Billy Pilgrim

I just finished reading this study the other day by the RAND corp...

Check it out - eyeopening...

www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG855.html

It's more for the younger fighter guys - or guys debating heavies vs fighters...

Deuce130

This is a very real problem. I'm not a fighter pilot, but my brother is, and I pay attention to what's going on around me in today's AF. Before you choose the fighter route, be sure to talk to current fighter pilots to get the lay of the land and a REALISTIC assessment of your future career in fighters. It's quite possible the AF is going to have a bunch of one-tour fighter pilots running around.

LowSlowT2

VERY true. More are coming to AFSOC to fly little planes, more UAV tours, more non-traditional fighter assignments than ever before...

When I went through UPT, height of the bank, no fighters and happy to get a plane. It wasn't instant, but I fell in love with the Herk mission. Not quite as sexy as the fast-jet boys (I really wanted A10s), but a versatile mission done every day. Then when I got the chance to come to AFSOC, it was even better.

I understand the little AFSOC planes will begin crossing guys into MC/AC variants soon...might be an option for a young fighter guy to consider.

Flyer5

I agree, the outlook is not good. Who knows how many JSF's the USAF will actually buy, and the F-22 buy was way lower than expected/required. Fighter vs heavy track was a difficult choice when I made it years ago, and might not make the same choice now if I were finishing up UPT.

KennHC130

Currently deployed with a gal whose husband is a Beagle driver (first tour) out of FAIP land. She says there's slim to none of hubby getting a second tour right after this. Weird to me. I don't understand when you keep reading the AF is going to be short 1K fighter dudes in the next year or so.

crewdawg

It amazes me how the AF manages their people. I had instructors in UPT that had one tour in the their respective fighters with little to no chance of going back. Then I had B-Course IPs who did a year in Korea, three years in a OPS F-16 assignment, followed by three years teaching at the FTU, and most of them have moved on to an OPS F-16 assignment or aggressors. The rich get richer, I guess...

Faixa Azul

There will be about 400 empty ANG fighter cockpits over the next 4-5 years due to age out of the Guard force. Projected 10 year commercial hiring boom. Slights, real or imagined (mostly real, though) against fighter guys from Big AF left and right. Believe me, I'm not an oversensitive fighter guy. That said, nobody in today's RegAF can even remotely claim that fighter guys are coddled, stroked, favored, or otherwise elevated over non-fighter guys. It's damn near the opposite...in order to prove the USAF doesn't favor fighter guys, they've gone overboard in the opposite direction. I won't even get into the extraneous crap every pilot has to go through in today's RegAF.

Anyway, it's only important when you factor in the ANG force and the commercial opportunities. Can you say mass exodus like nothing seen before? I think it's coming.

Billy Pilgrim

I just want to fly... I don't understand how the C-17 dudes are getting burned out from their ops tempo and I'm in this nonflying tour wishing I was back in the cons. It's only marginally better where I'm at than the UAV world. The study called raising the UPT commitment from 6 years to 8 then 10 (I've got 4+ left) an "extraordinary measure" to fix the issue and one that can't be taken regularily. The new Lt in my unit didn't fly because he didn't want to get stuck for that long doing something he doesn't want.

To quote a friend in the MQ-9 world (prior A-10). "They own us dude, for TEN years, you think that they care what we think? We can't leave."

My buddies in the 22 have gotten around 30 hours this last year btw and my gut says the 35 will be no different.

What kills me is that where this shortage is going to take us. It will take the better part of a decade and billions in training and flying hours to fix. All because we took our fighter experience and made them UAV operators, UPT IP's and ALO's instead of getting good at their primary job.

Flyer5

The next few years should be interesting. I know the military is in for a downsizing, based on the fiscal mismanagement the past few years. The question is where will they cut and how much will be from the military. The AF is probably in for some unexpected personnel savings on the rated side soon. However, airline jobs aren't readily available right now, so some guys who would very much to leave are choosing to stay...

Flyer5

Just curious, where did you get the 400 empty ANG fighter cockpits number?