Can this internal review help shrink the Air Force’s pilot shortage?
By Rachel S. Cohen
Jun 8, 05:45 PM
The Air Force hopes that a new review underway at service headquarters will help reverse its longstanding fighter pilot shortage, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. CQ Brown said Wednesday.
Lt. Gen. Jim Slife, the service’s deputy chief of staff for operations, is taking a fresh look at whether the Air Force needs hundreds more pilots to fill policy-making and managerial jobs — or if airmen with a different background could fare just as well, Brown said during a discussion at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.
If it succeeds, the review could also reshape who wields influence among Air Force planners and policymakers in a typically pilot-heavy culture.
“Do all the pilot positions we have on staff actually require a pilot, or does it require someone with operational expertise?” Brown said. “How do we ensure that all of our airmen, to the best of our ability, have a little operational acumen?”
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-air-force/2023/06/08/can-this-internal-review-help-shrink-the-air-forces-pilot-shortage/
