Nearly a dozen senior fighter pilots have chosen to retire early from the air force over the past few months, for better paid jobs in civilian aviation companies.
The continuing trend points to serious manpower problems facing the air force, sources told the Taipei Times yesterday.
One of the retiring pilots is a lieutenant colonel who has been in the limelight over the past few years because he was one of the first pilots sent to the US for training on F-16 fighter planes.
He was also one of the few so-called "seed instructors" who had been counted on to coach more junior pilots on how to fly the state-of-the-art US-made planes, sources said.
Hao Kuang-ming (郝光明), the lieutenant colonel in question, was hired by China Airlines last month, shortly after he retired from the service. He is now undergoing training sessions along with seven or eight other ex-air force pilots to qualify as a pilot for civil flying, officials with China Airlines confirmed.
A spokesman for air force general headquarters, who declined to be identified, admitted that Hao was one of the best F-16 pilots in the service and that his departure was unfortunate.
He denied, however, that there were any other F-16 pilots retiring at the same time as Hao. He said six or seven other pilots reported to have joined China Airlines, together with Hao, could be pilots for other second-generation fighter planes, including locally-produced IDFs and French-built Mirages.
"Hao's retirement is an individual case. He might have made the choice out of consideration for his future career. If he works for a civil aviation company, he can fly till the age of 65," the spokesman said. The pay for a civil aviation pilot is a big incentive as it is usually two or three times that for a combat pilot.
"This is one of the most serious difficulties the air force is now faced with in keeping good pilots from retiring. We don't want to see our pilots leave one after another, but we can do nothing if they insist on leaving," he said. "Fortunately, only three F-16 pilots, including Hao, have retired from the service over the past two years."
Keven Cheng (鄭繼文), editor-in-chief of Defence International magazine, said besides the F-16s, other second-generation fighter planes are also short of pilots.
"Over the past seven to eight years, the number of seed instructors for IDFs has dropped from the initial nine to just two now," Cheng said.
"Just as the US-based Rand corporation has pointed out in one of its reports on Taiwan, the biggest problem for the island's military is not weapons, but manpower."
"Everybody now talks about the possibility of acquiring advanced Aegis fighting ships from the US. But if the manpower problems are not properly addressed, the Aegis ships will become a nightmare to the navy," Cheng said.
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