USAF in danger due to pilot shortage
03-05-2023, 10:44 AM
#2
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Oct 2015
Position: Gear slinger
Posts: 2,721
Originally Posted by SonicFlyer
03-05-2023, 10:54 AM
#3
Prime Minister/Moderator
Joined APC: Jan 2006
Position: Engines Turn Or People Swim
Posts: 38,205
Originally Posted by Otterbox
Theres talk on the Navy side of things of increasing winging commitments… again… to help retention. Wonder if the Air Force is considering the same.
I'll be honest, even at age 18 I might have balked at going down a road that involved a 15-year commitment after wings... at that point, might as well stay for 20.
03-05-2023, 11:06 AM
#4
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Mar 2021
Posts: 813
for a minute I thought I was reading this circa-2000 RAND report
https://www.rand.org/content/dam/ran...007/MR1204.pdf
23 years later, and we are still "looking at ways to solve this problem"
https://www.rand.org/content/dam/ran...007/MR1204.pdf
23 years later, and we are still "looking at ways to solve this problem"
03-05-2023, 11:40 AM
#5
Perennial Reserve
Joined APC: Jan 2018
Posts: 10,867
“In the 1990s, they divested too many aircraft, they closed down too many pilot training bases,” she said. “They simply don’t have the capacity to produce the number of pilots that they need, and they don’t have the aircraft required to absorb the pilots they do create.”
Ther once was a base called Mather AFB and the flyers out of there had a shoulder patch that said Air Training Command Headquarters West. At the time I think only two ATC bases were west of the Mississippi (Williams In Tempe, now also gone, and Mather itself).
I thought the whole HQ West thing was more than a little arrogant until I got to digging into the history. During WW2 there were apparently over 100 ATC bases in California alone.
03-06-2023, 04:07 AM
#6
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Mar 2008
Position: FAA 'Flight Check'
Posts: 13,835
“Ther once was a base called Mather AFB and the flyers out of there had a shoulder patch that said Air Training Command Headquarters West. At the time I think only two ATC bases were west of the Mississippi (Williams In Tempe, now also gone, and Mather itself).”
I’m not sure what timeframe this might have been. I know Mather was still training Nav’s when I graduated college in ‘89, but there are numerous ATC bases west of the Mississippi.
I’m not sure what timeframe this might have been. I know Mather was still training Nav’s when I graduated college in ‘89, but there are numerous ATC bases west of the Mississippi.
03-13-2023, 05:38 AM
#7
Sequester bait
Joined APC: Jul 2007
Position: UH-60, AS-350, C-550
Posts: 273
Originally Posted by USMCFLYR
“Ther once was a base called Mather AFB and the flyers out of there had a shoulder patch that said Air Training Command Headquarters West. At the time I think only two ATC bases were west of the Mississippi (Williams In Tempe, now also gone, and Mather itself).”
I’m not sure what timeframe this might have been. I know Mather was still training Nav’s when I graduated college in ‘89, but there are numerous ATC bases west of the Mississippi.
I’m not sure what timeframe this might have been. I know Mather was still training Nav’s when I graduated college in ‘89, but there are numerous ATC bases west of the Mississippi.
AFD does have a caution note for T-38 traffic still.
03-13-2023, 07:54 AM
#8
Perennial Reserve
Joined APC: Jan 2018
Posts: 10,867
Originally Posted by USMCFLYR
“Ther once was a base called Mather AFB and the flyers out of there had a shoulder patch that said Air Training Command Headquarters West. At the time I think only two ATC bases were west of the Mississippi (Williams In Tempe, now also gone, and Mather itself).”
I’m not sure what timeframe this might have been. I know Mather was still training Nav’s when I graduated college in ‘89, but there are numerous ATC bases west of the Mississippi.
I’m not sure what timeframe this might have been. I know Mather was still training Nav’s when I graduated college in ‘89, but there are numerous ATC bases west of the Mississippi.
https://military-history.fandom.com/...raining_Center
03-15-2023, 04:56 PM
#10
Perennial Reserve
Joined APC: Jan 2018
Posts: 10,867
Originally Posted by Irondrivr
UPT instructor friends have told me they are cranking out pilots as fast as they can. It's insane!
https://media.defense.gov/2015/Sep/1...150911-028.pdf
Now they are struggling to produce a small fraction of that output:
https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/y...ious-position/
Some excerpts:
“In the 1990s, they divested too many aircraft, they closed down too many pilot training bases,” she said. “They simply don’t have the capacity to produce the number of pilots that they need, and they don’t have the aircraft required to absorb the pilots they do create.”
Air Force officials have seen hints of progress. The service closed out fiscal 2022 with about 200 more active duty pilots than it had three years earlier. Now, though, military officials and civilian experts alike argue the Pentagon needs to amass a more robust pilot corps to prepare for the next conflict.
Air Force officials have seen hints of progress. The service closed out fiscal 2022 with about 200 more active duty pilots than it had three years earlier. Now, though, military officials and civilian experts alike argue the Pentagon needs to amass a more robust pilot corps to prepare for the next conflict.
The service put 1,276 airmen through undergraduate pilot training last year, about 100 fewer than in fiscal 2021, Riley said. It typically aims to graduate 1,500 new pilotseach year, and is shooting for 1,470 pilots in 2023.
Keeping the pipeline running smoothly was tricky in 2022. The service continues to struggle to find enough civilian workers to run flight simulators despite a slate of hiring incentives.
About one-quarter of those sim instructor jobs — 135 of 518 — remain empty.
Keeping the pipeline running smoothly was tricky in 2022. The service continues to struggle to find enough civilian workers to run flight simulators despite a slate of hiring incentives.
About one-quarter of those sim instructor jobs — 135 of 518 — remain empty.
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