PARSim, a Simulation Model of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Pilot Occupation - An Assessment of the Pilot Occupation Sustainability under High Student Production and Reduced Flying Rates

Training personnel to operate extremely complex and expensive equipment requires a large monetary investment and takes lengthy periods of time. It goes without saying that careful planning is of the outmost importance. Such is the case for military pilots. The Pilot Production, Absorption, Retention Simulation (PARSim) model that was developed by the Centre for Operational Research and Analysis (CORA) simulates the flow of pilots from recruitment, through training, onto the operational training units and into the various operational fleets, accounting for attrition, instructor pilots and staff requirements. A key feature of the model is that it simulates the acquisition of experience, dynamically adjusting the experience acquisition rate in response to the existing experience level on the squadrons and the availability of resources. The model is a tool that can be used to perform what-if analysis quickly and easily. This paper describes the simulation model and reports on a study where the impact of high production combined with reduced budgets is analysed.