Somehow I don't think that the senior brass will ever grow a big enough pair to tell Congress that we can't/shouldn't 'do more with less,' so I doubt this paradigm shift (back to the way things used to be) will ever occur

 

That was pre-covid, they'll probably lay off hassling the reservists for a good while now as you say.

But if the mil tried to implement a hybrid solution (Navy seriously considered this) where some reserves would be planned (obligated?) for a much higher participation than traditional, I doubt the airlines would see the humor in more of their pilots being gone for more time. I was a heavy traditional participant, any more and I would have needed to be chasing the AD 20 year pension. It's not a seamless sliding scale, there's a tipping point where people want the regular pension and behave accordingly. Or if it's not available, they'll behave accordingly, like TRs.

 

It's just that the "surge" is 20 years and counting lol. They've done a great job of slowly turning us into the AD and they even keep sending us their LTs because they can't train them.

 

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.

 

As a retired active duty guy…I 100% agree. The active duty wastes a lot of valuable Human Resources. There really is no good reason for tying up young captains as squadron execs when they are in their most productive flying years (for the Air Force). Professional development of officer skills does not require burning guys out on office work generating awards packages for awards that have no reason for being. The Air Force bureaucracy has become a giant self licking ice cream cone. That said, Congress and the administration need to resource the active duty to meet the normal day to day ops load. Guard and Reserve are for going to war with a near peer competitor, not mowing the sand in the desert.

 

You know it! There was even a General, and a few others, on a FB page condescendingly boasting that the airlines won't be hiring "for a long time." This was in a post that happened before this years bonus was released. The type of post that reeked of, I know the bonus that's coming is not going to be well received, but you shouldn't be in this job for the bonus anyway, oh and the airlines won't be hiring for a long time.


This! That's almost verbatim words passed to me by my first flight commander. It's something I pass on to our young guys as well. I know it's hard for AD guys to fathom, but we're burnt out as well. The constant deployments are wearing on the force.

 

Taking Reservists fir granted is not a new problem, unfortunately:

https://youtu.be/bJaSIUCPZKc

 

https://youtu.be/5vAwktNw7_8

 

My best friend from college was an AF IP. A couple years ago he told me it was a massive uphill battle to wash anybody out of UPT. Then they basically cut the hours in half and tried adding a bunch of VR-type training that'd track their instrument scan, etc. That stuff definitely helps, but it's not anywhere close to a 1 for 1 replacement for the SA, airmanship, and ADM from real-world experience.

 

it’s a program they are looking into:

https://www.airforcemag.com/usaf-bri...al-curriculum/

As far as “...a massive uphill battle to wash anybody out of UPT...” I would point out that the largest single source of UPT candidates remains the Air Force Academy, and most people go there through appointment by some Senator or Congressman who oftentimes takes a proprietary interest in ‘his’ or ‘hers’ recent graduate’s continued success.