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Commander discusses pilot retention at AFA Symposium

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Adam Borgman
ORLANDO, Fla. --  Lieutenant Gen. James F. Jackson, chief of the Air Force Reserve and commander of Air Force Reserve Command, along with Air Force leadership sat on a panel to discuss major command priorities to close out the 2016 Air Force Association Air Warfare Symposium here Feb. 26.

Airmen in the audience had an opportunity to ask Jackson and the other panel members hot-topic questions. One of the main questions regarded pilot recruiting and retention.

“We have Guard and Reserve Air Reserve Technicians who are leaving active service to work for civilian airliners,” said Gen. Carlton Everhart, commander of Air Mobility Command. “We are getting after this by working with industry partners and Guard and Reserve leadership.

“As the economy strengthens airliners are getting healthier and are able to compensate our pilots. We are working with the guard and reserve to be able to identify what is going on and see what we can do about retaining our pilots past the 10-years and one-day requirement,” continued Everhart.

Air Force leadership works together to create a solution to pilot retention to keep manning as well as retain the training investment.

“A year-and-a-half ago we started talking about the total force and total solutions,” said Jackson. “The way we are attacking that is by coming up with creative ways on how we allow our Reservists to work and participate in the Air Force Reserve. Every pilot we keep in the Air Force is a huge investment we want to retain.”