The Civilian Airline Industry's Role in Military Pilot Retention. Beggarman or Thief? Documented Briefing,

Abstract : The services are undergoing a fundamental reshaping and restructuring, driven by the demands of a new era of tighter fiscal constraints, new security challenges, and new technology. To reduce strength, the services are constraining accessions, encouraging voluntary departures, and imposing involuntary separations. This has raised concerns regarding total personnel readiness in the near future as the flow of active personnel to the reserve components is sharply reduced. RAND was asked to undertake a critical assessment of pilot management and training from a total force perspective, with special emphasis on three areas: (1) the requirements for pilots in the context of the defense drawdown and restructuring; (2) the supply of pilots in the same context and the sustainability of such a forc-given historical trends in accession, retention, and transfers to the reserves; and (3) the effectiveness of current personnel management and training policies in meeting future needs. As part of that assessment, we were asked to undertake an analysis of the interactions between civilian airlines and the retention of military pilots and the eventual sustainability of the required military pilot force. This documented briefing reports the results of that analysis.