Attract and retain. This is currently the motto of the French armies, whether land, naval or air, when they talk about human resources. On Thursday, General Stéphane Mille, Chief of Staff of the Air and Space Force (CEMAAE), presented the air capabilities of the Air and Space Force in the aerial view of the base from Évreux.
During this demonstration organized for students of the War School and the IHEDN (Institute of Higher Studies of National Defense), he addressed the difficulty of “maintaining the format of the Air Force.”
The Air Force, which will celebrate its 90th anniversary next year, faces a particular problem. Many airmen leave the uniform earlier than expected to join private companies. His number was not communicated to us, but for CEMAEE the problem must be taken very seriously.
30 candidates selected from 2000
To become a pilot, selection is difficult. In theory, coming from high school, about 2,000 candidates appear for the selections and only thirty are accepted. This situation forces you to hire beyond real needs to maintain the format necessary to fulfill your missions. A peculiarity that has chain effects.
To maintain the Air Force format, one of the routes goes through reservists who “are part of the solutions to maintain a complete capability.” The Ministry of the Armed Forces is focusing on this imperative with the goal of reaching 100,000 reservists by 2035, including 80,000 by 2030. To date, there are only 40,000 of these army auxiliaries.
Meanwhile, the problem of armies remains unsolved and each body seeks solutions to “attract and retain.” The Navy has implemented double crews to reduce missions by several months. The Army has admitted a deficit of between 2,000 and 2,500 soldiers in 2022.
To deal with the situation, the Air Force sometimes turns to civilians, such as airline pilots after training, to take command of transport or refueling aircraft such as the A400M or MRTT.
Source: BFM TV
