When do pilots in the US Military typically stop flying?

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cb7893

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www.themoscowtimes.com

Russian Major General Shot Down Over Ukraine – BBC Russian - The Moscow Times

If confirmed, retired general Kanamat Botashev joins a growing list of high-ranking Russian officers believed to have been killed in Ukraine.
www.themoscowtimes.com www.themoscowtimes.com

I read this article and it got me thinking about Maverick. He and the General are about the same age.

I was particularly struck by this statistic:

At least 31 Russian pilots have been killed, nine of whom were retired soldiers over 50 years old, the BBC reported this month.

Disclaimer: The Moscow Times is decided anti-war and anti-Putin. Yes. I noticed the "retired soldiers" reference.
 
It depends based on branch, time in service/rank, and the jobs you have at those ranks. In the Navy, you are guaranteed (granted you hit the wickets to make it to those tours) three flying tours: your initial sea (deployable) tour immediately after flight school, your department head tour (O-4), and your XO/CO tour (O-5). Many forks in the road. Some head to TAR/SELRES and fly over there, others become permanent instructors, some laterally transfer to other communities, and some get out. Your rank and job are also independent. So there are O-5s who screen for command and fly as XOs/COs. People who get selected for O-5, but not command might end up on a staff or as a part of ship's company.

When one retires from the military (at least in the US), they are transferred to the Retired Reserve. In other words, administratively speaking, they are still part of the military. Those in the Retired Reserve can be called back to active duty when the needs of the nation dictates. So if there was a conflict that required a huge military increase, you could most definitely see old pilots flying. The same with retired aircraft. That is why the USAF Boneyard exists.

Fun fact: According to the UCMJ, retirees can go to court martial. However, it is usually not practical since there are competent civilian jurisdictions to handle those legal matters.
 
Normally, after making O-5, flying gets cut down a lot. Commanders have many priorities. Staff officers are often not at the same base as operational units. O-6 and above usually can't devote the time to fly enough for combat proficiency. So, early/mid-40s is where most stop flying as much.
 
Raimius is on-point. As an O-5 commander you are too busy with your "command role" to fly that often. If your ego is in check, YOU will notice that your skills are degrading; not to the point you will embarrass yourself to the "kids" but YOU will know. Then, if you're selected for O-6 and a command position...you become one of "them." They are those "senior officers" that only fly occasionally and need an IP to keep tabs of them so they don't do something stupid. Sadly, the new O-6 is usually coming off a staff tour in Sodom-on-Potomac or something similar where the only flying they've seen is as a passenger.

Raimius timed it out pretty accurately; if you're a "mover" and make O-6 around the 18-19 year point...you're 41-43 years of age and your flying days are effectively done.

It's a sad day, trust me.
 
The Guard and Reserve will be a little different. I actually had a copilot fly with me in Iraq who flew in Viet Nam.
But normally, as written above, senior officers begin to have pressing issues aside from flying. Most services actually have regulations governing senior officers continuing to fly. There are hair raising stories of senior officers who continued to fly when they were not proficient and mentally in the cockpit, and the Air Force has had some senior officers have fatal accidents flying single seat aircraft they probably shouldn’t have been flying.
When I deployed we were so short pilots after a year that all the staff officers had to fly missions. I could tell they were exhausted and we usually had them fly with senior pilots.
In the Russian military things are a little different. I got to fly an MI-17 in the early 1990s because a Russian lieutenant colonel told the pilots I wanted to fly an MI-17. No paper work, no nothing. If a commander orders you to do something, you do it.
So in this case I’m sure the Russian pilot wanted to go on a mission and the commander told the pilots to let him go on a mission. Demonstrating why this isn’t a good idea.
 
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UHBlackhawk said:
To translate for those in the Air Force, when Mickey’s big hand is on the 12 and his little hand is on the 5.
😜
Click to expand...
Uh, we'd be hard-pressed to slow down our super analytical minds for that USMC visual (although the last time I was at Benning, the training manuals did look like cartoon books)...just say "1700" and we'll be okay.
 
Or 2100 Zulu for me. Maybe they don't have two clocks in your Ops office. Too confusing:)
 
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