This essay contest is for first-class midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy and is named in honor of Commander William Earl Fannin, U.S. Naval Academy Class of 1945, and supported by his bequest. Normally, there is a prize awarded in each major warfare specialty. All the armed services face retention problems, but the strain is being felt particularly hard in aviation. The future naval aviators in my class have the opportunity to be part of either the problem or the solution.
Money is a simple solution, but it is neither the only one, nor even the most effective.
The Navy's shortage of pilots was 1,077 in 1999, but it was expected to drop to 825 by 2002. The Air Force, however, had a shortage of 1,354 in 1999 and a projected shortage of 1,943 by 2002. This is not the first time that military aviation has experienced shortages. The periods before the Korean and Vietnam wars also saw pilot shortfalls. The Navy and the Air Force face similar problems, but the Navy also has problems of its own.