The Air Force wants to increase the flow of trained battlefield airmen like joint terminal attack controllers to the fight, since they are so vital to the success of operations. However, says Gen. Stephen Lorenz, head of Air Education and Training Command, the current training regiment is washing out a high percentage of these students, perhaps too many. “Our attrition rate in those courses is like 86 percent,” Lorenz told attendees Feb. 19 at AFA’s Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando. Accordingly, AETC officials are looking at what can be done to increase the number of students who make it through successfully. “Is the course set up to graduate people or is it set up to eliminate people?” Lorenz asked. That’s what’s being pondered, he said.
Trainees in Basic Military Training and technical school no longer have the option to try alternate PT drills if they fail an initial assessment, according to a policy change the Air Force made in April. The move is part of a larger shift out of the classroom and into hands-on,…