We ask too much of our Air Force pilots
By Thomas E. Ricks
June 1, 2017
The U.S. Air Force is facing a severe crisis. Numerous articles written by active duty military, the most recent of which are here and here, have provided their perspectives on the matter, but these pieces only serve to highlight the real crisis, and it’s a cultural one.
There are two very different types of leadership employed by officers in the Air Force. There is officer-to-enlisted leadership, which most support and maintenance officers learn on the job from the onset, and then there is peer to peer leadership, which young pilots learn beginning at Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT) and into their first few assignments. While often at odds with “bag wearers,” there is a lot that support and maintenance officers can learn from operators, and vice versa. I know that I have learned a lot from my operator colleagues, and many of them have learned a lot from me and my fellow support and maintenance officers.
http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/06/01/we-ask-too-much-of-our-air-force-pilots/?utm_source=RC+Defense+Morning+Recon&utm_campaign=dbaf01abc4-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_06_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_694f73a8dc-dbaf01abc4-81835773
