US Air Force could make pilots stay in service against their will amid drastic shortage – official
RT.com
11 Apr, 2017
The US Air Force could soon be forcing pilots to stay in the service against their will, according to the chief of the military unit’s Air Mobility Command. It comes amid an exodus of pilots leaving the Air Force for jobs at commercial airlines.
General Carlton Everhart told Roll Call that he has spoken with airline executives about the huge number of pilots leaving the Air Force.
“I said to the industry…if we can’t meet the requirements, the chief could drop in a stop-loss – and you need to understand that,” he said, referring to the practice of forcing Air Force personnel to stay in the service beyond their period of commitment.
Everhart and other Air Force generals will join General David Goldfein, the Air Force’s chief-of-staff, in a meeting with US airline executives at Andrews Air Force base on May 18. They will also be joined by representatives from other military branches to discuss the matter.
The goal of the meeting will be to find a way to solve the exodus of Air Force pilots to commercial airlines in a way that works for both the military and the industry.
The Air Force is short 1,555 pilots across its active, Reserve and National Guard forces, the Hill reported last month. Of those, 950 are fighter pilot positions.
Everhart spoke of the challenges caused by pilots fleeing the service, particularly when it comes to Washington’s fight against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL).
“If I don’t have pilots to fly, the enemy has a vote, and if I can’t put warheads on foreheads, then [IS] is winning,” he said.
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