Air Force Must Overhaul Pilot Training to Address Shortage, Future Threats
12/7/2018
​​​—Brian Everstine​​
​Maj. Gen. Patrick Doherty, 19th Air Force commander, gets ready for a T-X familiarization sortie at the Boeing facility in St. Louis Nov. 27, 2018. Air Force photo.
​SAN ANTONIO—The Air Force needs to overhaul its pilot training program so it can get ahead of a potentially crippling pilot shortage and better prepare the pilots it does have for future threats, a key officer overseeing pilot training said Thursday.
The Air Force is short thousands of pilots and has turned to 19th Air Force to increase its throughput, but at the same time the Pentagon’s National Defense Strategy calls for preparing to meet great power competition. This strategy requires the Air Force to train pilots who can face near-peer threats, and have more capability to make decisions on their own, 19th Air Force Commander Maj. Gen. Patrick Doherty said.
http://www.airforcemag.com/Features/Pages/2018/December%202018/Air-Force-Must-Overhaul-Pilot-Training-to-Address-Shortage-Future-Threats.aspx
