Originally Posted by
Ftrooppilot
The USAF Aviation Cadet program graduated thousands of pilots and Navs without college degrees. Flying skills and motivation were the screening tools - not a college degree. The elimination process was "brutal" with graduation rates going as low as 20% of the original class. The program was ended in the early 1960s as more and more USAFA / ROTC newly commissioned officers entered the service.
Different times, different technology.
Back in the day military airplanes cost one million or less, and we had ten thousand of them. Nowdays they cost tens or hundreds of millions, or even one billion dollars and we have a few hundred airframes...or in the case of the B-2 only twenty. If a pilot screws up in the B-2, he single-handedly puts a dent in national security at the strategic level...on that airplane maybe the mechanics should have degrees too.
Back then you could go fly a new airframe after skimming through the manual and getting a few pointers from someone who had flown it before...today it takes about 18 months of fulltime training.
The systems and procedures are so complex and the economic cost of failure so high that they need to hire proven learners...a degree is the most obvious and readily available measure of that. Aptitude is measurable, but motivation not so much...a kid who sounds motivated at the interview might lose his enthusiasm after months and years of grueling training. Training costs so much that they really don't want 80% attrition any more.
Also with so few pilot jobs available, they have plenty of degreed applicants to chose from, so why lower the standard?
Commercial aviation is a different story, the airplanes have become more reliable and probably easier to fly. But for those non-degreed commercial pilots...it would probably be in your best interest to have a 4-year degree requirement for commercial aviation. It's a lot easier to get your degree now than to be replaced in 15 years by a 19 year-old who is happy to earn $7/hour.