Issue 70: September 1991

This latter point is not only a significant breakthrough but ushers in a new era of lateral thinking within a budget constrained DoD heirachy where the absolute value must now be wrung out of each defence dollar. Consequently, fast jet pilots departing the services for an airline won’t have the pleasures of unlimited swanning about in these very expensive assets but rather will be kept up to speed as a potential back-up force in case of emergency.

This is sound thinking. The very high cost of operating the F/A-18 and F-111 force, combined with yet another cut (5%) to their flying hours (refer to our FSR reviews in this and the previous two Defence Update columns) makes it essential that these aircraft remain the province of the full time professional. What will happen now is that on leaving the service, a fast jet pilot can sign on for active reserve duty essentially with the unit he is departing. He is thus fully up to speed with the basic theme of how the wing operates and is personally familiar with most of the people involved in its day to day operation. Each year he will be taken into the unit for in-depth briefings on changes that have occurred in the past year, both to the aircraft, its systems and to the RAAF itself. He will spend much time on simulators getting back up to speed with the plethora of systems and procedures required in addition to a small amount of refresher flying to give him a ‘feel’ for the aircraft again.

Thus the capabilities of these pilots won’t be fully exercised during their stay with the active reserve though their presence would, in a time of emergency, be invaluable as being able to be drawn from at short notice to provide back-up flight crews of considerable experience. If the extent of the emergency required it, these pilots could then be given a full refresher course and take their places in the day to day operations of the front line unit.

The basic concept is to provide a surge capability with a reserve of talent that already knows how the aircraft and systems work and can be brought on line at very short notice to bolster the full time ranks. Certainly a long overdue step in the right direction, So much for the exotic world of fast jets.

Much has also been done in recent years, due largely to the mass exodus of RAAF aircrew during the mid to late eighties, to bolster the flying reserve on aircraft such as the C-130, 707 and P-3C. These are building up to a 4:1 ratio of full time to reserve pilots that will also take a lot of the strain off their often overworked crews. This not only saves taxpayers dollars but also helps, particularly in the training units, where reserve pilots can often introduce ‘commercialised’ thinking into thi way of doing things, which helps break the bureaucratic inertia that Defence has long been famous for. If, for instance, you young pilot at Pearce can be made to think laterally from the beginning then this has got to be a definite long term plus fo the ADF in the years to come. Let’s hope so.

In the meantime the 1991/92 Budget has come and gone anc sees another loss in real terms for Defence. It is amazing how politicians can drum up fantastic stories of what they are going to do (1986 Dibb Report), then produce a watered down version of same, selling it as an up-market improvement (1987 White Paper) and then finally abrogating responsibility for the lot and doing the opposite- and getting away with it.

An RAAF F/A-18. Reserve aircrew will help enable the ADF to better respond to any emergency, their presence being a victory for the new breed of lateral thinkers within Defence.

Just for the record, defence spending in 84/85 stood at a respectable 2. 9% of GDP. Dibb’s aspirations were based on a per annum real term growth of just 3% to give Australia the security it requires in an uncertain world. The following year’s White Paper trimmed this back to 1% and since then we have been heading into the negative with the overall budget share for Defence nowadays falling to as low as 2. 2% of GDP.

Hopefully a future generation won’t have to pay the supreme price for this frugality. Hopefully, the dictums of the FSR will produce real term savings in areas long overdue for reform, Hopefully the new emphasis on a true flying reserve will provide a core of highly capable aircrew. If this scenario is wrong we will all pay dearly though I bet you the politicians of the era will be far removed from the action, let alone the accountability for their past actions.

Readers wishing to know how the US goes about operating its highly capable Air National Guard and Army, Navy and Air Force Reserve units will be interested in our in-depth analysis of these units elsewhere in this edition. A full defence budget analysis will appear in our next edition.