VOA慢速英語：美國空軍面臨戰(zhàn)斗機(jī)機(jī)械師短缺

US Air Force Faces Shortage of Fighter Jet Mechanics

美國空軍面臨戰(zhàn)斗機(jī)機(jī)械師短缺

The United States Air Force has a shortage of mechanics to provide support for its fighter airplanes.

美國空軍缺少戰(zhàn)斗機(jī)維護(hù)師。

VOA recently reported that the Air Force has 725 fighter pilots less than the 3,500 it is permitted to have. It is training about 135 more fighter pilots this year than in 2014. But it will be a long time before they are ready for action.

美國之音最近報(bào)道稱，空軍允許維持3500名戰(zhàn)斗機(jī)飛行員，但是目前缺少了725名。今年空軍比2014年多培訓(xùn)了135名戰(zhàn)斗機(jī)飛行員。但是他們距離做好參與行動(dòng)的準(zhǔn)備還有很長一段時(shí)間

Pilots must train for years -- at a cost of millions of dollars -- before they have enough experience to fly fighter jets.

在他們有足夠的的經(jīng)驗(yàn)駕駛戰(zhàn)斗機(jī)的之前，飛行員必須長時(shí)間培訓(xùn)，花費(fèi)數(shù)百萬美元。

The fighter pilot shortage is happening at a time when private airline companies are adding pilots. Private airlines pay more and their pilots spend less time away from home.

戰(zhàn)斗機(jī)飛行員短缺之時(shí)，私人航空公司增加了飛行員。私人航空公司薪資高、而且他們的飛行員離家時(shí)間更短。

Two Air Force generals told VOA that the military is still able to meet the demands for fighter jet support. But they added that unless more pilots choose a career in the Air Force, the service will soon be unable to meet the demands of top commanders. They warn that this could possibly affect both U.S. troops and civilians.

美國空軍兩位將軍對(duì)美國之音表示，軍方仍然能夠滿足戰(zhàn)斗機(jī)支援的要求。但是他們補(bǔ)充說，除非更多飛行員選擇空軍這項(xiàng)職業(yè)，否則戰(zhàn)斗機(jī)支援服務(wù)很快就無法滿足高級(jí)指揮官的要求。他們警告說，這可能會(huì)影響到美國軍隊(duì)和文職人員。

But even if the Air Force can train and keep jet fighter pilots, it must have enough mechanics to maintain the jets. And right now it has a shortage of more than 3,000 of these maintainers.

即使空軍能夠培訓(xùn)和留住戰(zhàn)斗機(jī)飛行員，仍然是需要足夠的機(jī)器去滿足戰(zhàn)斗機(jī)。目前至少有3000多的維護(hù)人員的缺口。

Mechanics at Joint Base Langley-Eustis in the state of Virginia have much work to do. They help keep F-22 Raptor jets flying. They also work on the T-38 Talon -- a jet that is about 50 years old and must often be repaired.

弗吉尼亞州的蘭利-尤斯蒂斯聯(lián)合基地的機(jī)械師有很多工作要做。他們使F-22“猛禽”戰(zhàn)斗機(jī)保持飛行。他們也為T-38魔爪工作-一家50多年的經(jīng)常需要維修的戰(zhàn)斗機(jī)。

This Air Force fighter pilot says the mechanics work hard.

空軍戰(zhàn)斗機(jī)飛行員說機(jī)械師工作很努力。

“Maybe once a day to once every other day we’ll bring back a jet that needs, has some kind of issue that needs to get fixed by our maintenance before it can get launched back up. So even at night when we’re not flying, they’re workin' on the planes and making sure that they’re ready to go for the next day.”

他說，“大概每天或隔一天，我們就要把一架出了某種問題的噴氣式飛機(jī)送過來，讓我們的維修人員修理，然后它才能重新飛上藍(lán)天。所以，即使是晚上我們不飛的時(shí)候，他們也在修飛機(jī)，好讓這些飛機(jī)第二天能起飛。”

This senior airman is one of the mechanics.

這位高級(jí)飛行員也是其中一名機(jī)械師。

“We all understand that the whole ‘(do) more with less’ is, is happening, but I mean it, regardless, jets have to fly. So we’re gonna make it happen, but yeah there's, there’s definitely pain in that process.”

他說：“我們都明白，目前的情況是事情多了人少了，可是不管怎么樣，飛機(jī)總得飛。所以，我們必須保證它能飛。不過呢，在此過程中肯定會(huì)有痛苦。”

Air Force Lieutenant General John Cooper works on ways to train and keep pilots and mechanics.

空軍中將約翰·庫珀致力于培訓(xùn)和留住飛行員和機(jī)械師。

“We were livin', you know, on the edge with our maintainers for a long time, but we were able to accomplish the mission.”

我們的現(xiàn)狀，你知道的，我們的工程師長時(shí)間的短缺，但是我們能夠完成任務(wù)。

Now, General Cooper says budget cuts have made his job much harder. But he says the Air Force has begun enlisting and training new fighter jet mechanics. And he says if the budget does not get smaller, the shortage will end in 2021.

目前，中將庫珀表示削減預(yù)算讓他的工作變得異常艱難。但是他表示空軍已經(jīng)開始招募和培訓(xùn)新的戰(zhàn)斗機(jī)機(jī)械師，并且他說，如果預(yù)算沒有削減，缺口將在2021年補(bǔ)充完整。

I’m Christopher Jones-Cruise.

克里斯托弗 約翰-克魯斯報(bào)道。