It’s time to dangle more than financial carrots to keep our fighter pilots

I understand the operational necessity of having our fighter aircraft stationed in northern outposts. However, the question begs, do our pilots and their families need to be permanently based there?

A CF-188 Hornet pilot prepares for take off from Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base in Romania during Operation REASSURANCE in November 2018. When in Canada, fighter pilots are based in northern Alberta and Quebec, but maybe it’s time to allow them to be stationed in more-urban centres, writes Scott Taylor.DND photograph by Cpl. Dominic Duchesne-Beaulieu

Opinion

BY SCOTT TAYLOR

June 19, 2019

OTTAWA—On June 10, Lieutenant-General Al Meinzinger, the commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force, sent out a message to all personnel outlining several new initiatives which are intended to address the military’s chronic shortage of experienced pilots and ground crew. As of last fall, the RCA...

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