Originally Posted by
ugleeual
We still have a pilot shortage in the military... I don’t see why the DoD couldn’t create a streamline program to allow pilots to fill cargo/tanker flying billets after attending a 6 week commissioning program like they do for medical professionals.
We could do something like that in a war, IF we had more planes than pilots.
Our current pilot shortage is mid/senior officers for leadership/staff billets... too many of those were leaving earlier than usual for airlines, but that problem looks solved for a few years at least. Those guys cannot be replaced by civilian pilots, they need years of military organizational experience, not just stick and rudder skills.
Never in recent decades has there been a shortage of military pilot new-hires (shortages were for grunts), and a bad economy will give the military their pick of the litter now.