MARINE CORPS AIR STATION CHERRY POINT, NORTH CAROLINA, UNITED STATES -- Since 2018, the U.S. Air Force has supported Marine Corps MQ-9A training through the Inter-service Training Review Organization agreement. Beginning this year, the Marine Corps established its own training capability through the Air Vehicle Aircrew program at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida, and through VMUT-2.
“This is a significant day for the Marine Corps’ MQ-9 community,” said Maj. David Hughes, executive officer, VMUT-2. “[The students’] months of hard work and dedication has culminated in them being officially welcomed into the Marine Corps’ MQ-9A community.”
The training course, known as Marine Initial Qualification Training, is the Marine Corps’ only Group 5, MQ-9A graduate-level school for MQ-9A Reaper pilots and sensor operators. The six-month period of instruction is led by Marines and contract instructors that are experts in fielding the MQ-9A Reaper system.
The MQ-9A, alongside its pilots, sensor operators, and maintainers, is the crux of the Marine Corps’ Marine Air-Ground Task Force Unmanned Aerial System Expeditionary (MUX) Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) program, providing surveillance and aerial reconnaissance capabilities to the MAGTF. VMUT-2’s purpose is to train Marines to become MQ-9A pilots and sensor operators for the Fleet Marine Force at Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron (VMU) 1, based at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona, and VMU-3, based at Marine Corps Base Hawaii.
Today’s graduation represents an important milestone for the Marine Corps’ MQ-9A Reaper community and the continued growth of the MUX MALE program. As the IQT course size grows in Fiscal Year 2026, 2nd MAW will soon also support Unmanned Aerial System Maintenance Squadron 1, co-located with VMUT-2 at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, later in the fiscal year.