Posted on 05/17/2018 2:35:35 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Even as the U.S. Air Force faces a long-term pilot shortage, there are no plans to grow the ranks of enlisted pilots, a top official said recently.
"We'll certainly see what the study says, but at this point, we have no intention to expand enlisted pilot positions beyond the Global Hawk" community, Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson told Military.com on May 4.
Wilson was referring to a Rand Corp. study exploring the feasibility of bringing back a warrant officer corps as the service faces shortfalls in its pilot billets.
"The Rand study is complete, and we are now reviewing, analyzing and consolidating the information," Capt. Kathleen Atanasoff told Military.com on Wednesday....
(Excerpt) Read more at military.com ...
That certainly used to be the case, going back to Vietnam.
The Air Force has always had a fetish about pilots being officers.
They had “warrant officers” when I was in the USAF, in the early 60’s...but I don’t recall if any were pilots, or not. We certainly didn’t have any F-102 or F-106 pilots that were warrant. Those are the only planes I was really around, so maybe they flew transports, or something, but never fighters.
.........Ok, I am no expert! But, it seems to me that I’ve been driving half a century but I could never have driven an Indy car around the track at much more than half of it’s top speed.
My point? Save the officers for the high performance aircraft
(Indy car) and let the enlisted guys drive the helicopters and smaller cargo planes.
I have a friend who’s son is not an officer but flies a Blackhawk. He’s on his way to Afghanistan now.
I think many a medal winning Helicopter Pilot in Vietnam won a medal for bravery under fire.
I remember it took awhile for the Air Force to even let enlisted fly drones. I don’t know what their reasoning was. The Air Force also did not initially like cruise missiles or arming drones.
Mickey Rooney played an enlisted helicopter pilot in Bridges At Toko Ri.
“They had “warrant officers” when I was in the USAF, in the early 60’s...but I don’t recall if any were pilots, or not. We certainly didn’t have any F-102 or F-106 pilots that were warrant. Those are the only planes I was really around, so maybe they flew transports, or something, but never fighters.”
I was in Vietnam 1965 - 1966, Central Highlands, mainly Plieku, and I recall a USAF Master Sgt flying A1E Sky Raiders, but he was supposedly a remnant of the Korean War....
Late 60s AF had already discontinued making WO and the only ones left were ancient folk finishng out 40 years service doing duty as charge of clubs, mess halls, eltc.
USAF got rid rid of warrants because they were neither fish nor foul, not enlisted and not officer. They were basically in no mans land. So true.
Having been both an nco and an officer i can say there is little need for warrants. Their jobs were almost all either done by a senior NCO or a junior officer.
The Air Force got rid of enlisted pilots right after WWII. When I went Active Duty in 1976 there were three Warrant Officers left in the Air Force. We were told that during Basic Training.
Pilot syndrome.
Even Gen Curtis LeMay didn't like ICBMs. General Bernard Schriever was the man who pushed the ICBM forces into reality.
Actually, the only place I actually remember seeing Warrant officers was at Lowry AFB, while I was in missile guidance school. After that, I don’t remember any at my permanent party bases.
why?...
are commissioned officers given better training than the enlisted?... and if so, WHY?
Chuck Yeager IIRC was enlisted before he went on to do all his high performance flying...
.........well............I wanted to be a fighter pilot but the math skills are off the chart so I was just no way. So, I tip my hat to the officers for that.
But, a marine general I know well started out as a PFC in Korea and received a battlefield commission to lieutenant and went on from there.
So, “Officers” control all the services and their reluctant to have their little fiefdom’s reduced in stature!
I officed right across the hall from an Admiral on ComServGru 3 for 2 years. No problem, great man, but he had his predilections and you better observe them.
It's a pilot based service. Almost all of the General staff are pilots. When you're a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
The Marines still had a few enlisted pilots in the mid-60’s. Grizzled old Master Gunnery sergeants, flying the squadron C-47 and such.
There are far, far fewer of them and they have significantly weightier responsibilities in most instances. Think of an Infantry 2nd LT; bottom of the totem pole, but responsible for 40 lives, albeit with a lot of help from his NCOs.
Their "fetish" is reasoning that only a commissioned officer should have the authority for weapons release. I think you'll find that all branches of the military pretty much have an OIC for any system capable of killing particularly on a large scale. That goes for rifle platoons all the way up to nukes. Keep in mind that enlisted UAV pilots are still in an air conditioned trailer in Nevada with an officer present.
A sound argument for enlisted pilots is that they could be used for non-combat and support roles. C-17, KC-135, KC-10, KC-46, C-130, liaison airplanes and most helicopters all fit the bill there.
He IS an officer. He is a warrant officer. He IS NOT a commissioned officer.
Warrant offices serve above all enlisted ranks and below all commissioned officer ranks. He outranks an E-9 but not a second lieutenant (O-1). In reality, a W-4 or W-5 is pretty much treated like a major.
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