DATE: Saturday, June 21, 1997               TAG: 9706210283

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A7   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JACK DORSEY, STAFF WRITER

DATELINE: HAMPTON                           LENGTH:  130 lines

AIR FORCE GENERAL WANTS TO CUT DEPLOYMENTS FROM 90 TO 45 DAYS HE HOPES TO STOP SKILLED PILOTS AND PERSONNEL FROM QUITTING THE MILITARY.

The head of the Air Force's combat units wants to cut his air crews' overseas deployments from 90 to 45 days, in an effort to keep frustrated pilots and seasoned enlisted personnel from leaving.

Gen. Richard E. Hawley, commander of the 128,000-member Air Combat Command headquartered at Langley Air Force Base, said the change may help stem an exodus of pilots who have decided that long deployments - typically in some of the world's most inhospitable and remote corners - aren't worth the trouble they bring to families.

Hawley's initiative, which he plans to submit to higher Air Force officials next week, is the latest in a series aimed at on-the-job ``irritants'' that have driven career military members away.

Those irritants include time away from home and heavy stateside workloads, a perceived erosion of health benefits, small pay raises and a plethora of duties that servicemen and women feel has little to do with their jobs.

Combined with aggressive recruiting by commercial airlines, their frustrations have prompted a steadily rising number of pilots to turn down the $12,000 annual bonuses the Air Force offers aviators it wants to retain.

Just two years ago, 75 to 80 percent of those pilots eligible for the bonus accepted them and remained in the Air Force at least another five years.

But last year, Hawley said, only 57 percent did so, and forecasts for the rest of this year indicate the rate could drop to 43 percent.

That equates to 414 pilots, more than half of the Air Force's most experienced aviators, who plan to walk. Although the annual bonus may soon be boosted to about $22,000, that may not be enough.

``That is a pretty dramatic reduction . . . in the space of a couple of years,'' Hawley said. ``We are concerned about that.''

Assuming they're approved by the top brass, the shorter deployments can begin in October, Hawley said in an interview this week.

At Langley, the move would mean shorter deployments for the roughly 275 men and women who leave town with each of the three F-15 squadrons based there.

``Granted, we'll go more often,'' he said, ``but my people have convinced me they would rather go more often than on these long stretches.''

The three-month deployments, frequently to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Turkey, Jordan, Italy and Bosnia, are a sore topic with stateside pilots and maintenance crews whose jobs increasingly separate them from their homes and loved ones.

The far-flung assignments are required by America's commitments to the United Nations and its desire to keep U.S. forces forward-deployed in ``a strategy of global engagement,'' Hawley said.

When the Air Force numbered 600,000 men and women in the early 1990s, such assignments were not much of a burden, he noted. But today, with the ranks trimmed to 370,000, everyone is carrying a heavier load.

``Over time, both the members and their families get sick of it,'' Hawley said. ``That's one of reasons they are opting to do something else for a living.''

Some squadrons are being deployed up to six months each year, and a few are deploying for up to six months every year, Hawley said. Those overseas stints outlast even the Navy's traditional six-month ship deployments, after which sailors are guaranteed at least a full year at home.

One of three F-15 Eagle squadrons at Langley, headquarters for the 1st Tactical Fighter Wing, deploys for 90 days every six months.

Its 71st Fighter Squadron will have the dubious distinction next week of making the last 90-day deployment before the new 45-day policy takes effect, heading for a tent city in the 110-degree desert of Saudi Arabia.

It is the 30- to 35-year-old pilot, usually with the rank of captain and close to 10 years' experience, who the Air Force most wants to retain. Like their Navy counterparts, they're highly skilled and have completed their obligation to the service. They can stay or go.

And they are eagerly sought by the airlines, which Hawley said are hiring in record numbers.

So strong is the attraction that the Air Force considered offering the airline companies incentives to stay away from Air Force pilots until they had served at least 15 years, at which time they'd slide into commercial flying jobs with the military's blessings.

The project, dubbed ``Phoenix Aviators,'' has been shelved. But even if it had worked, it may not have stopped the flow of talent among Air Force fliers and the senior ground personnel who keep the jets flying.

In May, Hawley visited every one of his 22 aircraft wings, surveying officers and enlisted personnel to sort out the ``myths and misperceptions'' that seem to be the source of the irritants. As the Air Combat Command's four-star commander, he is responsible for the readiness of all Air Force combat commands, including fighters, bombers, airlift and air control units.

Those field trips resulted in some eye-opening discussions with the men and women under Hawley's command.

``The facts are that military pay and allowances have eroded relative to those in the civilian section by about 13 percent, roughly about 1 percent per year over the last 15 years,'' Hawley said.

The last significant pay raise was in the early 1980s which generally was perceived to have reached parity between the civilian and military workers. Since then, he said, military pay has eroded roughly 6 percent even when cost-of-living raises were factored in.

``Our people notice that,'' he said. ``Money won't keep them in the Air Force and money won't drive them out. But it sends a signal as to their importance . . . a message from the country that our military is not as important as it once was.''

Changes in retirement pay also send a mixed signal, he said. Military members are now serving under three different plans - one for those who entered prior to 1980, another for those who entered between 1980-86 and a third for those who entered after 1986.

Additional issues are raised with seemingly random assignments. A few years ago, personnel had a sense of control over where they worked.

``We have gone away from that to some extent,'' Hawley said. ``We need to make sure we communicate, tell them why we are changing it. Don't make them feel like a chip on the table without any voice on the issues.''

Some problems have been relatively easy to tackle. One of Hawley's commitments is to keep one of his four squadrons of A-10 ``tank hunters'' in Kuwait. Rotating every 90 days meant that the same squadron spent Christmas there each year, while the members of other squadrons consistently missed their families' birthdays, anniversaries or summer holidays.

``That is difficult for our people to live with and even more difficult for their families to live with,'' Hawley said. ``We keep sending those folks off for three to four months at a stretch. Pretty soon the family gets pretty sick of getting along without mom or dad and make do with a single-parent family.''

Hawley's solution was to seek permission to send an F-16 squadron to Kuwait, armed with anti-tank missiles. The change enables the Kuwait units to rotate every five quarters, varying the season spent away from home for each.

Initial feedback on some of the changes Hawley has made in the Air Combat Command has been favorable, he said.

``They appreciate the work we are doing, the attention they are getting and they think we have identified the right set of issues,'' he said. ``If we can actually make progress on them, they will be more inclined to stay with us.

``I'm optimistic we will get through this,'' he said. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

Gen. Richard E. Hawley says shorter deployments may help stem the

exodus of pilots. KEYWORDS: U.S. AIRFORCE DEPLOYMENT

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