The USAF is short 200+ fighter pilots right now (153 diverted over to drone duty) and is losing many pilots to civilian aviation jobs that pay so much more. As it is, it takes $6 million to train a single fighter pilot and then the pay is not really that great after several years- equivalent to a topped-out clerk in a big box store!!! So, the USAF is offering higher starting pay and bonuses per year for up to 11 years. If the program does not succeed the USAF will be short 700+ fighter pilots by 2021 est. That doesn't take into account the IOC of the F-35 and probably the end of production for the worn-out F-16. The F-22 was supposed to fill-in the gap but was halted as a $309 per copy POS. The F-35 is also delayed severely and its costs have risen too. The plane is plagued by system and electrical failures and problems with the slaved fighter pilot helmet system too! Bad news for the AF b/c drone jockeys will be more in demand as their production escalates... unless of course they open those jobs to civilian pilots which is not possible due to the military nature of the job. So the AF remains desperate...