European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 1, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 letters the stars and stripes pros cons involving Pilot Bonus proposal 1 would like a Lake this Opportunity id respond Toto recent letters regarding aviation bonuses. T am 3 fighter Pilot who despite being assigned to desk Job would like to remind All of our fellow airmen in Europe that vie arc on the same team. U s disheartening to hear that there Are those on the Fligh line who Sec it As an us is. Them situation and perceive thai All pilots Are Only in the sen ice to Massage i hair egos. Nothing could be further from the truth. Most of is work Long hours just As you do. We Are expected to endure meaningless additional duties and professional education totally unrelated to flying. More irian half of us Are forced out of the service before being eligible for a pension due o the up Trout system. Some of my fellow aviators have chosen to leave Theair Force after fulfilling their obligation rather than stay. It is this exodus that has produced a severe Pilot shortage and brought about the attempt by a mis guided bureaucracy to entice us with the bonuses and leather Light jackets. Finally i would like to Point out that not All pilots would be eligible for the Bonus. Only those with be tween six and 12 years in the service those the air Force in trying hardest to keep. Who eds re enlistment bonuses now we Don t hold that against you. It s the system. Nam withheld Ramic in a Germany Well Here we go again. More cheap shots and gripes against pilots. To address the main Gripe si2,000 per Pilot per year for retention purposes. The writers arc upset because they Don l want their Tan dollars going to an already Over inflated did they Stop to think thai this program is designed to save Money would t it be cheaper to pay a Pilot $12,000 to keep him in than millions to Tram his replacement / if you took at this in Large numbers 1,000 pilots get out so 1.000 arc needed to replace them. Retention Money seems a lot smarter and definitely the cheaper alternative. This Money is not being paid to inflate anybody Sego or to put pilots a Cut above everybody else. It s simple to protect the millions of dollars already in vested in these people. In closing snide remarks like pompous pilots and Over inflated egos have no relevance to a discussion on air Force funding programs. Diana starts Rumstein a Germany those writers do not realize that the $12,000 bonuses will actually Nair the air Force Money. Because of the High Cost of training pilots which comes i rom Jet fuel and maintenance not pay each Pilot who leaves the service forces the air Force of sex Zmij millions if dollars to train his replacement. If More if those experienced pilots remained it the training costs could be Cut substantially lit muses Are meant to do just that keep experienced fliers in the air Force. Such a program aimed null at pilots who have served their initial eight year i unit Nikuni in. Would More Ihan pay for itself. If As one Reader stated. The program costs $125 and it lakes in million to train a Pilot then just 21 pilots a year would have to stay in inc air Force because of the bonuses for the program to save Money. Certainly this is not an unrealistic expectation. Retaining pilots is important for another reason it improves our combat capability. Experienced pilots take Ith them More than dollars when they separate they take thousands of hours of High training As Well training thai allows them to perform far belter in Cun Bat than their inexperienced replacements. By retaining experience the air Force will become a More potent combat service. One Raistr pointed Oul Lull Wilnis leave die air Force for reasons other than pay. That is quite True and involves issues such As Long duly Days additional duties and promotion policies. Air Force leaders arc addressing these issues As Well in a comprehensive Effort 10 improve Pilot retention Rales. Bonuses and leather jackets Are merely elements of that Effort that have received More publicity Ihan the Resl. To Ihus who say that bonuses fur pilots make the rest of the ail Force seem worthless. I Point Oul thai the air Force has for years wanted to retain experience among its in sled Fife through re enlistment bonuses. Acc Cal funding problems do nol alter the fact that High value enlisted specialities already re me bonuses for re enlistment. These Bonus pro in i ,1. Nril Funi i i .1 in air l? More than the proposed r 1ol Bonus system. Bonuses have nothing to do with raising pilots egos. Pilots Loo. Realize that without maintainers. Engineers and a Host of other professionals they would t Fly. Pilots Are. However proud of their accomplishments and abilities and they know that heir skills give them Many career options outside the military. By recognizing the value of pilots experience the Bonus program can help the air Force save Money and increase its combat potential. Cape. Douglas a Gregory Torrejon a Spain this is in no Way against our Tine pilots who Are probably the Best in the world but rather it is directed to the Brilliant minds in the Pentagon who hink we will tolerate yet another insult against our proud services. Apparently Mission essential personnel Aren Worth a meager 4 percent raise in the eyes of our friends in Washington. Congress spent weeks trying to decide if we should receive a 2, 3 or 4 percent raise and naturally we got the Short end of the Slick due to budget cuts they delightedly threw Al us yet somehow they will still be Able to scrape up almost $100 million year in order for Pur pilots to decide that their current Job is Worth clicking it Pulfor another year. I m nol sure of the proper figures but i do know that it will Cost us taxpayers More Money and we will see a few More 2 and 3 percent raises in the future if this preposterous idea goes through. Everybody does their Job to the Best of their ability so no one should be favored. Apparently being ii Pilot is not All the fun it seems to be if a lot of them decide to leave inc forces but the problems i thai held of work arc not going to be solved with Money. I just Hope enough people speak out so inc Penta gon gets the word that us Mission essential person Nel will nol tolerate this nonsense so speak up peo ple let s Hope for More than a 2 percent pay raise next year senior airman Koberl a Tyndall Germany the Pilot stereotype is one of a tall proud individual who wears a set of Silver wings and boastfully brags in the club on Friday