Veteran fighter pilots try to help close training gap

(EXCERPT) Associated Press

SUMTER--The Air Force is dealing with a training gap, By pairing
veteran Reserve fighter pilots with less-experienced fliers.

While the Air Force needs 330 to 380 new pilots a year, it has the
resources to train only 302, a Defense Department study found. Years
of military downsizing and better commercial pilot pay has thinned the
nation's military aviator ranks.

"Now, we're trying to capture that experience that's walking out the
door," Lt. Col. David "Picker" Cotton said.

Reserve officers like Cotton have been helping close that gap through
the Air Force's Fighter Associate Program. Cotton, a Reserve unit
commander, and three other Reserve pilots are in the program at Shaw
Air Force Base's 55th Fighter Squadron in Sumter. Cotton is the 55th's
full-time instructor pilot.

The 43-year-old Columbia native and Desert Storm veteran has more than
2,600 hours flying an F-16.

He works in all phases of flying -- from mission planning through
debriefing -- with less experienced pilots like Lt. Ted Schultz, 26,
who has just 100 hours.

A fighter pilot generally needs 500 flight hours to be considered
fully...

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