rudestuff touched on an aspect that crossed my mind a time or two: length of service for pilots.
Of course, my opinion is worth what you paid for it (maybe even less) but we often hear that the cost of flight training is prohibitive and a barrier to a pilot career for many.
I wonder if they shortened the commitment to 5 or 6 years if they'd get more takers. I'm pretty sure it used to be 5 years and I'm not sure when they upped it to wings + 10.
Of course, the USAF will say (and have said) that's too short to get people fully trained for some types of flying...but they did it before...so why not now ?
If people wouldn't have to make such a long commitment before they were able move on to a civilian flying career, more people might be interested. Just a thought...