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CABINET HAS APPROVED plans to send two Air Corps pilots to Australia in a bid to expedite their training as the number of pilots continues to deplete.
The pilots will be dispatched to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) due to a high number of early retirements taken in the Air Corps in recent years.
The pilots will undertake between three and four months of training in Australia where they will then receive a 15-month placement with the RAAF to build flying experience within an operational setting.
This is the first time that Irish forces have been sent to Australia for this purpose.
The number of Air Corps pilots is hovering around the 100 mark at the moment. However, an increase in the number of pilots trained to carry out missions is needed.
The decision to send the pilots is in line with provisions contained in a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Australian Department of Defence and their Irish counterparts. The RAAF, on occasion, has offered training to other military forces it has alliances with.
Minister with responsibility for defence, Paul Kehoe, has received Cabinet backing for the plan.
The Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade and Defence recently heard from the Representative Association of Commissioned Officers (Raco) about the staff retention crisis in the Defence Forces.
It pointed out that despite the recent high-profile recruitment drives in 2017 and last year, there was a net loss of 120 personnel in 2018.
“There were 256 discharges in the first four months of 2019. This is by far the highest figure since the reorganisation of 2012. In April 2019 alone, there were an unprecedented 86 discharges,” General Secretary of Raco, Commandant Conor King said.
Members of the Defence Forces are set to see an immediate pay rise following the Cabinet’s approval of an increased €10 million remuneration package.
The changes will see a boost in the pay for the vast majority of personnel of between €602 and €675 per year.
An Air Corps pilot can earn up to €50,000 in their position. However, other members of the force can earn much less.
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What are the chances they will stay in Australua after the two years is up?
@Niall: Where’s Australua?
@Peter Carroll: oh! The spelling police are out.
@Peter Carroll: are you a retired Christian brother
@Niall: what about our neutrality? Sending pilots to the RAAF for training is another slippery slope on the path to war. Next thing we will be in the commonwealth.
This is being done while the Dail is not sitting so nobody can object.
@Ciaran O’Mara: ah will you give over.
Next: the government is planning to buy two hand guns and four bullets.
@Sebastian Manka:You got that one wrong —–It’s actually air pistols and pellets!
They’e buying a full box of pellets
@Sebastian Manka: and a hurley painted black
@Jimmy: Awws their getting rid of the 2 sticks and the rock awww.
@Dave Walsh: are they pointy shticks or just ordinary ones – those pointy ones are deadly -especially if you make the other end pointy as well !
Complete waste of money Irish air force non existent army yes navy yes but Baldonnell a complete waste of tax payers money
@Tom Hickey: ah Tom it’s the regimental training. we might get another great Dublin manager from baldonnell again.
@Tom Hickey: Tell that to anyone who was ever picked out of the sea or off a cliff by the Air Corp, or anyone who had to ferried by air ambulance.
@Joe Bloggs: Search and rescue is now a function of a private company on behalf of the coastguard. Air ambulance work is the function of the Health service, not an air Force. We have 100 pilots for approx 10 aircraft, yet somehow struggle to get aircraft at short notice for emergencies ? There’s an awful lot of desk jockies working 8-4 in Baldonnell and maintaining flying hours at huge expense to the taxpayer who have no intention of using them for our benefit. As a pilot you can either fly missions it you can’t. It’s time to close the gentleman’s flying club that is the Air Corps.
@Tom Hickey: absolutely agree. They have a total of 24 aircraft, why the need for 100+ pilots? Also, in Australia they will probably train in state of the art aircraft only to come home to obsolete, propeller driven craft modelled on the Spitfire…
@Paul Shepherd: i have not heard anyone mention that out of the 100 pilots ,23 lets say are flying our planes/helicopters the rest are fighting to see who will fly the government jet , which is i presume is in a hanger.
@An bhearna: HSE in effect sub contracts the flying of the air ambulance to the Air Corps with a HSE paramedic in the back, each crew member deployed based upon expertise, efficient.
As for those complaining about high number of pilots, air corp has 27 aircraft, with a further 3 on order, so 30 planes/helicopters, each requiring 2 pilots, so 60 pilots. They can fly both day and night missions, flight safety rest hours, so that’s 120 pilots, nor can they fly every day, so let’s add 50% to cover rest days.
