Originally Posted by TankerDriver

Depends on the unit. I can tell you my -135 unit is darn desperate for pilots right now. Between this past year and this year coming up, we'll be down over 10 Lt Col's from retirements. People just aren't going to put up with the rotating mobilizations with no end in sight without dropping papers. We even lost people under 20 to non-deployable Guard/Reserve jobs. People are spent and we can't keep up with it. When most of them are 10-12 year FO's on wide bodies making $200k a year, they don't need the Guard. From a leadership standpoint, you're always between a rock and a hardplace keeping guys after 20. They're your most experienced guys you don't want to get rid of, but they hold your nuts in their hands when i comes to controlling manpower. It helps to have more people in the 10-15 yr range when times are tough.