The Airforces wheels are falling off

The following is a rough translation of an Afrikaans article that appears in the daily Beeld newspaper:

By Erika Gibson

Soon the air force will only be able to carry out small, routine operations due to personnel streaming out of the country.

The implementation of new combat aircraft could crash to a standstill because of the departure of experienced flight crew members.

"The wheels are coming off," military expert of Jane's Defence Weekly Helmoed Römer Heitman said on Monday.

Pilots, flight technicians, generals and technical officers were resigning in droves with most of them joining the Australian air force.

Better salaries and working conditions but above all the prospect of flying actively and being in commission were given as the main reasons for the exodus. Frustrations because of racial quotas, bureaucratic red tape and a lack of proper career planning added to these.

"The departures are going to have a critical impact for operations, on the development for operational concepts and the development for future requirements for the air force," Heitman said.

Furthermore the head of the air force Lieutenant General Carlo Gagiano's term of service would end later this year.

Major General Des Barker, Director Force Preparation for the Airforce, who was considered to be Gagiano's most suitable successor, would soon be taking up service at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

Together with the outflow of pilots, the loss of flight technicians will cause a major dilemma for the maintenance of aircraft.

"Without proper leadership, training and mentoring by experienced seniors the juniors are not going to be equal to the task of filling these gaps in the future," Heitman said.

"Inadequate financing to make provision for the military's increasing involvement in peace operations is the core of the problem.

"On top of this there is an inability in the Cabinet and in Parliament to grasp what the real requirements for an effective military are.

The inability to prevent competent soldiers from leaving the military is going to cause the military to run the risk of deteriorating into a battered militia with only a few people who perform during ceremonies," Heitman warned.

The navy also had lost personnel to the Australian navy and, as far as it is believed that an Australian defence force recruitment team will be in the country in two weeks to recruit even more staff.

According to some pilots, they simply did not fly enough to to consider a further career in the airforce.

At one helicopter squadron, a pilot will fly an average of only 4.5 hours a month.

In the US, helicopter pilots were required to fly a minimum of 24 hours per month to maintain their flying skills.

Gagiano had already earlier this year warned that the reduction of the airforce budget would seriously influence its operational preparations.

More than half of the 82% resignation figure among officers were technicians.

Those resigning:

• The Officer Commanding and second-in-command of 2 Squadron, the airforces primary fighter squadron in Louis Trichardt which will house the new Hawks and Gripens (Australian airforce) ;
• The Officer Commanding of 85 Combat Flying School where fighter pilots are trained;
• The Officer Commanding of 16 Squadron, the home of the Rooivalk attack helicopter in Bloemfontein (Australian airforce), as well as the second-in-command (United Arab Emirates airforce), an operations officer (American Special Operations Command) and a pilot at 16 Squadron;
• Eleven technicians at 35 Squadron, the maritime squadron, almost a quarter of the squadrons technicians (Australian airforce);
• Ten technicians (almost a quarter) at the Central flying school Langebaanweg; and
• About eleven technical Colonels and engineers have resigned since the beginning of the year to pursue a private career in the private sector in Australia.