Posted in these groups: Pilot Officers Warrant Officers Back in the 1950s, the Army ask for a waiver in not paying flight pay for its pilots. The increase in the ADSO will have profound affect on USMA/ROTC cadets. Unfortunately, it probably wont exist long enough for it to achieve the desired effects. Yes, , and its important to get there as quickly as you can because, . This is not going to end well until leaders finally understand that there has to be a work/life balance. Some of the impacts may have directly affected [Soldiers] ability to pursue [their] goals of working for the commercial sector, especially the airlines.. The US Army recently changed its aviation Active Duty Service Obligation from 8 to 10 years and created an absolute uproar. This is both expensive and time-consumingtough to fit in around a 9-5 as an engineer, especially if he has a family. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts, https://thefrontlines.com/comics/army-pilots-beware/. 10 years is a good rate of return for the experience needed in being a pilot. Across the force, warrant officer recruiters are actively on the lookout to fill their ranks. That being said, they let you fly as your primary duty and fly cooler airframes. It wasn't approved. Other branches have had 10 year ADSOs for a long time. United States, and the U.S. Army Re-serve, unless otherwise stated. At the same time it could drive a shortage of Aviation Officers, but if they're going to leave the Army anyway. and our We dont have good measurements out there right now to tell us why an aviator is getting out of the force. Without useful data, the Army cannot implement targeted retention solutions. That evens the odds even more. Were you part of the 6 year or 10 year ADSO group? So why are aviators getting out? The root cause cited by those transitioning at various levels has related to toxic climates, mismanagement of professional profiles, quality of life, and unit culture. This global pandemic has made unprecedented impacts on the worlds economies and our way of life, Koziol said. Check this post out on Reddit:https://www.reddit.com/r/Armyaviation/comments/gxcx3o/10_year_adso_is_official/. Aviation continuation pay 2 . C-17 formation from the ramp: https://www.dvidshub.net/image/6100141/c-17-air-drop. So here I am, considering branching aviation when all of a suddenBAM! Not difficult for the Army in finding 400 additional career minded E-3 to E-7 for the WOFT program if need be. If retention suffers too much, the Army will face a pilot production shortfall that will add to the existing shortage. Raising the service commitment ignores the actual root causes. reenlistment document. The Army has more career Enlisted soldiers willing to cross over for the opportunity in being an Officer, pilot and increasein pay for their families, with or without a degree. Ironically, the reason why Congress established a limit on entry into flight training is because the Army in the late 60's and early 70's started to funnel relatively large numbers of maneuver General Officers through flight school. Over the last few years, Army senior leaders took steps to address the pilot retention challenge. Ideally, you should enlist with one of those units as soon as youre old enough and serve part-time while you complete college. I think it would be a great idea to leverage senior NCOs to enter pilot training with a waiver. This can exceed a 6 year obligation. In the report provided to Congress, however, increasing the service obligation was not mentioned as a possible solution to pilot retention shortfalls. That's the Army's ace in the hole. The 10-year service obligation is the result of a numbers-related calculus related to Army manning and will not address the problems that make Aviators leave. A Talk With The US Armys Underground Warfare Expert. His administration's definition of readiness was turning maximum amount of red chicklets on spreadsheets to green, sending people over and over to the field and CTCs without any break, and endless rotations to Korea and Europe. Quote zaurus Members 280 Gender:Male Posted June 6, 2020 Alice's restaurant There will always be external factors and organizations that draw quality talent from the Army, but the Army should have more flexibility in their ability and measures to retain quality talent. So the recruitment piece has not historically been our challenge, it has been capacity and production. But what if the new ADSO invalidates this assumption? A reduction in accessions will turn a long-term solution into a short-term problem. This call to action comes amid challenging times, with many civilian airlines running on reduced flight schedules, said Chief Warrant Officer 5 Jon Koziol, the Armys command chief warrant officer to the aviation branch, during a Facebook livestream in June. Below are the commissioning ADSOs by source of commission: ROTC Non-Scholars have a 3-year commissioning ADSO. The pay and benefits arent bad, and patriotism also factors in for most of us. It only increases your overall training costs because typically you have less time available to retain these people. Even during a deployment when demand for flight hours was high, the more senior Warrant Officers were flying double that of the more junior pilots. self refer to ASAP, mental health, yea you can get out but you're not going to fly on the outside. Expand The 10 year ADSO will actually prevent all but the youngest street-to-seaters from making the jump, I graduated flight school right after turning 24 and the AF won't take you after 33 without a waiver. The Army lowered the max TIS to 8 years for WOFT applicants a few years ago without a waiver. His deployment vulnerability continues for even a couple of years after his seasoning orders are over. This means a steady paycheck and decent home life, except that as the newest pilot in the unit Stan is at the top of the list to deploy if the squadron gets sent downrange. I bet less than 400 WOFT selected are non prior service on a annual basis. They might be stuck on Active Duty slightly longer than Stan, but hed have to spend at least a couple of years at a regional airline to even start competing for major airline jobs. Why or why not? If hed gone to UPT right after college, its more likely that hed get a lot of his deploying done before his kids were that old, or even before they were all born. That's my 2 cents. While there are some top performers that will elect to pursue the branch because they plan on a career from the beginning, there are far more that may be hesitant or undecided about committing to a decade of their professional lives to a niche field when they're only 22 or 23 if they aren't already passionate about everything aviation. 