Unfortunately the USAF likes to put all their drone pilots at Beale which from what I have heard isn't a very big difference in experience from Minot.
Also right now all drones are required to be full pilots and officers. This is a big factor in the shortages problem. No one wants to through the Academy and then sit at a desk flinging a joystick around. When I was in it was asked all the time why not have warrant officers or let enlisted fly drones? Brass always said no.
https://www.engadget.com/2015/12/28/us-air-force-allows-enli...
Fortunately, a large part of the planes flying today will still be flying for years to come and they won't be flying themselves. E.g. the B52 program was just extended to 2050 I believe. Replacing that stuff will take decades even when it is feasible technically.
Drones are great for slaughtering camel herders armed with AK-47s and TOW missiles. They're not that great against a tech-parity adversary.