Would Force Some Who Wish Leave To Stay In The Service

A senior Air Force official says that it is possible that some pilots may not be allowed to leave the service when they they have fulfilled their commitment to the country.

In an interview with CQ Roll Call, Gen. Carlton Everhart (pictured), chief of the Air Mobility Command, said that he and other senior generals will meet with Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein, representatives of the other armed services, and U.S. airline executives on May 18 at Andrews Air Force Base to discuss the exodus of Air Force pilots to civilian airline jobs.

Everhart said that he has already told airline executives that "stop-loss" ... in which pilots would be required to remain in the service beyond their commitment ... is a possibility. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss ways to solve the problem that is mutually agreeable to both the military and civilian sectors without having to trigger the stop-loss option.

But the defection of Air Force pilots, and particularly fighter pilots, is starting to erode the Air Force's ability to fight ISIS, according to Everhart. "If I don’t have pilots to fly, the enemy has a vote, and if I can’t put warheads on foreheads, then [ISIS] is winning,” he said to Roll Call.

The Air Force has already significantly increased retention bonuses in an effort to entice pilots to stay. And while the pilot shortage shows up in every branch of the military, the Air Force, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve need some 1,550 pilots to bring them up to the required number of 20,300, with about 950 of those needed to fly fighter jets.

(Image from file)

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