10 years after flight school graduation. I'd sign a 15 year ADSO if they gave me an age waiver (I'm only 35 not 65!). I wouldnt put it past B Co to drop incorrect information and later say we didnt say that.. Prospective warrant officers can see that the Army is having trouble retaining pilots, and they can also see that increasing the service obligation by four years works against their best interests. Do most of your fellow aviators love it? I bet less than 300 WOFT selected are non prior service on a annual basis. Sounds great! It doesn't matter that the WOFT contract I signed this week states that it is a 6 year ADSO - the Army can do and change what it wants. If youre worried about frequent moves disrupting your family life, picking a community with few basing locations is a viable option for Active Duty. Army rescinds COVID-19 vaccination requirements, $84 million contract awarded for Excalibur replenishment, Army officer part of newly resumed cooperation for International Space Station, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Sarah Stone is just one of four, Army CIO speaks at Army Europe and Africa 2022 Cybersecurity Summit, Transcript: Media Roundtable with Mr. Douglas Bush, ASA for AL&T, July 27, 2022, Transcript: Media Roundtable with Dr. Raj Iyer, Army Chief Information Officer, and LTG John B. Morrison, Jr., Army Deputy Chief of Staff G-6 June 09, 2022, Vietnamese-American service members parallel paths to the American dream, Bengali chief warrant officer finds the American dream through serving, Soldiers inspire new Army directive on parenthood, pregnancy and postpartum policies, U.S. Army STAND-TO! If he didnt go to AFIT, hed have to move for a second assignment anyway. While I really want to be an aviator, the thought of being TOTALLY LOCKED IN until I'm 34 is terrifying. Especially if they view retention as a big enough problem to justify an additional 4 year commitment from aviators. With survey data in hand, the Army will likely find that it needs to continue to invest in its aircraft fleet to ensure pilots receive adequate flight hours to remain proficient. Sometimes that's necessary, but there's got to be some balance. If the civilians don't want to join, not a problem. Serving on Active Duty has plenty of advantages, and even offers some highly-desirable opportunities that you cant get anywhere else. My talk with Stan covered all of these, so my next question was, How long were you planning on being involved in military aviation then? The report included a figure showing that the Army faced a shortfall of 330 warrant officerswho comprise 70 percent of the Armys pilot ranks. The best pilots I have served with were prior NCOs. Display as a link instead, Must be a volunteer just like airborne. These could range from 6 months to two years, depending on the type of aircraft hes flying. Serving on Active Duty is also the only way to get an overseas flying assignment. Not sure. You get to the airlines sooner, and you spend more years at a major airline. First, as we just mentioned, you only have to worry about one job flying one aircraft for Uncle Sam. The same goes for great deals like going to Test Pilot School, flying the E-11A BACN, and much more. Even just a year or two of delay erases any possible advantages of this career path. That seems like a lifetime to an 18 year old. They used their experience to mentor and groom all the other warrants around them including myself. There are some other prerequisites they have to meet. Hed still have to go through steps 2-5 from the Active Duty pilot career path above! I feel that part of the problem is that the Army assessed too many senior NCOs into flight school, which helped get them into this box that they are in. As long as hes getting a lot of flight time, Stan should have enough hours for a Restricted ATP rating and a shot at a regional airline job a couple of years before his Active Duty pilot peers. While a longer ADSO may help from looking solely at the numbers, it won't be effective at retaining quality talent. I dont agree with this decision at all but mean forcing people to stay helps retention because you know, they are forcing you. Can you imagine thesmile on more than a few faces of the last graduating class in Fy 2020 in September. What is the real answer? Lets assume though that Stan can get hired by a unit, and is scheduled to start UPT as soon as his regular ADSC is up. More career Enlisted apply than street2seat on a yearly basis. The extended ADSO is intended to increase Army pilots' retention in the future. We need better leadership courses that foster problem solving, the importance of critical thinking, and using surrounding talent to identify the cause of issues/solutions. One year dedicated to reset, one to training, one to deployment. Given the pandemic's direct and indirect effects on the aviation industry, is that even going to a concern going forward. In regards to our flight school length, the AF and Navy actually won't recognize our flight school as a valid flight school for earning wings if we try to branch transfer as part of it which I do find amusing. I just signed my WOFT contract at MEPS on Thursday with the idea of a 6 year ADSO. Has this officially started? Next, hed go to his first assignment. Not difficult for the Army in finding 300 additional NCOs for the WOFT program if need be. A Leaders Guide to Conducting Research Staff Rides, Report to Congressional Armed Services Committees on Initiatives for Mitigating Military Pilot Shortfalls, Government Accountability Office reported, Creating a Sea Change: TF 76/3, Adaptation, Experimentation, and the Joint Force, Podcast: The Spear The Strategic Lieutenant, Book Talk: Urban Warfare in the Twenty-First Century, Frank Sobchak Joins MWI as Chair of Irregular Warfare Studies, Announcing the Modern War Institutes 202223 Senior and Research Fellows, Call for Submissions: Civil-Military Relations and Modern War, Call for Applications: MWIs 202223 Fellows Program.