Jones introduces legislation aimed at pilot shortage

Published 4:22 pm Wednesday, April 3, 2019

On Tuesday, U.S. Sen. Doug Jones, D-AL, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, partnered with Sen. Tom Cotton, R-AR, to introduce legislation that will bolster military pilot numbers by allowing military departments to establish pilot scholarship programs for members of the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC).

The Ceiling and Visibility Unlimited (CAVU) Act, named for the pilots’ acronym frequently used by former President George H.W. Bush, aims to address both the shortage of pilots and the lack of diversity within the pilot ranks.

A press release from Jones’ office stated that, according to the United States Air Force (USAF), less than 10 percent of pilots are minorities and less than 6 percent are women.

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The scholarships proposed in Jones’ bipartisan bill would encourage an early interest in aviation careers among students in JROTC programs, which are more diverse than their military counterparts with minorities and women making up 58 and 40 percent of JROTC participants, respectively.

“Young people are being asked to choose career paths earlier and earlier, and for many – especially young women and minorities – the field of aviation seems out of reach,” Jones said. “This bill works to address that issue and to open up the world of aviation to all of the rising stars in our JROTC programs.”

Selma High School (SHS) Aerospace Science Instructor Sgt. Charles Thrasher, a leader in the school’s Air Force ROTC program, applauded the initiative.

“We’ve definitely had students interested in flying,” Thrasher said. “I think it would be a value to our students here. Giving them the opportunity to follow that dream would be great.”

Thrasher noted that his students have had the opportunity to get into aircrafts and learn about flight through the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) program at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery.

“For many of them, it’s their first time in an aircraft,” Thrasher said.

He added that the CAP program is aimed at providing all students with the opportunity to learn about flying and hopefully spark an interest in becoming a pilot.

“The Air Force has always been a big proponent of diversity,” Thrasher said.

The USAF established a similar program, the JROTC Flight Academy’s Chief of Staff Private Pilot Scholarship Program, in 2018.

Through that program, 120 students were awarded scholarships to attends flight school last summer at one of six universities, including Auburn University, and participated in a weeks-long training program to earn their private pilot’s certificate and up to 12 hours of college credit.

No commitment to the USAF was required for students that took part in the program.