Age of today's warfighters?

[Zachary]

A comment by Chris Henry in the Huey thread got me thinking - what IS the average age of today's warfighting pilot? During WWII it was 21-22, but it seems to me that somewhere between 30-35 would be more appropriate now. Any thoughts from those who know? Randy?

Zack

[jmkendall]

IN the active Army it is still around 25. Most Pilots after doing their initial tour go into the civilian world for a number of reasons. Fortunately in the Army most Pilots are Warrant Officers and so can progress through the ranks with little restriction. We lose a lot of "Commissioned" Officers ( Warrant Officers have been commissioned since the early 80s, so in this Context I mean O-1s and above) because we have a limited number of slots for them. Lot of LT slots, but the number really thins for CPT. And Major? You have to be a lifer.

In the National Guard the age tends to be around 30 or so.

I'm a currently serving NCO of 32 years.

[Zachary]

Thanks for the info - I appreciate the insider's viewpoint - and THANK YOU for your service!

Zack