Absorbing Air Force Fighter Pilots: Parameters, Problems and Policy Options

A thorough analysis of the Air Force’s ability to adequately train and absorb new fighter pilots into its operational units. The U.S. Air Force currently faces unprecedented problems in its efforts to provide adequate training for new and inexperienced pilots in its operational fighter units. On the one hand, there are too few fighter pilots in the active component to meet current and anticipated demands. On the other hand, the number of new fighter pilots entering operational units currently exceeds these units’ absorption capacity, yielding a degraded training environment that ultimately threatens to compromise military readiness. This report assesses the Air Force’s training dilemma with a view toward finding ways to remedy it in both the short and long term. Toward this goal, it defines the key parameters that influence a unit’s absorption capacity, presents a best-case scenario on which to base numerical analyses, and offers several options decisionmakers can exercise. Although there is no simple resolution to the Air Force’s training problem, a thorough understanding of the dynamic processes involved in aircrew management, together with a comprehensive analytic framework, promises to greatly aid decisionmakers in their efforts to address this issue. [AF] The U.S. Air Force is currently facing a critical dilemma in its efforts to train new and inexperienced fighter pilots. Although the number of fighter pilots in the active component currently falls short of meeting the Air Force’s needs, operational units are unable to absorb the inflow of newly assigned pilots to a sufficient extent to address those needs. This report evaluates key factors that affect the Air Force’s absorption problems and offers several options decisionmakers can exercise to remedy them. [AF]