US Air Force Faces 500 Fighter Pilot Shortfall

Cptnchia said:
"Gear checked down, cleared to land." isn't something that you hear at civilian airports.
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NAS Whidbey always called Cleared to Land, Check Gear and Flaps.

Flying in my little PA-28-140 from the Flying club I'd respond, Flaps Check, Gear down and Welded. They were never amused.

Had to Land on Taxiway Bravo quite a bit when the A-6's were doing FCLPs
 
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Hacker15e said:
This is a trainwreck that the AF could have seen coming for a long, long time. All of the indicators were there; the "little people" have been screaming about it for at least the last 5 years. Hell, Welsh himself knew about it when he was USAFE/CC years ago.

The AF is so busy smelling its own farts, breaking its arm patting itself on the back, calling itself "the greatest Air Force in the history of the world," that they're completely unable to step back, identify future/looming threats, and make an honest assessment of themselves. Given that, it isn't tough to understand why the trainwreck is here and the leadership (I mean, management -- there doesn't appear to be a whole lot of leadership going on here...) is surprised by it and caught on its heels.

The AF has a lot of phenomenal, hard-working people. These are the people who are keeping the service functional despite the blue-kool-aid guzzing careerist sycophants that infest most of the levels of leadership above the squadron.

So far as I'm concerned, HAF can choke on the problem they've created.

Good JQP article on the issue:
http://www.jqpublicblog.com/that-time-gen-welsh-didnt-think-morale-was-pretty-darn-good/
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I couldn't agree more. The "leadership" I've seen thus far is all about managing the status quo. The Air Force is full of meaningless rhetoric and complete BS about how much it values people. You don't have to look far to see just how many good people are ousted simply because the Air Force gets the slightest sniff of an imperfect image - others are mindlessly promoted simply because they fit the image.

Don't get me wrong, there are some good people, but the job seems to be more about guarding the sacred cows of bureaucratic minutia more than anything else. It's not hard to see why everyone wants out.
 
To everyone saying "Pick ME!" we have to be in a serious big-time war before they start scrounging for pilots in the Civvy world again. If we're at the point where we're waiving UPT for guys with an ATP...well, you probably don't want the job.
 
ppragman said:
To everyone saying "Pick ME!" we have to be in a serious big-time war before they start scrounging for pilots in the Civvy world again. If we're at the point where we're waiving UPT for guys with an ATP...well, you probably don't want the job.
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yes, and besides, this guy is first in line as he's already done it........

Brian.jpg
 
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jskibo said:
NAS Whidbey always called Cleared to Land, Check Gear and Flaps.

Flying in my little PA-28-140 from the Flying club I'd respond, Flaps Check, Gear down and Welded. They were never amused.

Had to Land on Taxiway Bravo quite a bit when the A-6's were doing FCLPs
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We were required to say "check gear down" doing PAR's even to B06's =\
 
Still haven't figured out what fighter guys do for so many hours. Heavy guys seem upset because they're gone all the time. Go Navy, they seem happy besides the Guard.

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk
 
scoobs said:
Still haven't figured out what fighter guys do for so many hours.
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You mean aside from the 4 hours planning, the 2 hours briefing, and the hour or two debriefing the actual 1.5 with the canopy closed? If you haven't lived that act, you may not appreciate all of the ancillary work that goes into organizing, executing, and learning from a typical home-station training mission.

In the "spare" time, they're doing their desk jobs, OPRs, CBTs, etc, etc.
 
Hacker15e said:
You mean aside from the 4 hours planning, the 2 hours briefing, and the hour or two debriefing the actual 1.5 with the canopy closed? If you haven't lived that act, you may not appreciate all of the ancillary work that goes into organizing, executing, and learning from a typical home-station training mission.

In the "spare" time, they're doing their desk jobs, OPRs, CBTs, etc, etc.
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As for the Navy, since it was mentioned, all the above things apply to us as well (at least in the strike fighter community).
 
So um,
...

Go Guard!!!



(To add I was free from any sort of duty the the 2nd, 11/12th, 24/25th this month)

PPS: you guys can have fighters.
 
Hacker15e said:
You mean aside from the 4 hours planning, the 2 hours briefing, and the hour or two debriefing the actual 1.5 with the canopy closed? If you haven't lived that act, you may not appreciate all of the ancillary work that goes into organizing, executing, and learning from a typical home-station training mission.

In the "spare" time, they're doing their desk jobs, OPRs, CBTs, etc, etc.
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I should have said that I don't understand why working 12-14 hours was ever accepted when it's not necessary. I guess that's why everyone is flocking to the airlines.
 
scoobs said:
I should have said that I don't understand why working 12-14 hours was ever accepted when it's not necessary. I guess that's why everyone is flocking to the airlines.
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Those chairs will run away without somebody to hold them down till they fall asleep.

And they all fall asleep around 1800...
 
Nark said:
So um,
...

Go Guard!!!



(To add I was free from any sort of duty the the 2nd, 11/12th, 24/25th this month)

PPS: you guys can have fighters.
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The Guard is just mini active duty, both Army as well as Air Guard.

Not the same Guard I enlisted into decades ago.
 
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