An unprecedented shortage of experienced pilots is forcing the U.S. Air Force to reexamine training and operational regimes. 
Huge numbers of aviators, many with hundreds of hours of combat time in their logbooks, are leaving to establish a more stable family life and gain better pay. They are unhappy with the high tempo of training and deployments that has typified service life, particularly with conflicts in the Middle East.
Now a joint service task force has been established in the Pentagon to examine and begin to resolve the issue. The House Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Personnel recently held hearings on the matter as well.
SOLVING SHORTFALLS
Air Force is short 720 fighter pilots
Commanders are concerned shortage will grow, affecting future ops
New light-attack aircraft fleets could relieve burden on fighter pilots
“We think it’s a national crisis,” Maj. Gen. Scott Vander Hamm, assistant deputy chief of staff of operations told an audience at a flight training conference in London on March 29. “More and more [pilots] right now are making the decision to exit service at the peak of their readiness and capability,” he added. “The Air Force’s largest problem in the aircrew community is retaining that experience.”
According to Vander Hamm, the Air Force is short of its requirements by 723 fighter pilots in the current fiscal year and by 1,555 regular Air Force aviators overall. By 2020, the pilot numbers for air mobility squadrons will drop below the required level.
And it is not just an Air Force issue. Maj. Gen. William Gaylor, the commander of the Army’s Aviation Center of Excellence says Army aviation is also just over 700 pilots short of its required levels.
“The airlines are hiring between 3,500 and 4,000 a year,” said Vander Hamm. “We are producing 1,200. . . . We have to address this quickly.” He added that if the issue is left to fester, it will affect the bomber and special-operations forces and limit future operations and combat readiness.
Vander Hamm, who is leading the service’s work on the pilot shortage, said the Air Force is considering 25 initiatives in four areas: production (the training throughput of pilots), absorption (how they are used), retention and readdressing training requirements.
Commanders see the use of T-38s (pictured) and later T-Xs as companion trainers as one way of keeping pilots flying and better retaining them. Credit: Tech. Sgt. Matthew Hannen/U.S. Air Force

“We start retaining people from the day we assess them, how we look after them and their families through their careers and with the training we give them,” said Vander Hamm.
Studies will take a holistic view, looking at quality of general life and service life. Among the questions being asked is why so many pilots have been given positions outside the cockpit, particularly when that experience is urgently needed on the front line. Money is also being made available to allow some part-time National Guard personnel to become full-time.
One approach to retaining pilots is to increase Air Force squadron headcounts so pilots can go fly while others do more administrative functions.
The Air Force hopes to expand pilot training in the coming years anyway, with the aim of producing 1,400 pilots per year in 2020 and perhaps 1,600 a year later, although Vander Hamm said such an increase would require another training base. This would also help increase the potential output of pilots from nations that send students to the U.S. for training.
Another area of study is the wider use of surrogate or companion training aircraft to allow pilots to keep up their hours on a lower-cost type compared to the front-line aircraft they normally fly. This approach was adopted in the B-2, U-2 and F-22 communities and could be widened to other units not only to support pilot training but also adversary air requirements.
Similar challenges have dogged other air arms. Britain’s Royal Air Force has found that it requires a minimum of three squadrons just to support one operating in theater because of the cycle of operations, training and recovery time after deployments.
Vander Hamm says the Air Force sees opportunities in the upcoming OA-X light-attack aircraft demonstration. The purchase of such a fleet would increase the capacity of the combat air forces and take pressure off the existing squadrons that are cycled in and out of operational theaters quickly
“Pilots that are not flying are not happy,” Vander Hamm told flight training conference delegates. “There is no silver bullet. This is not just about money; we are looking at a number of options.”