Obama’s Military Policies Results in Shortage of Fighter Pilots

Stupid is as stupid does.... - 

by Dave Jolly 
Since taking office in January 2009, Barack Obama has been revamping America’s military.  He opened the doors for homosexuals to openly serve and he has done his best to drive Christianity out of the military.  His top brass were asked if they would be willing to shoot American citizens if need be.  Obama has taken away some of their benefits such as schooling while giving benefits to unmarried same-sex  partners but not to unmarried opposite sex partners.  He has even been pushing to reduce the military retirement benefits.
All of these changes are having a dramatic effect upon the military.  I’ve heard of numerous career military personnel giving it all up and bailing out because of Obama’s policies.  Among those are top Air Force fighter pilots.  Currently they are short 200 fighter pilots and fear that if something isn’t done soon that the shortage will continue to grow.

In 1993, nearly 80% of fighter pilots opted to extend their military contracts past 11 years.  Today, only 65% are opting to re-up, thus contributing to the current shortage.  Pentagon officials are blaming the shortage of fighter pilots on the better paying commercial pilot jobs, the stresses of current deployments and the number of fighter pilots being reassigned to sit in a room and fly drones.
Boeing Company released a report last year saying there would be a need for 460,000 new commercial pilots over the next 20 years, compared to the 71,000 pilots currently flying today.  Both American Airlines and US Airways expect to lose more than 2,100 pilots within the next 5 years because of the mandatory retirement age of 65.  Rob Streble, Secretary and Treasurer of the US Airline Pilots Association, left the Air Force in the 1990s for a higher paying commercial pilots job commented about the situation saying:

"The airlines are going to have more money to pay for pilots than the government."

A fighter pilot who has served 11 years makes an average of $90,000 whereas the average salary for a commercial pilot, copilot or flight engineer is $103,210.  In an attempt to attract more pilots, the Air Force has raised its salary package for fighter pilots plus they are offering a $25,000 signing bonus per year for a 9 year contract, making the total signing bonus $225,000. The 9 year contract is twice as long as the current standard contract for pilots.  They’re goal is to attract 200-250 eligible fighter pilots as soon as possible.
Lt. Col. Kurt Konopatzke, who oversees the program said:

"Were it not for the program, there would be a greater problem than the one we currently have.  Senior leadership is aware of the problem and is very concerned."

The military says it costs a minimum of $6 million to train one fighter pilot and that the higher turnover rate and training of more pilots can get very expensive very fast.
Higher commercial pay, stress of deployments, and flying drones aren’t the only reasons the Air Force is faced with a shortage of fighter pilots.  I’m firmly convinced that Obama’s new military policies are also partially to blame.  Men and women who value their Christian faith are finding it more difficult to serve in today’s military than it used to be.  Some of them are opting to give up their military careers and pensions because of Obama’s war on Christianity and their absence is being felt in the cockpits of fighter jets as well as in other areas throughout our military, or should I say, Obama’s military.  The end result will be a weakening of our national security and defenses.