Title: Fighter Pilots Aren’t Flying Enough to Hone the Skills of Full-Spectrum War - Defense One
Headings: Fighter Pilots Aren’t Flying Enough to Hone the Skills of Full-Spectrum War
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Fighter Pilots Aren’t Flying Enough to Hone the Skills of Full-Spectrum War
The Air Force is losing training time, experienced teachers, and its combat edge.

Content: Faculties. Learning the ins and outs of executing fighter tactics, techniques and procedures requires hands-on knowledge/instruction which is handed down by ever-cascading generations of fighter pilots. A fighter pilot’s skill set generally peaks after seven years in the cockpit, at which point most pilots move on to staff, leadership and Professional Military Education assignments. As those pilots cycle out of the cockpit, they pass on their experience and mindsets to the next generation. But the last time Air Force fighters flew in, or consistently trained for, a high threat environment was in March 2003. By next spring, two full generations of fighter pilots will have come and gone since high-threat, high-intensity operations were part of their regular training regimen. Retention. The low sortie rates and emphasis on additional duties (administrative tasks assigned to aircrews that do not further or even involve the flying mission) has helped bring the current Air Force pilot shortfall to 700—a number that is heading to 1,000. It takes two years for an individual to become an operational fighter pilot, but it will take far more than that to regain the experience lost through this flight of talent. Mindset.