USAF: AF Reaches Out to Retired Flight-rated Officers

Stars and Stripes January 22, 2009
ARLINGTON, Va. -- Faced with a shortfall of about 1,600 flight-rated officers, the Air Force is reaching out to pilots, air battle managers and navigators who have left active duty, service officials said Wednesday.

Under a program authorized for this calendar year, retirees and reservists -- most from the Inactive Ready Reserve -- can come back to active duty for up to four years, officials said. The program is also open to current or former members of all services.

"We are not soliciting O-6s; we are primarily expecting majors and lieutenant colonels to come back," said Lt. Col. Dewey Duhadway, chief of rated force policy.

The Air Force has received interest from about 1,000 retirees and reservists about the program, Duhadway said on Wednesday.

Those interested in returning to active duty would have go before an aeronautical review board to determine their ratings qualifications, and returnees from the IRR will have to undergo a physical examination, he said.

The Air Force is looking for staff officers, which requires a minimum two-year commitment, and operational aviators, such as pilots for unmanned aerial drones, requiring a minimum three-year commitment plus time for training, said Col. Chuck Armentrout.

The program does not offer a bonus, but those who return to active duty are eligible for flight pay and hazardous duty pay, and their time on active duty counts toward their retirement, said Armentrout, chief, military force policy.

Retirees will come back at their last pay grade and will be exempt from one-year deployments, he said. Eligible aviators must be under 60 years old; older pilots will likely be used in staff positions.

One caveat: Air Force personnel who took voluntary separation pays to leave the Air Force early would have to repay any monies to come back to active duty, he said.

The Air Force's early efforts to trim personnel to pay for more aircraft is not the major reason the service is facing a shortfall of flight-rated officers, but rather, the requirement for such officers has exploded, especially in the field of surveillance aircraft, Armentrout said.