How many Air Force nurses(also air force officers) do you see being assigned something not in their career field? Doctors for that matter? They're officers too?
Are they Staff Corps like they are in the USN?
If so then they join in a specialized service and are not Line Officers - like pilots. I'll use JAGs as an example. You may join because they told you they needed experienced prosecutors in the JAG, but when you are selected, trained, and into the fleet you end up doing Legal Service and Defense work and then other associated staff jobs. In other words - you sign on the dotted line to be an officer in the US military for a certain number of years. They can put you where they best see use for you.
The 10 yr commitment is perfect to decide if you want to leave or not. The air force isn''t saying that they will guarantee a cockpit til retirement. IMHO, being non vol'd to a non flying assignment prior to your first 10 point, is not a smart use of an asset. You have definitely completed your training obligation and have become an expert in your career field. To me, if one decides to stay after that, all bets are off. The Air Force needs leaders and exposure in other areas is crucial to accomplishing this.
So these *pilots* would have spent 10 years only in the cockpit and then be taken out and put into various important staff billets without any other experience? Nah....I think the answer here still lies in the selective track option.
The new variable to a flyer is the UAV. It is in aviation but most flyers don't consider it flying. Unfortunately, being the wave of the future, it is a tough one to avoid.
It seemed that the avenue of using experienced pilots or even UPT graduates was a knee jerk reaction required due to a huge uptick in the use and needs of UAV in the current conflicts. They got caught behind the manpower-vs-requirement power curve and turned to the first source of qualified people they could to fill the void. Isn't there a specific UAV training track now or are pilot candidates still getting UAV on your drops?
USMCFLYR