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US Air Force Reporting Pilot Shortage
An anonymous reader writes "Times sure have changed: it is no longer cool to be a fighter pilot. The Pentagon expects to be short some 200 fighter pilots this year, and is projecting that shortfall will increase to 700 pilots by 2021. Various factors seem to be involved: better paying jobs in the commercial sector with more stability, the stress of repeated overseas deployments, and the threat that ultimately the job they trained to do — fly planes — is being superseded by remotely-controlled drones. With demand for commercial aviators heating up as thousands of pilots are expected to reach mandatory retirement age (65) in the next five years, the Air Force is caught in a quandary. Where are they going to get the pilots to fly their shiny new F-35s?"
Every - I mean EVERY - little kid who wants to fly wants to fly Air Force jets.
I mean really.
These "there's a 'shortage'" articles are getting old.
One of the F-22 test pilots is this 5 foot, 7 inch fat guy - with a belly that's 5 foot 8 inches..
Really, fighter jets are more about brains than brawn now. Gone are the days of fighting cables and air pressure. It's all computers.
The Air Force needs to get a grip.They are being replaced by technology They are obsolete.
Drones are the future. The video game kids WILL take over.
Navy is next.
Lead - gold - neither fly in the future.. Suck it!
It couldn't possibly be that they're under-compensating pilots on purpose. Oh no, that would never be the case. Oh hey! Guess what? We have missiles and drones that can fly autonomously, and don't disobey orders. I guess we'll just have to figure out how to further remove the human element from war so that it doesn't require anyone actually believing in the war effort enough to put their lives on the line...
Yep, so unfortunate. Guess we'll just let the machines rule everything... Don't forget to submit to a full body scan at the airport, and pay your red-light camera ticket, and buy a new game console with a child-spy-eye -- press those 'quick-time' buttons exactly as the machines demand kiddies. You wouldn't mind labeling your friends in these social network photos like felons in a line up, right? I mean, we'll just track your friends and family just in case you ever get out of line.