The Air Force has too many fighter and bomber pilots. As Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Moseley noted last week, this situation stems from two basic changes: fewer bomber and fighter platforms and greater need for unmanned aerial vehicle and special operations pilots. To fix the imbalance, the service has begun to implement a program it terms Transformation Aircrew Management Initiatives for the 21st Century to help redistribute the pilot force. The initiatives include opening up previously experience-restricted cockpits to new specialized undergraduate pilot training graduates and replacing several hundred rated officers in non-flying operational billets with enlisted aviators. The service expects the redistribution to enable it to increase the number of sorties it can allocate to inexperienced pilots.
The last remaining T-1 Jayhawk at JBSA-Randolph, Texas, took its final flight to the "Boneyard" at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., on July 15. The 99th Flying Training Squadron will train pilots using T-6 and simulator until it gets T-7 Red Hawk in fiscal 2026.