Active Duty pilots and combat systems officers may be eligible for up to $25,000 per year incentive pay under the Fiscal 2015 Aviator Retention Pay Program, according to an April 6 release. Lieutenant colonels and below “who will not reach 16 years of total Active-federal military service by the end of the fiscal year that their undergraduate flying training ADSC expires” may apply by Sept. 30. “Also, these officers must be qualified for operational flying duty and entitled to and receiving monthly flight pay,” states the release. The monetary incentives vary from $10,000 to $25,000 per year depending on aviator category and the length of the ARP contract. Some categories may receive 50 percent of the ARP total up front, states the release. “The Air Force continues to expand previous ARP programs to decisively and deliberately shape and retain the rated force,” said Brig. Gen. Brian Kelly, the director of military force management policy. “External factors such as new Congressional mandates and a stabilized economy make these incentives vital to sustaining a predictable inventory of rated officers for the future.”
Anduril and General Atomics will develop their Collaborative Combat Aircraft for the Air Force, beating out Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman, the service announced on April 24. But any of the non-selected companies can compete to actually manufacture the eventual design, the Air Force said.