So a pilot flies days out of every 3, that’s intense, on either a day or night mission, so 180 pilots required. Cut it a bit for aircraft maintenance, so 150. Numbers get big quickly, and I’ve not factored in leave, admin roles or training.
@Paul Shepherd: the pilots will train in fixed-wing twin-engined aircraft with the RAAF.
It is intended the pilots will train to instructor level and will be able to train novice pilots on their return.
@An bhearna: don’t forget the fisheries protection function.
@Joe Bloggs: well said.
2 pilots! Seriously this is pathetic
@Ado Smith: Its probably a pilot scheme. Pardon the pun.
Pilots…. The least important cog in the wheel in Baldonnell. How about they up the wages of the ground crews and give them better working conditions. Very hard for a pilot to fly a plane or heli when there’s no mechanics and avionics technicians to maintain it.
@Jason Byrne: Jason Byrne the comedian…..???
Every roll is vital in aviation……….fact
@John Joe & Bridie: I never said they weren’t vital, I just stated that they were the least important cog in the wheel. And it’s Role
@Jason Byrne: yep, in Top Gun 2 maverick is a mechanic and Ice Man is an avionics technician
@Jason Byrne: when the porters in the HSE went out on strike not one surgical procedure could go ahead. Every cog need a a little extra oil once in a while
@Jason Byrne: and bloody pointless to have avionic technicians and mechanics if there no pilots to fly the plane !
@Eric Davies: there’s over 100 pilots and not enough technicians or mechanics. But typical military mentality is to retain officers. They could do with getting rid of a lot of officers throughout the Defence Forces as its extremely top heavy. The Air Corps has a Brigader General commanding less than 800 troops. That’s 3200 troops shy of what a man of his rank should be commanding. 25 ish aircraft and how many are flying on a daily basis.
Great to get a bit of experience with another airforce and all that but come on; they’ll end up with hours on modern fighter jets and then come back to our prop planes where they still have to tap the fuel guage to make sure it’s accurate.
@Chris Linehan: They wont be training on fast fighter jets. Apparently it will be training on twin engined propeller aircraft.
What are the chances they will stay in Australua after the two years is up? (Australia…are up!)
The defense forces need to be renamed ! 9,000 personnel couldn’t defend Ireland
@Martin Sinnott: What would you suggest! Given that they were never named ‘Defense Forces’ might I suggest ‘Defence Forces’.
The pilots will train on the Pilatus PC-9 aircraft ,which is the same one we use. Aircorp pilots fly the Garda chopper and aircorps ground crew service it . The HSE air ambulance is an aircorps chopper accompanied by a HSE paramedic stationed in athlone. Air/Sea rescue was taken away from the aircorps when aircrews complained about substandard equipment and put out to tender,even though the aircorps can provide it cheaper if the government invested in the aircorps
They don’t earn much? They defo better off civilian pilots !
@Martin Gerard Smith: I think you’ll find pilots are on good money. A captain with 10 years service is on about 74 grand a year, that’s including 16 grand flying allowance. It doesn’t include any other allowances they may get. Now, as an ex member of the Defence Forces I’m not having a go at officers, merely pointing out that they are well paid for the job they do. When you take into consideration that there was 2 or 3 pilots living in married quarters in Baldonnell with their families while they had 3 or 4 properties rented out you can see how much money they make by working the system. You won’t see any officer sleeping in his car due to lack of money.
All the fancy adds in the world cannot disguise the fact that the armed forces are chronically underpaid. That’s the be all and end all of it.
The pilots we have to many of them for the aircraft we have don’t forget only half the aircraft is available to fly due to maintance they sit around mostly and use the system and that other post about them living in married quarters and renting out property in civi street is correct and alot of them leave with pension and walk into big jobs with the IAA its a big click in this country and the poor soldiers get the peanuts
Highway to the danger zone!!
training pilots for what exactly .for the few aircraft we have .100 pilots ..? ?
Spoiler alert for new Top Gun film
What’s the point in this job they are flying dads army planes and Ireland does not need an airforce
@wiggy: so who patrols our waters?
@Mark McDermott: wiggy is from the ‘Ah sure it will be grand’ school of thought.
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