None of the US military Academies are even mentioned in the Constitution, let alone specifying age limits.

Wait ... back in August, they said they had it under control ... now they don't? I'm so confused.

Might've got my sources wrong.

Anyway, I know that the age-restriction is pretty much unwaiverable except for some extremely rare prior-enlisted cases.

Maybe the USAF needs a pilot officer program. Recruit 18 year olds out of high school. (I believe the Israelis start flight school at 18.) You can have a year of higher level math and science training, 40 hours of flight school, etc. over a 12-month period. Successful candidates go to flight school as Pilot Officers and get commissioned upon graduation/wings. Then, after several years of flying they can be offered a chance to complete a degree. Without a degree they are not desirable for the airlines. Generally only about half a degree is required for a commission.

The Navy Reserve does a very good job of integrating Reservists into active duty squadrons - so I've been told, no first-hand knowledge. The USAF's reserve component flies almost all the tanker missions. Perhaps a longer reserve commitment would keep people around. They can fly a few days a month. The Air National Guard once had an advertisement with the claim they flew 40% as much as the USAF at 10% of the cost. That's only because the AF provides the schools, the airplanes, and the broader infrastructure, but there's merit.

I disagree with the "up or out" policy we have w/in DoD. Some Army Captains are great company commanders, but no cut out to be the Ops Officer for a battalion. Let someone do a career as a captain. Change the retirement system. Sometimes you need crazy ideas if you want radical changes.

Not having a degree isn't much of an impediment for an airline job these days.

AxA,

And one might even postulate that it's an advantage at some levels. There are a couple of pretty good LCCs here that are allegedly very touchy about being used as a steppingstone to the legacies. If the legacies continue to be unwilling to forego the degree requirement, a person without one might look like more of a long term prospect as an employee at a LCC.

Just a theory...

Yeah, probably some truth to that.

Well, it appears the military pilot deficit has been solved...probably for several years. I suspect people are trying to get back in.

Yeah, was just following a conversation on this elsewhere. You know that somewhere, someone is going to be saying *look, the stuff we did to improve retention is working !!!! "

AxA,

Yep. Chairman Barack's Myrmidon-in-Chief, Rahm Emmanuel, famously said:

“President Obama’s chief of staff Rahm Emanuel famously said in 2008, ‘You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. I mean, it’s an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before.’”

The application of this principle is utilitarian and universal. Sometimes we get to laugh but mostly we don't.

https://www.lexingtonchronicle.com/b...risis-go-waste

Looks like the USAF has come up with a new idea:

https://www.flightglobal.com/fixed-w...138945.article

Air Force needs some more ideas:

https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/y...tors-gao-says/

I suppose everyone is having to guess these days :

https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/...o-keep-pilots/

Seems nothing has changed:

https://ibb.co/xX7QV8k

The USAF has a new program to streamline the route to a pilot position:

https://www.jsfirm.com/job/Pilot-Fix...s/jobID_901669


https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Disp...makes-history/

Not much has changed apparently:

https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/y...ious-position/