The Perfect Soldier: Special Operations, Commandos, and the Future of Us Warfare by James F. Dunnigan
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Dirty Little Secrets
USAF Courageously Cuts Flying Hours
by James Dunnigan
June 6, 2005
Discussion Board on this DLS topic
The U.S. Air Force is cutting training (flying hours) for its combat pilots.
That’s why it's tough being a general in the U.S. Air Force these days. Faced
with redistribution of the defense budget to pay for U.S. Army operations in
Iraq and Afghanistan, the air force suddenly has $3.7 billion less than it
expected this year. This is out of a budget of $123 billion. Most of that money
goes to three areas; Operations and maintenance-$39 billion, Procurement- $31
billion, Research and Development- $21 billion. The Air Combat Command (ACC),
which controls the actual combat aircraft (including their maintenance and
training), has been told to cut $825 million. Cutting everything in sight,
except flying hours, still left ACC short. So they cut 32,000 flying hours, to
save $272 million.
Cutting flying hours in wartime, from a historical
perspective, appears to be wrong. The air force learned during World War II that
an edge in flying hours (during training) was a key to victory, and keeping
American pilots alive in combat. This was documented after the war, when it was
possible to examine German and Japanese training records, and compare that with
combat losses. As the war went on, American pilots got more flying hours during
training, while Japanese and German pilots got less. Combat losses went up when
you had fewer flying hours during training.
But that was a different war.
Today, the U.S. Air Force is not turning out thousands of new pilots a month for
a world war. Most air force pilots already have hundreds, or thousands, of hours
in the air. ACC will not cut hours for training new pilots. The cuts, which
amount to ten percent of flying hours for the fiscal year (which ends in
September), but a 60 percent cut for the rest of the fiscal year, will fall
mainly on pilots not getting ready to go to Iraq or Afghanistan. The generals
are gambling that this cut will not put American pilots at a disadvantage in any
major air war that might occur in the next year. It’s a reasonable gamble.
American pilots are, arguably, the most experienced and effective in the world.
Moreover, the air force combat pilots have little involvement in the war on
terror. There are a few hundred air force warplanes in action over Iraq and
Afghanistan. Those two wars are being fought mostly on the ground. The training
cuts will not affect the time spent in the air by pilots operating in combat
zones. But if North Korea turns into a major war, which appears to be a long
shot at the moment, the air force would be heavily involved. The same thing with
China trying to invade Taiwan. Another distant possibility right
now.
There are alternatives. The air force could cut more from the
procurement budget, which is buying aircraft and equipment for future wars
(especially China, which grows more formidable in the air year by year.) Same
with the Research and Development budget. Cuts made anywhere are a risk, for air
wars that may occur in the near future, or a decade from now.
The air
force generals will take some heat for cutting flying hours. That’s something
history, and a lot of combat pilots, agree is a very bad thing. But generals are
supposed to look at the big picture, take the long view, and make decisions
based on incomplete information (like what the future will bring.) It would have
been easier to slash Procurement and R&D, in order to keep the pilots
flying. Some will say the generals are too intent on keeping the F-22 and F-35
programs going, and are aware they don’t dare touch the transports (which are
the hardest working air force planes at the moment, moving people and material
to combat zones.) You can’t even say time will tell, because if there isn’t a
major war in the next year, and the flying hours are restored next fiscal year,
everyone will be home free. But if there is a war, lack of flying hours now,
will mean more dead pilots then. It’s tough being an air force general.
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