Aerospace Workforce

(Photo: San Diego Air and Space Museum)

The United States entered into World War I with only around 26 pilots. In American Legion Memorandum Number 47, published in April 1922, Eddie Rickenbacker implored the American Legion to help recruit for pilot training stating that we needed to have pilots trained during peacetime, as it “is much more efficient than a man who is trained in time of war, with the haste and hysteria of that which goes with it.” The American Legion’s call to action by the Aerospace Commission fell upon deaf ears, as the government refused to act until 15-years later, when the Army Air Corp asked the American Legion for help in recruiting and training pilots.

By 1940 Milo Warner, National Commander of the American Legion, made a national appeal for American youth to enroll in the Army’s Flying Cadet pilot training program. The American Legion made it their mission to funnel youth into these programs as the agenda of expanding America’s airpower had finally been funded. This was also true of the Civilian Pilot Training Program started by the Civil Aeronautics Administration in 1938. The government used the American Legion as its manpower recruiter.

In September 1940, the American Legion was informed by the Army Commander that they needed to recruit a minimum of 240 into the flying schools per month just for the Fifth Army Corps area alone; which covered the four states of Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky; and that there was no maximum limit on the number of recruits.

American Legion Posts across the nation sponsored flying schools and Post facilities were used to teach ground school. Many Legionnaires who were pilots, were recruited as instructors. Draft boards often furnished the names and addresses of those men classified 1-A which possessed the educational qualifications for Air Corps training. The men were then approached by the aeronautics committee and advised of the advantages of enlisting in the Air Corps for cadet training.

By the end of the war, the US Army Air Forces had nearly 200,000 pilots; whereas by the end of the war, both Germany and Japan had ran out of pilots and were resorting to volunteers who were quickly trained how to take-of and fly on suicide missions. The American Legion had led the recruitment in the expansion of the Army Air Forces from 21,000 in 1938 to a war strength of 2.4 million in 1944.

Not only did the American Legion recruit pilots, but thousands of navigators and bombardiers, and many thousands of gunners and other specialists; with numerous others, mostly mechanics and specialists to keep aircraft airworthy.

Brig. Gen. Regena Aye accepted the award for the CAP at The American Legion National Convention in Charlotte, NC (2023).

The first two chairs of the Aeronautics Commission, Reed Landis and Gill Wilson, teamed up to organize the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) in 1941. Landis was the aviation consultant to the Director of the Office of Civil Defense, and Wilson was the Executive Director of the new CAP organization. Working together they took the association that only existed on paper, and made it into a national working organization to continue the process that has endured to today. In 2023, the CAP Cadet Programs were recognized with the American Legion National Education Award.

Towards the end of the war, Hap Arnold thanked convention delegates for the Legion’s support of air power. During his speech he said to the Legionnaires, “Now we are all facing another problem, I refer to that of helping the discharged soldier resume his place in civilian life. We are not putting off this problem till Johnny comes marching home. Johnny is here.” The Legion did not disappoint Hap Arnold, as the American Legion led the effort in the work to pass legislation and other efforts to transition these trained service members into the aviation workforce.

We are facing another time of critical shortages in the aerospace profession. Not only in pilots, both civilian and military, but also in all areas of the aerospace civilian and military workforce. Former Marine pilot – Brig. Gen. Lightfoot gave Legionnaires glimpses into a changing force structure, a redesign that emphasizes joint operations, and the need to meet the needs of a changing geopolitical landscape, recruitment, talent management, training, and education of personnel are high priorities in today’s Marine Corps.

Currently, the US Air Force is trying to field next-generation aircraft in sufficient quantities to help deter aggression and achieve victory if deterrence fails. The problem is that the service consistently struggles to retain enough aviators to fly those aircraft. In fact, the Total Air Force (Active, Guard, and Reserve) was short 1,650 pilots in 2021, and the shortfall will likely only get worse. It’s a crisis that must be addressed head-on by training more pilots.

The aerospace industry stated that the North America region faced a shortfall of 8,000 pilots in 2022, about 11% of the total. That gap will grow to more than 29,000 by the end of the decade. Over the next 20 years, Boeing estimates, the industry will need 612,000 new pilots. The same is true of all the other areas of the aerospace workforce; engineers, technicians, assembly people, welders, etc.