night. For Many Mission essential Blue suiters this is the Only Lime they seethe aviator and generalize All to be of his Type. How Ever around inc world Many aviators arc far from the club. Pilots of Tachica aircraft May very Ucli be on a Low level training Mission subjecting their minds to split second life or death decisions and which will exceed Gravity s to 10 times. They will train to be inc Busl and each unit will Payine Price. They will have fatalities yet the survivors a i a be forced to accept inc risk and press on wit their raining in order to defend the red White and Blue. Pilots of the strategic resources May be on Alert planning and preparing for the hour we All Hope we never see. These aviators do nol enjoy being away from their families in sickness and in health in goo times and in bad. They do not enjoy waiting on air planes with temperatures Well Over 100 degrees or Well below Zero. They Are motivated by their Dedica Tion and patriotism they do it for their country. A third set of aviators and this includes pilots navigators Crew chiefs and All the rest will spend the night who knows where. Those individuals responsible for global Airlift operations Fly around the world around me clock. They will provide food and medical supplies to some of the most Remote locations. They will increase morale in overseas locations with daily . Mail letters from Home. The Powers that be Recagni a the hardships unique to the aviator. Today consideration is being Given to counter the offer tempting Many pilots to join inc commercial airlines starting offers arc in the six Digil Range. Pilots will gladly give up All their other Many benefits fora salary in this Range. The proud pilots you Sec in the club have nol worked s to 5 this week. Pc alive in May nol be their club but rather 8,000 Miles from Home. Cali a the next night May be their last or it May be the one thai lakes you Back to your family. We Are proud of our country. We Are proud of the Many who serve for her Freedom from inc sentry who secures the Gate to the technician who maintains life support equipment. A Bonus occurs ii May be monetary or in May be a Relief in inc Long hours and duties we perform. Eifu. Or Bobonis we Are Minieri of the same Blue us incr learn with the same goal to Fly and fight. Oft Lrafb neb. You won t Sec any selective re enl Simeni Bonus subs or other incentives As Long As recruiting and retention Raes keep critical skill categories Ai or very near. Inc fully manned Levels. At the current departure rate Well be 2,000 pilots Short by 1990. Increased Pilot production will Only change the num Bers nol produce n Tombal capable Force. That comes with experience. One writer asked. Where would they be without the mechanics Security police civil engineers i Don t know but where would you be if we did l have pills to Fly those planes ? this perennial argument is a Chicken or he egg moot dilemma. We All know that this is a learn Effort. A Pilot going into combat lacking self Confidence won t be bringing an aircraft Back to you. Hell be a Blue Star on the Side of Ivan s flanker or Ful Crum. Fighter pilots Are different from other people even other pills. Finally the economic facts of life. Your Recruiter did you a big disservice if he she told you thai three years Oul of tech school you d own three cars a ski Condo in Aspen and have he keys to the executive restroom. Don t vent your financial frustrations on pills. Write your congressman maj. Dali Schaub Raf bunt Waters England i be read the articles Over the past week concerning the Pentagon s proposed Bonus for pills followed Bihe letters of individuals concerned about this policy. As a Pilot of eight years 1 feel in about Lime the record was set straight. And maybe. I can help mend the rift Between so called rated and non rated military personnel. The Pilot retention problem has been around for some time now and though we be been pulled Anil questioned to death those who interpret the results miss the Point every time. Ask any Pilot what s mos important to him her and you la hear the same complaint As that which comes from any non rated person pertaining to benefits and family care Bui ask him her what most affects Liis Lucr abilities so perform his her Job. Thai for which Irp taxpayers paid s6 million per copy for training and they Al say flying Lime. Or rather the Lack of in from training and our training has been Cut several fold. When the by decl gets Cul we All suffer. In the last five years the Lime that was allotted me to maintain proficiency in performing my Mission has been Cul in half. That Means i must train 10 a lower level of proficiency. So. We come up with new ways to adapt offering ideas for bolter use of our Small flying Lime allotment. As pointed out. Our Job is to Fly and fight. We take that very seriously an you la find Many of us who fear that the Lack of sufficient training to maintain a High level of proficiency could nol Only affect inc outcome of a Campaign but a bit closer to Home the outcome of a single Mission without proficiency we make mistakes. Would you Trust yourself your family or friends to a Pilot flying overseas whose allot Imant of flying time Kepi him her one step ahead of dangerous .1 the better the Pilot s ability to accomplish higher Mission the More Likely he she is to return safely to Fly and fight again. You la find inc Large majority of pilots respect and even go Oul of i heir Way to Lul folks know when they be done us Good. If i could give All my maintenance folks and Crew chiefs a raise i d do in in a heart beat. 1 give inc next Busl thing though a word of thanks a handshake a smart Salute and a letter of recognition whenever possible. Any Pilot or aircrew member would be a Tlam cd fool not to realize the important role they play. A leather jacket a pay raise or a Bonus won t change the pilots abilities o weather the storms ahead. The Only Hope is that we Don l have to see our friends and fellow fliers die because we could afford a leather jacket bul Noi a few More precious hours of flight training. I know 1 speak for a lot of rated personnel when i suy we re in this whether officer or in Lis cd. Rated or Nonra cd. Budget constraints affect Usall. We need to Bond together not fight among so ourselves and realize the potential we have. Don l be so Quick to judge by what insignia is worn on the Chest. And Lei those folks Ai inc Pentagon know your displeasure Wilh their cockeyed proposals. They Are nol the air Force we Are capt. Debra a Terry i Wensu. In sad
