7314 UAV Operator
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  1. #1

    7314 UAV Operator

    I joined the site mainly to provide an acurate source of information regarding this topic. When I was in my process of picking MOS to Lat move into I was researching what MOS did what, school locations and time, Job descriptions, and so on. This website came across in my google searches and unfortunately the information post is long out dated making it inaccurate. So bored on this Friday night I figured I would get started.

    First off school location. Well... its located in the beautiful barren land of Sierra Vista, AZ. Nearly a mile high in elevation and home to the Army Intellegence base Fort Huachuca (Wa choo ka). If you google map this city you'll see the land of the cartels... I mean Mexico is like right there, I mean RIGHT there. There is only one Marine detachment here and its for this school and the mech course (mech course goes to Pensacola, FL first).

    I'm waiting to get classed up, but I've spoken with the students to get a basic idea on what the course is going to be like. Its broken up into two different core classes. The first core is 2 and a half months of book type classes (Ill provide more details on these as I go through the courses I class up May 2). Then you go on a 2 and a half week break before you start the second core which is mostly practical application lasting about 4 months. More information to go as I go through that class too.

    This here is important information regarding the rules and regulations about the school and area you will be in. Ft Huachuca is an Intell school and also a training area for the Army's verison of MCT. The barracks is located in an area called Posser Village which also has all the barracks for the Army trainees. There is to be NO ALCOHOL consumed in this area. You can not have any at the barracks, you can't go to your car and drink in it, or even have it in possession within this area. This school has the highest attrition rate of all the MOS schools in the Corps. Why? Because one simple NJP will get you redesignated into a new MOS. So you need to stay out of trouble as much as possible! Follow the rules and you will graduate. We just has a health and comfort last night. One guy caught with alcohol another with spice and 2 with small rodent pets. The two major cases will probably get Admin Sep'ed from the Marine Corps or atleast the Marine with spice will and the alchol case might be a redesignation. The Marines with pets will get Page 11s and a non rec. Two other Marines are also pending redesignation.

    This place can sap the will out of Marines. Just police your own and stay out of trouble and get through this as quickly as possibly. Aside from myself there are only 3 other Lat Movers here. We are pretty lucky its pretty much OFP land for us. We don't have the same restrictions as the junior Marines coming from MCT (crefew, libo chits, not allowed to own a vehicle, liberty bounds, so forth). However we are not immune to punishment. No f**king the students, providing alcohol to the underage, same **** out in the Fleet.

    Lat Movers this info is for you. I got shafted in a sense because I got my web orders on March 28th and I had to check into the command on April 3rd. Normally you'll get your orders 30 days out to excute them properly, take leave and what not. Do not take a advanced pay! If you absolutely have to you have to spend it all on what it was intended for. So save those receipts!!!! Or you will get checked and pay will be deducted. When trolling around for UAV information I keep see what does this flight physical entail. Well have you done a PHA the birth month recall stuff? You know blood, immune, hearing, vitals, dental, EKG, vision, etc. Now change PHA to Flight Physical and behold. Its the same ****, just like an Explosive handlers physical. Make sure to get an admin up-chit from them that has the correct expiration date (they gave me a 30 day temp one and I had to go back to get the 1 year chit). You will need this on hand, preferably 2-3 copies (one being in your medical record). You will need to change over your flight physical to the Army verison. So if it current and up to date you ll get an appointment to speak with the flight surgeon face to face and your done. Due note early I said your nearly a mile high in elevation. That means being in Jacksonville for 4 years then coming here my run time has increased and yours will too. That is natural though there is less oxygen up here and you do not have enough hemoglobin in your body to accomidate that dramatic change (PT hard on your own to force your body to produce more). You will also get sick here, remember Army MCT. There is some **** crud that is going around so take multi-vits from walmart, GNC over prices theirs.

    If you are married. Leave your wife behind, seriously. BAH+deps here for a Sergeant is like 950ish, Jacksonville 1200. You also have to deal with Army bull**** regulations about getting permission to live off base and there is a 6month wait for base housing plus the fact they are reconstructing base housing. So convince the wif to stay back, especially if she has a good job because she ll lose it out here. Sierra Vista is smaller then Jacksonville, NC.

    I'm going to leave it off here for now. Please post questions and I will answer or find the answer for you.


  2. #2
    SWEEEEEET. Good info. The more you update this, the more likely it will become a 'sticky' and get moved to the 'Ask a Marine' section.


  3. #3
    Ya I orginally tried to post it in there but for some reason, maybe lack of posting, I was unable to start a thread there.


  4. #4
    I"ll leave it here for now, once you get some more to it, I'll move it there and give you privledges to post there as well.


  5. #5
    I have been looking everywhere for info on 7314. Leaving my wife in lejeune isn't really an option, what type of stuff do you have to go through to get off base housing? What have you heardthe promotion to Ssgt like? What times the school day start? I found somewhere the only duty stations are cherry point and palms is that true?


  6. #6
    That's a pretty hard core school. Thanks for the write up.


  7. #7
    Well I am currently in the second of the three classes in the common core 1 section.

    Yo first class is called RSTA-PO. RSTA means Reconnaissance, Surveillance, and Target Acquisition. PO stands for Processes and Operations. Yo'll get a small packet on these courses when you class up so I'm going to just repeat what it says for PO. PO covers 5 major areas: Advanced Map Reading for UAS operations, common Warfighting Symbology for UAS Ops, UAS Support to Ops, and Tactical Imagery and RSTA operations. This class was roughly 2.5 weeks.

