Q & A GEN. NORTON A. SCHWARTZ, USAF
percent of the entire budget. We want good people, but some skills are hard- er to acquire than others.
Will compensation remain identi- cal between pilots in the cockpit and those who fly RPAs? What RPAs do is valued. It’s a war- fighting capability that delivers lethal effects. Their pilots need to have the same situational aware- ness, training, discipline, and com- mitment that manned aviators have. Thus, they should be compensated similarly, and they are.
The 11th Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation has been tasked to look at RPA compensation. Do you expect the Air Force decision on matching pay to be revisited? We’ll have to make a case to the qua- drennial review on our logic, experi- ence, and facts as they exist. My sense is we will be able to demonstrate con- clusively that we’re on the right track.
(clockwise from above) Schwartz, left, visits the 380th Air Expedition- ary Wing in Southwest Asia. A Navy aircraft refuels from an Air Force KC- 135 Stratotanker over Afghanistan. A U.S. airman, right, trains an Afghan pilot. A missile is loaded onto a remotely piloted aircraft.
I suppose we could. But the most ex- pensive part of our defense portfolio is people. Including health care, each airman costs over $100,000 a year, on average. So we need to find ways ... to manage personnel costs. For example, we recommended to
Congress a 1.4-percent pay raise for 2011. If we go higher, to 1.9 percent [as the House has voted to do], that extra
money must come from flying hours, child care centers, or any number of things that won’t get done. We are a volunteer force and must
compete for talent. But we have to be disciplined. We are grateful for Congress’ generosity, but there is a sweet spot we need to find. Since 1998, personnel costs have escalated 45 percent. It now constitutes 60-plus
The age of Air Force platforms long has been an issue. What gives you the most concern from a readiness standpoint? The No. 1 acquisition program re- mains the KC-X aerial tanker. We’re flying 45-year-old Eisenhower-era KC-135s and some KC-10s. It’s time to begin recapitalizing that fleet. It will take a couple of decades, so it’s important to get after it. We think we will by fall have a contract off and running. The F-35 will be the backbone
of tactical-fighter capability for the next 30-plus years. It has had some changes to get the program stable. The land-based version is in a little better shape than naval and short- takeoff-and-landing versions. We are committed to seeing that aircraft fielded. Two
[CONTINUES ON PAGE 108] S E P T EMB E R 2 0 1 0 MI L I T A R Y O F F I C E R 8 9
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