New study shows grim outlook for future of Air Force pilot shortage
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New study shows grim outlook for future of Air Force pilot shortage
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Re: New study shows grim outlook for future of Air Force pilot shortage
#2This is interesting because the military pilots I know simply love to fly. It's an amazing opportunity to fly amazing kit, and to get tons and tons of airtime. The pay was never that great, and young people in their early 20's shouldn't mind deployments in the midwest or wherever.
Also, it's a very aspirational job: "Jet Fighter Pilot". They make video games of that. Every little boy, at some point, considered wanting to do it.
Something fishy in the system, maybe a broken pipeline, because I can't imagine anything easier to at least get people excited about.
Re: New study shows grim outlook for future of Air Force pilot shortage
#3This is interesting because the military pilots I know simply love to fly. It's an amazing opportunity to fly amazing kit, and to get tons and tons of airtime. The pay was never that great, and young people in their early 20's shouldn't mind deployments in the midwest or wherever. Also, it's a very aspirational job: "Jet Fighter Pilot". They make video games of that. Every little boy, at some point, considered wantin…
"and young people in their early 20's shouldn't mind deployments in the midwest or wherever."
That to me sounds exactly like the kind of thing someone in their early twenties who is ready to head out and see the world would mind. Maybe I'm just projecting?
Re: New study shows grim outlook for future of Air Force pilot shortage
#4This is interesting because the military pilots I know simply love to fly. It's an amazing opportunity to fly amazing kit, and to get tons and tons of airtime. The pay was never that great, and young people in their early 20's shouldn't mind deployments in the midwest or wherever. Also, it's a very aspirational job: "Jet Fighter Pilot". They make video games of that. Every little boy, at some point, considered wantin…
When I was young and single the last place you were gonna catch me relocating to was some sleepy midwestern town. That was a weird thing to just paper over
Re: New study shows grim outlook for future of Air Force pilot shortage
#5This is interesting because the military pilots I know simply love to fly. It's an amazing opportunity to fly amazing kit, and to get tons and tons of airtime. The pay was never that great, and young people in their early 20's shouldn't mind deployments in the midwest or wherever. Also, it's a very aspirational job: "Jet Fighter Pilot". They make video games of that. Every little boy, at some point, considered wantin…
"and young people in their early 20's shouldn't mind deployments in the midwest or wherever." That to me sounds exactly like the kind of thing someone in their early twenties who is ready to head out and see the world would mind. Maybe I'm just projecting?
From my experience with pilots (family, NATO training base nearby), just the opportunity to flight high performance aircraft is a thrill. The name of the piece of land below you isn't as important as what aircraft you're in and what you're allowed to do with it.
Re: New study shows grim outlook for future of Air Force pilot shortage
#6Seems like the Air Force is trapped in a vicious underhiring/overhiring cycle. When I was in college I did Air Force ROTC. A lot of my peers had pilot slots; I was poised as a 17D (Cyber Ops). After graduating, my training date was put on hold virtually indefinitely. Eventually I got an email that the Air Force had commissioned way too many officers and were looking for people to voluntarily leave with no commitment/obligation - seemed like a good deal, so I took it as did a lot of my non-pilot friends.
Later I found out a bunch of my pilot buddies were reassigned to other career fields because of overly stringent medical requirements (the real reason was likely a shortage in the other career fields?). For example one friend indicated he had pollen allergies on a form and was instantly disqualified (like you would ever be breathing pollen at altitude). Another wasn't even poised to be a pilot but a CSO - nope, disqualified because it turned out he had a tiny benign cataract in one eye (he has 20/20 vision otherwise).
The USAF brought this upon themselves
Re: New study shows grim outlook for future of Air Force pilot shortage
#7This is interesting because the military pilots I know simply love to fly. It's an amazing opportunity to fly amazing kit, and to get tons and tons of airtime. The pay was never that great, and young people in their early 20's shouldn't mind deployments in the midwest or wherever. Also, it's a very aspirational job: "Jet Fighter Pilot". They make video games of that. Every little boy, at some point, considered wantin…
The problem is that a lot of these guys are getting shunted from 'real' flying into drone piloting. They get front row seats to pushing a button and killing someone impersonally thousands of miles away, and they're managed like call center employees.
In the words of one of my childhood buddies, "I didn't go through all that to fly a simulator, even if it's connected to something with wings somewhere else."
Re: New study shows grim outlook for future of Air Force pilot shortage
#8country doesn't need that many pilots if it doesn't wage endless wars, though.
Re: New study shows grim outlook for future of Air Force pilot shortage
#9[deleted]
Re: New study shows grim outlook for future of Air Force pilot shortage
#10This is interesting because the military pilots I know simply love to fly. It's an amazing opportunity to fly amazing kit, and to get tons and tons of airtime. The pay was never that great, and young people in their early 20's shouldn't mind deployments in the midwest or wherever. Also, it's a very aspirational job: "Jet Fighter Pilot". They make video games of that. Every little boy, at some point, considered wantin…
That excitement has to last through years of training with crappy hours in crappy locations. Doesn't matter if you are cool fighter pilot if you can't be there for your family, move them out to the desert, don't have any say over when and where you will go for weeks at a time when you aren't deployed, gone for months or a year at a time when you are deployed, move from one crappy location to another every couple of years with sub-standard housing, and deal with a litany of red tape and BS not only on the ground but in the air. Assuming the stomach twisting maneuvers never get old and you still love the actual flying (many people have to learn to keep their puke in their stomachs). You have crazy hours and can't get regular sleeping hours, can't even drink when you want, but are still surrounded by functional alcoholics and professional bros. I could go on. The sheen wears off, the data backs it up. Imagine never seeing your kids even when you are at home because you are gone before they wake up, and home after they have gone to bed. The pilots often have to do more than fly. I hear it's much worse in the Marines since the pilots are also the officers in charge of the enlisted in the squadron, whereas in the Air Force you can be a pilot and an officer with no one reporting to you.