The Air Force is facing a shortage of at least 2,000 pilots, Newsweek reports. President Donald Trump’s latest order allows the Air Force to recall up to 1,000 retired pilots to active duty to ensure it has enough aviators who are combat-ready, but by law, all branches of the military are typically only allowed to bring back 25 officers at a time.
According to the Air Force, however, these pilots’ recollections aren’t sufficient to meet its needs.
“We appreciate the flexibility, but we want pilots with more than just a three-year commitment,” an Air Force spokesman told Fox News on Tuesday. The Air Force is looking for pilots who can make a 10- to 20-year commitment, the spokesman added.
Newsweek adds that military leaders have expressed concern the Air Force could “break” if it doesn’t find a way to deal with the shortage. The Air Force needs roughly 20,000 pilots to accommodate its various needs and fly its wide array of aircraft. Roughly 10 percent of its positions remain unfilled.
“With 2,000 pilots short, it’ll break the force,” U.S. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson said last week at annual State of the Air Force news conference at the Pentagon.
This massive pilot shortage comes as the U.S. military deals with threats across the world that require significant air-power to confront, from combating the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) to putting pressure on North Korea, Newsweek notes.
“We’re burning out our people. Surge has become the new normal in the United States Air Force. You can do that for a year, or two years, maybe even three or four years. But I met someone last week who has just come back from his 17th deployment. Seventeen deployments. And at some point, families make a decision that they just can’t keep doing this at this pace,” Wilson stressed.
According to U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff General Dave Goldfein, pilots at the moments are overworked and “the tension on the force right now is significant.”
Many pilots opt for higher salaries with commercial airlines when they’re up for re-enlistment, and the Air Force has attempted to address this issue by offering contract extensions of only one or two years with $35,000 bonuses, as opposed to the typical five- to nine-year extensions, Newsweek adds.
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