruction, including practice in intelligence gathering. Part of this time is spent in the classroom and part in the field. Some of the skills you'll learn are:

* Performing Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Simulation Missions
* Preparing maps and charts
* Analyzing aerial photographs
* Preparing intelligence reports
* Using computer systems

Helpful attributes include:

* An interest in remote/radio control vehicles
* An interest in gathering information and studying its meaning
* An ability to organize information
* An ability to think and write clearly
* A strict sense of attention to detail

Advanced level Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Operator provides guidance, supervises and trains other Soldiers within the same discipline. As an advanced level Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Operator, you may be involved in:

* Direct the emplacement of ground control stations
* Direct the emplacement of launch and recovery systems
* Assist in artillery fire missions
* Support to combat missions/operations

The skills you learn as an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Operator will help prepare you for a future with federal government agencies such as the Central Intelligence Agency or the National Security Agency. The training you receive in collecting, recording, analyzing and distributing tactical and technical intelligence information will prepare you for other fields, such as research or business planning.

Learn more about the relationship between military training and civilian certification requirements.