Aviation Career Incentive (ACIP, now referred to as AvIP) Act of 1974, in Title 37 of the United States Code, was enacted in response to the critical loss rates of experienced aviators across all components. Verbiage in the House Report 93-799 (1974) codifies the intent to fully include National Guard and Reservists. “The committee bill places Reserve ... and National Guard officers under the same aviation career incentive pay program as active duty officers, including the rate step downs and the 25-year termination ... The committee ... desires to treat reservists on an equal basis with active duty members whenever possible."

National Guard and Reservists receive only a fraction of incentive compensation as a result of the “1/30th rule” (Title 37 Section 206 USC.) This fractional incentive pay applies to all reserve component Soldiers that receive incentive pay (pilots, crew chiefs, "jump pay", etc.). The transition from a Strategic Reserve to an Operational Ready/Deployable force dictates incentive pay parity across all components since the requirements are the same for both active and reserve component service members.

Financial prudence should weigh the retention costs (e.g., maximum AvIP cost of $12,000 per aviator annually) against the current cost of training of initially training a new service member who receives incentive pay (e.g., estimated cost to train a new aviator is $1,000,000). In short, full incentive pay for reserve component soldiers will aid retention at a fraction of the cost to train a new service member with comparable skill set.

The anticipated results: (1) reduces attrition across National Guard and Reserves while increasing experience levels; (2) significant reduction in turnover costs; (3) reduces throughput burdens of Department of Defense (DOD) training centers; (4) creates a significant incentive for active duty service members who have determined they can no longer serve on active duty to continue service in the National Guard or Reserves. Increases National Defense readiness across all service components by keeping more aircrew members in an actively flying status as opposed to an inactive status in the Inactive Ready Reserve (IRR).