Blunting the Spear: Why Good People Get Out

Abstract

This study analyzes the United States Air Force's retention of the "best" rated officers from the combat air forces. Specifically, it addresses the retention of pilots from the fighter, bomber, and remotely piloted aircraft communities and highlights the need for more focused retention methods. This research shows that each rated community within the Air Force has different contextual definitions of those variables deemed most influential for retention. Further, the author argues that a failure to negotiate these identified disparities at key points throughout an officer's career will lead to decreased retention of the best, regardless of monetary payout made available at the completion of an active duty service commitment. As such, the author proposes several methods the Air Force can use to address retention contextually starting at the Air Force level and progressing to individual major weapons system communities.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 01, 2015
Accession Number
ADA621971

Entities

People

  • Brian T. Stahl

Organizations

  • Air University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Autonomy
  • Biomedical
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aerial Warfare
  • Air Force
  • Aircrafts
  • Commercial Aviation
  • Employment
  • Fighter Aircraft
  • Ground Control Stations
  • Management Personnel
  • Military Organizations
  • Military Science
  • National Security
  • Personnel Management
  • Students
  • Unmanned Aerial Systems
  • Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Aerospace logistics and air mobility.
  • Instructional Design and Training Evaluation.
  • Naval Personnel Management