Squirt

In the AF Times today. Very interesting...Any thoughts?


Most F-22 pilots pass on re-up bonus

By Bruce Rolfsen - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Oct 22, 2008 6:10:55 EDT

In the end, 68 percent of eligible pilots signed up for the $125,000 retention bonus in fiscal 2008 — more than the goal of 66 percent — but the final numbers show troublesome trends among fighter pilots.
Fifty-nine percent of the 290 eligible fighter pilots chose to stay another five years beyond the end of their eight-year service commitment. The loss of these pilots, typically new majors on their third or fourth assignment, adds to ongoing concerns about having enough experienced pilots on hand to teach new pilots arriving at operational squadrons.
The fighters with the lowest retention rates were A-10s at 53 percent, F-16s at 51 percent and F-22s at 43 percent. Retention rates for other fighters were 81 percent for F-15Es and 68 percent for F-15s.
All other types of manned aircraft had retention better than 68 percent, ranging from 81 percent for combat rescue pilots to 71 percent for mobility pilots.

Cooperd0g

Navy in a similar situation. Something like only 35% of the Navy Hornet and Rhino pilots elected to stick around for department head and take the same bonus - similar seniority - new Lieutenant Commanders. I'm part of the bigger chunk leaving.

The reasons are almost too many to mention. I always said I would stick around as long as I was having fun. Too much coming up that would not be fun.

Buzz

Anyone know how many sorties per month the average Raptor dude is getting?

Rumor has it in Viper world that 6 to 9 sorties per month is about it, if your lucky.

60+ hour work in the average squadron equals a sortie or two per week? HMMMMM....why is fighter pilot retention so low?

XL0901

Can you say TAMI-21???

Sputnik

I'm not a Raptor dude so.... But the one I had working for me earlier in the year was flying 3-4 times a week. Kinda undermanned up here, don't know what it's like at other bases.

webecheck

notice that the strike eagle take rate is nearly twice the single seat rate. twice the number of dudes to fulfill the queep. its not just about the number of deployments.....right raptor guys.

BDGERJMN

I'm not really sure how the AF breaks out the numbers but the Navy, specifically in the Hornet/Superhornet(WSO's only fly in Supers) community, breaks out Pilots and WSO's separately so it's hard to quantify by single seat vs 2 seat. I wonder if the Strike Eagle community has better numbers from a mission status alone. They are flying alot still so it would make sense that the guys doing the flying would want to stay, or at least some more would.

For me.....it was all about QOL and QOL alone. I have said this many times, no matter how much the bonus was or wasn't, it was a complete non-issue in my decision matrix to stay in or get out. All the money in the world wasn't worth being gone for 6 out of my last 9 years in the Navy on sea duty and not being able to see my kids grow up or spend time with family. That said I will miss the people and the ready room for sure.

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USMCFLYR

I always considered the bonuses as a "thank you for not leaving" paycheck paid out over time. Like BDGERJMN - I never met anyone who was really on the fence who's decision came down to the amount of money. The people getting out did so for different reasons.

USMCFLYR

Hacker15e

I think you'll find that if you visit an F-15E squadron/wing, that the queep expands to fill the void created by having "double" the manpower.

I don't have a good explanation as to why the take rate in my airframe was so high, though. Maybe it's because we've been on the 120-day AEF rotation schedule instead of the 179. Maybe it's because we're flying OEF now vs OIF (much, much more satisfying flying out of Bagram). Personally, I know more guys in my year group who punched and went to the airlines in '07 and '08 than I do guys who took the bonus and stayed -- obviously my anecdotal numbers don't jive with AFPC's.

I took the bonus and am staying, but my decision had a lot more to do with how lousy the airline situation has been the last couple years than with the bonus dollars.

Most of the guys I know were going to stay in regardless of the bonus, and the guys who got out wouldn't have been swayed by that amount of money anyway.

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Lancer

I had this conversation with the AF personnel 2 star 2 months ago and explained that there would be max exiting of pilots if the economy was in better shape. I further explained my scenario, new maj, no commitment, 10 years of flying experience, with a new assignment rip to a personally undersireable base. however, I will stay in the AF for X assignment, which I'm qualified for and can be done. If this is worked I'll stay in, and the AF can retain my services for an additional 3 years, otherwise I'm leaving. I received an email 2 weeks later from that General saying, "sorry, we need you in the assigned platform/location, enjoy your assignment and thanks for serving" I was impressed that I was heard and got feedback, disapointed that the message still wasn't "received". They got my 7 day opt accordingly.

For me its about QOL, the bonus was easy to turn down. Having the trump card and options is worth far more than 125K. I hope the AF gets the message. If they would work with us, just a little bit, retention rates would be alot more acceptable