The Marine Corps is headed for a pilot exodus
The Marine Corps needs to admit that they are failing in pilot production and management, costing them dearly in terms of combat readiness.
BY BRENT KRECKMAN | PUBLISHED MAY 6, 2022 10:00 AM
During the early months of 2020, the Marine Corps was fighting a losing battle of its aviators resigning in droves to join commercial airlines. Only a few months prior, in late 2019, I had written an article attempting to detail how the Corps was lobbing ineffective bonuses, restricting pilots’ career choices, and failing to address systemic issues that push aviators to look for career options beyond the military. While I expected not to make many friends with the article, I had hoped identifying problems and proposing solutions would fuel some sort of positive change for Marine Corps pilot management. As I continued to plan my own departure from active duty service in 2020, I held out hope it might make a difference to those remaining in the aviation community after I was gone.
It was around this time that the Corps’ fight to retain Marine aviators worsened, as regional airlines were offering tens of thousands of dollars specifically for military helicopter pilots to train with and fly for them. Fixed-wing aviators had historically been in a better position to transition than their helicopter brethren with their ability to be hired directly into the major airlines, bypassing the regionals altogether. Going into 2020, all the trends and projections indicated the airline hiring frenzy showed no signs of letting up. Unbeknownst to anyone, the brewing COVID-19 pandemic would change all that.
As President Trump began implementing travel bans, which quickly led to individual states issuing their own full-blown lockdowns, one of the hardest-hit industries was commercial aviation. With virtually all air travel halted, even major government contracts for transporting military personnel, airlines were forced to furlough pilots, cancel training pipelines for new ones, and freeze hiring. The shuttering of most aviation operations enabled the Marine Corps to inadvertently score its best retention tool in years. Suddenly, officers across the Corps who had even the most well thought out plans to transition to civilian life were contacting their monitors — officers responsible for assigning orders to Marines — at Headquarters Marine Corps (HQMC), asking them what they could do to stay on active duty. I know, because I was one of them.
https://taskandpurpose.com/opinion/marine-corps-pilot-retention/
