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The RAAF has unveiled a Christopher Nolan-esque TV advert amid reports the force is struggling to recruit the next generation of fighter pilots and support personnel.
The “Up There” campaign includes footage shot with high-definition gimbal cameras and a cinematic score composed by multi-award-winning musician Lance Gurisik.
It also features dramatic scenes depicting a Kabul-style evacuation and a team coordinating a mission aboard airspace battle management aircraft, the Wedgetail.
Speaking at a press conference in Perth over the weekend, Matt Keogh, Minister for Defence Personnel and Veterans’ Affairs, said the campaign aims to highlight not only piloting roles but technical fields such as mechanics, electronic and cyber-warfare, and space.
“Our Air Force is quite successful in its recruitment endeavours,” he said. “But the areas we really need to focus on around those engineering roles, those intelligence, cyber warfare, electronic warfare roles, and also this new space domain that is so critical now to the work that we do. They’re the areas we’re focused on growing.
“What we see with the focus on technological roles in our Defence Force is it reflects what we’re seeing across broader society. We need people that have got good STEM skills to come into our Defence Force.”
A number of different RAAF aircraft are featured in the campaign, including F-35A Lightning II and F/A-18F Super Hornet jets, an E-7A Wedgetail, and a C-17A Globemaster heavy airlifter.
The airborne scenes were, for the first time, recorded by high-definition gimbal cameras placed aboard a separate L-39 jet trainer.
Aside from the TV commercial, the wider campaign will also be rolled out across cinema, social media and online.
It comes against the backdrop of a personnel shortage in the Defence Force, with internal Defence minutes in October saying future milestones for trained F-35A pilots are “trending below planned numbers”.
“The Air Force faces challenges across workforce attraction, generation and retention,” the minutes read, as reported by News Corp.
“Although most of the F-35A workforce has successfully transitioned from the FA-18A Classic Hornet capability to the F-35A, there are shortages across the technical, support and pilot workforces.”
Additionally, ADF chief General Angus Campbell told Senate Estimates last month that overall, Defence was around 4,300 people short of its authorised strength.
“It puts stress across the entire organisation in terms of being able to train and recruit, to conduct activity, to sustain our people, support their families, and continue our tempo of activity, both internationally and domestically,” he said.
“As an example, our aspiration for recruiting is higher than it might otherwise be because we’re trying to fill the hole that has been established. That means we need to see more people working in our recruiting system and more people working in our initial induction training recruit system and early employment system.”
Commercial aviation also faces a talent crisis after the industry shed an estimated 25,000 people during COVID-19.
