Wanted: A Few Good Aces

Jeeze:

Help wanted: At least 130 veteran military aviators for nine-year commitment to fly fighter jets.

Salary: $34,500 to $97,400. Plus good benefits and a $225,000 signing bonus — guaranteed.

Contact: U.S. Air Force by Sept. 30.

That’s the offer from the Pentagon, which is so short of Air Force fighter pilots that it’s boosting its salary package to make the job more enticing.

It may be hard to imagine that life as a high-flying fighter jock has lost its swagger, but the Air Force revealed it has a shortage of 200 fighter pilots this year. And if something isn’t done, the Air Force, which has about 3,000 fighter pilots, fears it may face a shortfall of 700 by 2021.

There’s something seriously wrong when a country of 310,000,000 can’t produce 3,000 Air Force pilots.