38 minutes ago, Stormbird said:

Ya gotta remember these flight academy instructors are civilian kids working towards their ATP rating and, none have ever been exposed to anything military. Right now, it's a 30 min brief, maybe a 15 to 30 min de-brief. It's an assembly line.

What you're suggesting above might help, but I don't have the data. It would be a huge ask. If I were one of these young CFI's, I'd say GFY and go where there is a nice relaxed atmosphere to instruct.

Totally valid point, in my fever dream this basic flight training would be on an AF base(s) or a flight college(s) Uncle Sam would buy

19 hours ago, Clark Griswold said:

Totally valid point, in my fever dream this basic flight training would be on an AF base(s) or a flight college(s) Uncle Sam would buy

No, I don't think that would work. But I think you're close.

This idea of yours needs to happen where the major airline hubs are. That's where you could find cfis with military experience and a general willingness to fly for money. I can think of a lot of guys at American Airlines who would love to moonlight teaching the next generation, as long as it didn't take away from their lives in the same way that all the other Air Force /guard/reserve duties do.

Pay for a retired or separated Air Force pilot working at the airlines to get their CFII, and then give them a decent "per day" pay for showing up and flying two or three student rides. Do it like the Air Force academy liaison program and allow them to accrue time towards retirement, but no official Air Force pay. You get the idea.

That would end up being wildly cheaper than active duty pilots at an active duty base teaching, but you could get that military-esque training.

Just a thought

2 hours ago, Lord Ratner said:

No, I don't think that would work. But I think you're close.

This idea of yours needs to happen where the major airline hubs are. That's where you could find cfis with military experience and a general willingness to fly for money. I can think of a lot of guys at American Airlines who would love to moonlight teaching the next generation, as long as it didn't take away from their lives in the same way that all the other Air Force /guard/reserve duties do.

Pay for a retired or separated Air Force pilot working at the airlines to get their CFII, and then give them a decent "per day" pay for showing up and flying two or three student rides. Do it like the Air Force academy liaison program and allow them to accrue time towards retirement, but no official Air Force pay. You get the idea.

That would end up being wildly cheaper than active duty pilots at an active duty base teaching, but you could get that military-esque training.

Just a thought

Yup, that would be fine too. Placing this program(s) at some BFE location would have the opposite intended effect and likely require salaries that would not be approved for the IP cadre.

Driving distance from a domicile, I’d define that as less than 100 miles, good pay as a contract pilot or as an ARC member. Street hire civ pilot positions would be there too but the job requirements / role would be clearly communicated.

To incentivize the mil community living in domicile, I could see special exemptions, carveouts, bonuses, etc… being offered. Assuming legalities, getting new ones or exceptions to policy… non deployable billets, bonuses for X number of training flights per FY, Tricare benefits, etc…

Spread the love, West-Central-Southeast locations. PHX, DFW, ATL as likely bases to be near.

Give each location two planes, single and a multi engine program.

Can't remember the derogatory name given to the flag officers that came up with the current program, but it's obvious that when they opened up the conversation for ideas, their bandwidth was extremely narrow and recognition of valuable inputs from outside their staff was extremely short-sighted.

With contracts awarded it's probably just too damn late to do anything about it. It'll be like the airlines, courses won't be changed and problems solved until it starts costing more money.