    Was pretty easy I think. Lot of people can stress and fail. You have to make an 80 or higher for the test. Not going to give to much detail on what takes in the class.

    Next class is RSTA-I(magery). Pretty self explanaitory. Its going to be looking at classified images and learning how to do Battle Damage Assessments. Also, what kind of stuff you ll see in your video feeds. You're going to need a secret security clearance or you ll get kicked out of this class and wil have to pick up with the next after getting the clearance. This class is 12 days if I remember correctly.

    Last portion is called UGS (Unmanned Grounded School). Ill use the paper they gave me for this one also. It will proved you with the basic aeronautical knowledge and skills to successflly and safely operate a UAS in the national/tactical airspace. I think its pretty much its going to be about laws, rules, some math, etc. In this class you might get Austrilians added to your class too. I think the other Operators said this class was like 9 weeks, but I'll update once I find out.

    Additional info. PARTICIPATE! There were three Marines, me and 2 other lat movers that participated the most. The instructors liked that, but wanted everyone to ask questions or answer theirs. Or the next thing you know you ll be broken into groups and having to give a class on Homeland defense the next day.

    There are 4 possible duty stations but the 4th is a reserve squadron so that is very highly unlikely chance. VMU-1 and 3 are in 29 Palms and VMU-2 is in Cherry Point. 3 is said to be moving to Hawaii sometime in the future.

    School starts at 0800 and ends at 1545 if you're day shift. Its like 9 miles away from the barracks good 15 to 20 minute drive.

    Promotion to SSgt is pretty fast, but thats the kicker. With only 3 units, can only imagine what the GySgt qoutas are like if you dont pick it up through a B-Billet. It was explained to me by my SgtMaj as I was checking out even my old XO is going to me the AMO at VMU-2.

    All I can think of for now. I will add more later especially when I start Core II.

    Just wanted to mention a fellow Marine called our Quarter deck getting some additional info before he heads out here. I ended up speaking to him and it turns out he recongized my name to my nickname (handle name minus the 88). He said he read my posting. Great feeling to know someone was able to research and get some info on the MOS before hand even though its not complete yet.


  8. #8
    OUTstanding! Sounds like an interesting school and MOS. Keep us updated if and when you can.


  9. #9
    Interesting! Sounds like a competitive, cutting edge MOS. That's good. Be careful not to post any specifics. Very general, vague descriptions are enough.

    God bless


  10. #10
    I was thinking about lat moving into this mos from 6414 com/nav technician, here in about 6 months because this mos seems pretty interesting and would like to check it out. Only thing is I really couldn't find out anything about it, so this thread has helped me out alot on what to expect. I figured that lat movers would have it easier considering I'd be coming from an mos that took me 15 months to complete so I saw my fair share of lat movers and how they were treated compared to us. Its also nice to know that you need a secret clearance which won't be a problem because I already have one. Keep posting some info on this mos, I'd love to hear more about it.


  11. #11
    Well today I started Core 2 with the first out of three classes (modules). Total training time for core 2 is 12 weeks and 3 days. There is also a second schedule they have during the raining season here. Starts usally mid to early July and effected classes are just the core 2 classes. Schooling starts at 0600 and ends at 1400 during this change until the raining season passes.

    As stated there are three classes/modules. First is Emplace/displace. Its 16 training days long and you learn about the equipment involved and how to set it up. Not to hard.

    Second class is the Simulator classes or sims. I tried asking the instructor on how many trainings days the second and third classes are he could only give me weeks, 5 for sims. In this class you will learn all of the emergency procedures by heart and also fly the simulation. You will also get those emergencies during your flights.

    Last class is called Flightline, where you will actually fly the UAV. Unfortunately weather and winds depict the true duration of the course. Winds that exceed like 25 kts, you cant fly or in poor weather. Once you pass this class your done!

    I learned a lot going through this MOS especially the job opportunity coming in the near future. The FAA is going to intergrate UAVs into the national airspace by 2015. All of the possible jobs you can think of that will be available especially to trained, experienced prior service military for UAVs.

    And probably the most important info I can give... Some of my information is going to be inaccurate in a couple of months. The basis taught behind the classes will be the same. However, they are adding more classes and changing a lot of the course up. The school is only a couple year old and they are trying to prefect it. The biggest thing is making core 1 classes more interactive then death by power point. Even the class behind mine already had a different training method. Maybe someone who reads these in the future can update on what new changes they added. I know one possible class is radio talk with ATC, to build confidance and learn to talk on the radio. Those who have been in know what its like to watch a new Marine answer and talk on the phone for the first time. Its funny, they pause, stutter, and uh... all the time. Can't have that down at flightline when you will be talking to real ATC.


  12. #12
    Thanks! This sounds more and more like a GREAT opportunity, man. Keep us in the loop, I very much appreciate it.


  13. #13
    Hey there Sgt any more news on the school? I am putting in my Lat move/ re-up package in soon and would love to get any more info you may have.

    Thanks.

    S/F


  14. #14
    This is the best and some of the only information I can find on this MOS, I am trying to Lat-move from the 03 field. I was wondering if you could tell me the pre-reqs to get into the school. It sounds like a very interesting job and a nice change of pace. Any and all help is welcome and apprieciated.

    Thanks


  15. #15
    What's the day to day like at the school? I'm trying to LAT move to it, but its between this, and easing to first civ div.


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