Unmanned Vehicle (UV) Operations Specialists

Background

The military uses remotely piloted unmanned vehicles for a variety of purposes, such as deep sea exploration, intelligence gathering, remote surveillance, and target applications. These vehicles are used in the air, on land, and at sea in operations or missions that could be dangerous for human operators onboard the vehicle. The military requires skilled operators and technicians to maintain and control these vehicles. Personnel normally specialize by the type of vehicle they operate, such as unmanned aerial vehicles, ground vehicles, surface vehicles, and undersea vehicles. Unmanned vehicle (UV) operations specialists maintain and control unmanned vehicles.

What They Do

Unmanned vehicle operations specialists in the military perform some or all of the following duties:

• Coordinate with other personnel to complete the designated mission
• Inspect and maintain components in unmanned vehicles
• Operate equipment in remote receiving stations and ground control stations
• Operate, navigate, launch, track, and recover unmanned vehicles
• Prepare and install equipment on or within the unmanned vehicle

Physical Demands

Normal color vision is required for some specialties.

Special Requirements

No information available.

Helpful Attributes

Helpful attributes include:

• Enjoy working with tools
• Knowledge of electronic theory and schematic drawing
• Superior adaptability to three-dimensional spatial relationships

Helpful School Subjects

No information available.

Helpful Fields of Study

No information available.

Work Environment

Unmanned vehicle operations specialists work under a variety of conditions depending upon the type of vehicle and mission. Some specialists work in control stations or receiving stations on land, while others work aboard ships.

Services offering this career:

• Air Force
• Army
• Marine Corps
• Navy

Hiring Practices

To serve in the military, a person must be at least 17; the maximum age for enlistment varies. To enlist, a person must pass a physical exam and an aptitude test. An enlistee must also meet military standards of discipline and be a US citizen or permanent resident alien.

This position is for enlisted personnel.

Wages

The military is competitive with the civilian world when it comes to pay and benefits. All branches offer the same basic pay and benefits.

Pay depends mainly on rank or grade as well as length of service. Bonuses and the situation in which the person is serving (for example: flight duty, sea duty, hazardous duty) also affect pay. 

Cost-of-living increases usually occur every year, based on inflation. The military also pays allowances for food, clothing, and housing. All these factors combined are called Regular Military Compensation (RMC). They should all be considered when comparing military pay to civilian pay.

There are two main parts to RMC: basic pay and allowances. There are also additional incentives for special abilities, training, or hazardous duty.

Check out the RMC Calculator to calculate your RMC based on your inputs.

Training Provided

Job training varies from three to 30 weeks depending on the position.

Course content typically includes:

• Basic preventative maintenance
• Operation of unmanned vehicles
• Unmanned vehicle concepts and capabilities

Civilian Counterparts

Unmanned vehicles are used in several civilian areas, such as mining, petroleum exploration, environmental research, and manufacturing. Civilian unmanned vehicle operations specialists perform duties similar to those of their military counterparts.

Employment and Outlook

In peace time the services have about 500 unmanned vehicle operations specialists. In times of military action the number may be different, depending on the type of specialties required. Each year the services need new specialists due to changes in personnel and the growing use of this kind of technology. After job training, new unmanned vehicle operations specialists normally work under close supervision to prepare unmanned vehicles for their missions. With experience, they may perform more difficult duties, such as piloting, navigating, and recovering unmanned vehicles. In time, some operations specialists may plan and oversee unmanned vehicle missions.