Being forced to keep old aircraft is eroding the Air Force's attempts to build up its readiness, Vice Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin told the House Armed Services readiness subcommittee. He also said a host of efforts to fill USAF's pilot deficit are ...
Active-duty Airmen interested in becoming rated officers can apply to train with the Civil Air Patrol and start their paths to becoming pilots. The Air Force has opened the application window for the Fall 2021 Rated Preparatory Program, the fourth iteration of the approach started ...
The Defense Department has regained some lost readiness after two decades of continuous combat, but still has more work to do, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office. “Nearly two decades of conflict has degraded U.S. military readiness," wrote report author Diana ...
The COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on the commercial airline industry means Air Force pilot retention—a big problem earlier in the year—is in relatively good shape, but the service still needs to prepare for empty cockpits when the economy comes back. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. ...
Gen. Mark D. Kelly took over leadership of Air Combat Command from Gen. James "Mike" Holmes August 28, in a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va. Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown and Kelly both praised Holmes for his wisdom and many fundamental ...
Tall or small, the Air Force wants to ensure that Americans of more shapes and sizes can fit into its future aircraft. The service on Aug. 4 updated its guidance on the minimum physical size requirements used to design cockpits and aircrew flight equipment, which ...
Air Education and Training Command’s RPA Training Next effort wants to overhaul how the Air Force builds future RPA pilots and sensor operators. More specifically, it wants to give these Airmen more personalized journeys through the RPA training pipeline instead of making them adhere to ...
The Air Force may not have enough remotely piloted aircraft pilots and sensor operators to stand up a new wing in 2024, as it struggles to retain personnel and increase the size of its instructor pilot cadre, the Government Accountability Office says in a new ...
The Air Force removed the minimum height requirement for applicants who want to fly as it looks to increase the diversity of those entering USAF cockpits. Under previous standards, pilots must reach a standing height of 64 inches to 77 inches—5 feet, 4 inches to ...
The services will likely fall short of their end-strength goals this year because of the impacts of the new coronavirus outbreak, though positive trends in recruitment have remained, the Pentagon’s head of personnel said April 28. Matt Donovan, under secretary of defense for personnel and ...
One upside of the COVID-19 pandemic is that Air Force retention, particularly of pilots and maintainers, will likely improve as the global downturn in the airline business reduces the commercial appetite for people in those specialties, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein said ...
The Air Force is integrating lessons learned from its Pilot Training Next initiative “into the regular pilot-training syllabus” to create an experimental curriculum that will start this summer, 19th AF Commander Maj. Gen. Craig Wills told Air Force Magazine. The ultimate vision for the effort ...