The Reaper House Tour

Civic Leader Trip to Holloman Air Force Base Efforts to create safer environments for our men and women in uniform while achieving peak air combat success rates are creating a high demand for Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA).

These unmanned aircraft are also gentler on the taxpayer’s pocketbook and assist with creating higher success rates for traditional fighter jets. One type of RPA, the MQ-9 Reaper, carries a massive 3,750 pound payload complete with laser guided bombs and missiles, has state of the art camera systems that can clearly zoom in on a bush from miles away and has a 1,150 mile range cruise capability.

Although this is a relatively new and rapidly growing mission requiring trained and proficient military personnel, quality of life issues in the RPA community prevail. Many RPA pilots, sensor operators and maintainers are leaving the program and the Air Force because of the 24/7 operations, long shifts and desert locations.

Results from a United States Air Force Culture and Process Improvement Program survey confirmed a clear need for those military bases in desirable locations to host MQ-9 Reaper crews. In 2017, after many months of study, Tyndall AFB was selected as the preferred location for the new basing initiative. Factors tipping the scale included Bay County’s many resources and activities as well as the community’s long history of dedicated support to Tyndall AFB.

The incoming MQ-9 Reaper wing will be a brand new operational wing bringing in 24 RPA’s and 1,600 military personnel. Realistically this number may be closer to 4,000 men, women and children moving into the area when adding in the family multiplier (2.5) for military personnel. Additionally, the job multiplier effect (.29 for Tyndall AFB active military) suggests this will create an additional 460 indirect/induced jobs locally.

How to prepare Flying in a windowless, 1959 Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker, used for in-flight refueling, Bay and Gulf County business and community leaders travelled to Holloman Air Force Base in Alamogordo, New Mexico, to learn what the community can do to support 1,600 incoming personnel and their families. Although Airmen and their families will not start arriving to Tyndall until 2020, many on the flight understood that complex social and infrastructure decisions need to made soon.

Upon arriving at Holloman AFB, we quickly realized it lay in the heart of a desert. The air was dry and the landscape was dotted with cactus with spectacular views of the Sacramento Mountains. Alamogordo is home to the base, but because of its remote location, it is also known for its connection with the Trinity test, the first explosion of an atomic bomb.

At an evening social with Alamogordo civic leaders and Holloman military leaders, we learned that the rare rain shower brought with us from Florida was a sign of good luck.

Over the course of the two-day tour, Bay and Gulf County community and business leaders learned how we, as a community, can prepare for the arrival of the new Reaper mission and the 1,600 Airmen and families. It also provided RPA Airmen the opportunity to discuss the quality of life challenges their mission provides.

Tours and separate panel discussions with officers and enlisted MQ-9 personnel laid the groundwork for discussions on precisely just what factors they considered important in creating a good quality of life. The discussions also helped Tyndall’s civic leaders understand the challenges of retaining Airmen in such a demanding and stressful mission. More importantly were identifying remedies Bay County could offer that could aid in the program’s recruitment and retention efforts.

Reaper pilots, mechanics and sensor operators work rotating schedules that cycle through day, swing, and night shifts, for one month each. Although this work schedule evenly distributes different shifts and days of week so that no one is stuck with less desirable days and hours, the transition between the different schedules can be problematic. Sleep and eating patterns change monthly and can pose health and safety concerns, especially on the drive home. These schedules complicate childcare arrangements, continuing education requirements and wreaks havoc with mealtime and physical fitness requirements. Attending a college or university “after hours” is virtually impossible for these Airmen.

RPA pilots and sensor operators spend their days in small-contained spaces with no windows. These spaces are similar to two arcade car games side by side in a construction trailer with an electronics store’s worth of computer systems stacked throughout. During prolonged missions, often 8 to 12 hours, opportunities for breaks are limited and maintaining sustained focus while analyzing several continuous forms of information streams is paramount. The demands of the job quickly became evident to the group.

“Tyndall sounds exciting,” said Capt. Trevor, a pilot with the 6th Attack Squadron. “It is in a well-established community and we look forward to an improved quality of life with beaches and everything the panhandle has to offer.”

“The quality of life at Tyndall AFB,” Trevor said, “will be the best option we have had at this point as RPA Airmen. The amenities, restaurants, stores, all in an already military established community will be great.”

Currently, Air Force Bases that host MQ-9 Reaper operations and training functions are mostly located in desert areas around the country, miles away from civic infrastructure and the amenities that young families find attractive for recreation and raising children.

The Tyndall civic leader group learned how MQ-9 missions support national security objectives by preparing and deploying combat-ready Airmen to support peacetime and wartime contingencies. The group also toured the Reaper Schoolhouse where RPA pilots, sensor operators and maintainers are trained. Panel discussions with Airmen impressed Tyndall civic leaders with their commitment to their families and their mission. These discussions also provided insight on what RPA Airmen look for and find appealing in communities.

“We want you in our Community, our youth leagues, in our schools, and our churches, we welcome you,” said Bay County Chamber vice-chair Andrew Rowell of GAC Contractors. “That’s why we’re fighting so hard to have you at Tyndall and Bay County.”

The civic leaders learned the incoming Air Force families prefer to live near base, but also want to live where good housing, schools and activities are located. They expressed a desire to have a sense of place, where spouses can seek employment opportunities and children can grow.

The truly remarkable trip prompted a lot of discussion among the civic leaders about community improvement and economic development projects. It was not lost on the group that a new MQ-9 Reaper wing at Tyndall would also likely spur ancillary high-skilled, high-wage, military contracting companies that support RPA missions.

The infusion of new talent into the communities around Tyndall has the potential to transform those communities into more economically diverse, vibrant, and prosperous places to live. Decisions to make this transformation a reality need to be made now.