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During WWII the Army Air Forces did have enlisted and warrant officers as pilots. Chuck Yeager started out as an enlisted mechanic and before promotion to Flight Officer when he started flight school. I can't find his date of promotion to 2nd Lt, but I do know it was not until after he returned from his shoot down and escape through Spain.
From his Chuck Yeager's webpage:
Before the U.S. entered World War II, the Air Corps required pilots-in-training to have two years of college and be 20 years of age. When they received their wings, they were commissioned as second lieutenants. In 1942, in an effort to train more pilots more quickly, the Flying Sergeant program was unveiled and the regulation was changed. Flying Sergeant candidates needed only to be 18 years old and have a high school diploma. Though he hadn’t been impressed with his first ride in an airplane, the Flying Sergeant program interested Chuck. Now qualified to enter the program, Chuck signed up in December 1942. He thought it would be fun, he recalled later. And besides, with three stripes he would get out of pulling guard duty.
The flying officer program was discontinued (I believe during WWII and probably due to manpower pool catching up with demand but cannot confirm) and AF warrant ranks (technically they still exist) were eventually discontinued entirely. Before the war you could start flight school as an aviation cadet as long as you had two years of school and upon earning your wings you were commissioned a 2nd Lt.
Personally, I'd like to see the AF reestablish warrant ranks for pilots. I don't think it would solve everything, but I believe its a step in the right direction. I'm sure there are numerous other 'arguments' as to why pilots should be commissioned officers, but the only one that made rational sense to me is the nuke mission. The majority of AF fighter/bomber aircraft are (or were nuclear) capable.
As AFChic said, AFPC never makes small manning course corrections. The spigot's either open full, or closed entirely. I remember seeing an AFPC briefing during the Lt Force Shaping during 2005 that broke out each career-field manning levels by AFSC. One that stuck out to me was Security Forces. They were almost 200% over manned with Lt's, but Capt, Maj, & Lt Col were so under strength they were still critically manned overall. IIRC, they cut ~50% of them. Then again, I also think it's asinine the AF places pilots in command of Mission Support Groups, but that's an argument for another day.
At the end of the day more money won't keep the people you want to keep and the 'corporate' culture is causing a lot more than just pilots to walk.
back to lurking...
AFHokie
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