I was active duty for 10 years until 2006 and have been in the AF Reserve since. What is old is new again. When President Trump closed down the country last year due to Covid, I bet there was some gumshoe at the Pentagon that woke up smiling thinking that the pilot retention problem was fixed. I would not be surprised if some short-sighted folks looked to even eradicate the pilot bonus. Obviously, the retention issue was not fixed, and the can was kicked down the road.

An earlier comment on this thread suggested passing more flying to the Guard/Reserve unit. I can only speak from the position as a TR in an associate wing flying T-Tails. There should never be an assumption that we will just plus our participation up. Family first, civilian job second, Reserve job is third.

I've said it for years. Until I see all the offices on the Active Duty side emptied out, then the Active Duty can still support the mission. Millions of dollars were spent to generate a pilot, not an exec officer.