Air Education and Training Command is looking at injecting reserve component fighter pilots, or even civilian instructors, into the introduction to fighter fundamentals course to ease USAF’s fighter pilot shortage. “I have three squadrons of IFF that are 100 percent fighter-pilot manned,” AETC boss Gen. Robin Rand said at AFA’s Air Warfare Symposium, Feb. 13. “I think we can take a look at that blend again—Active Duty, Guard, Reserve, and using the model that we already have in other places in the command of bringing some civilians in,” he added. The Air Force also is looking to top-up its under-manned ROTC detachment cadres with the same mix. “ROTC dets are typically now manned at 66 percent—there’s no more juice to squeeze to get Active Duty manning,” Rand explained in Orlando. He said he is working on a proposal to get Guard and Reserve leaders who “want to motivate young men and women” in addition to bringing back retired service members who want to “come back and be one of our cadre,” Rand said.
Members of the House Armed Services Committee say the AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile program has been set back three months due to the ongoing government shutdown. The comment is noteworthy because the JATM's status has been kept tightly under wraps.
