DATE: Wednesday, August 27, 1997            TAG: 9708270552

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A3   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY DALE EISMAN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: WASHINGTON                        LENGTH:   82 lines

AS IT SEEKS NEW JETS, AIR FORCE TRIES TO RETAIN MORE PILOTS IF EFFORTS TO PLUG PILOT DRAIN FAIL, THERE WILL BE A SHORTAGE OF FLIERS FOR ALL ITS PLANES BY '99.

Even as it pleads in Congress for the billions needed to buy a stealthy, next-generation fighter jet, the F-22 ``Raptor,'' the Air Force is short of pilots for the tactical aircraft already in its inventory, a senior official acknowledged Tuesday.

The shortage is projected to reach 359 pilots next year, touching the service's fighter jet and C-130 cargo plane communities, the official said. And unless a series of efforts to address the problem are successful, the Air Force will be short of pilots for all its planes by 1999, he said.

The shortage ``is not a crisis at this point in time,'' said the official, who briefed reporters on the condition that he not be named. And it will not keep the Air Force from meeting its commitments around the world, he added.

But ``it is a challenge,'' one aggravated by continuing demands on the service to participate in overseas operations and by the eagerness of civilian airlines to hire away the best military aviators.

Navy and Marine Corps leaders have acknowledged their own problems with keeping experienced pilots, though neither of the sea services is believed to be facing the kinds of shortages the Air Force envisions. Navy officials were unable Tuesday to supply current statistics on pilot retention.

The Air Force briefing came just days before congressional budget negotiators are to begin fashioning a final Air Force budget for 1998. The service is seeking funds to increase from $12,000 to $22,000 the annual bonus it offers to pilots who have completed an initial nine-year hitch if they agree to stay in uniform for five more years.

The service estimates that only 32 percent of those eligible for the bonus this year will accept it. In 1994, 81 percent elected to stay.

If the bonus is increased, Air Force pilots who take it will earn an average of more than $80,000 annually. That's substantially more than they would receive in their first years as airline pilots, but less than they would take home after just five years with most civilian airlines.

According to figures the Air Force provided Tuesday, a pilot with nine years' experience who leaves the service now can expect an annual salary of more than $140,000 after 10 years with an airline. If he stayed in the Air Force, he'd probably be stuck at a salary of just over $80,000 after the same 10 years.

``There is no one element'' responsible for the Air Force pilot shortage, said Col. Gilmary M. ``Mike'' Hostage, assistant director of operations for the Air Combat Command, headquartered at Langley Air Force Base in Hampton.

Instead, Hostage told several reporters after the formal briefing, officials believe the strain of frequent overseas deployments, a perception among pilots that they're paid too little and their benefit packages are eroding, and aggressive hiring campaigns by the airlines are combining to shrink the ranks.

``Money is not the issue, but it's not irrelevant,'' Hostage said.

Also playing a part - albeit a small one, according to Air Force surveys - is dissatisfaction in the ranks over Air Force leadership.

Earlier this year, the Air Force considered offering incentive payments to airlines that agreed not to hire away Air Force pilots with less than 20 years' experience. That idea got a lukewarm reception on Capitol Hill and has been shelved.

Instead, the service hopes to plug the pilot drain by increasing the bonuses, halving overseas deployments to 45 days, giving pilots a week off when they return stateside, and reducing training exercises by 25 percent over the next three years.

In addition, the senior official said, the service plans to train up to 1,100 new pilots annually by 2000, up from 654 this year.

Even at 90 days, Air Force deployments are substantially shorter than those of other services. But while Navy and Marine pilots and other personnel are guaranteed a year of work from their home ports after each six months deployed overseas, some Air Force units go abroad several times a year.

One of three F-15 Eagle squadrons at Langley, home of the 1st Fighter Wing, has been deploying for 90 days every six months. A Langley-based squadron now in Saudi Arabia is to be the last deployed on the 90-day schedule.

Part of the Air Force's difficulty may lie in its culture: The most corporate of the military branches, its members typically wear fewer decorations and aren't expected to salute their superiors as often as sailors, soldiers and Marines.

During the Cold War, its members got accustomed to a pace of operations that more often than not kept them at home with their families. Today's members are deployed far more often, and families must remain behind.

``Our morale is still positive, but it's not superb,'' Hostage said. KEYWORDS: U.S. AIR FORCE PILOT SHORTAGE

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