In the projects I have worked on, all the pilots seemed to be qualified. One or two unqualified slipped through but I attribute that to the normal flaws in the hiring process and not to any rush to get bodies in the seats.

Something I have noticed about the equipment operators is that at times, they seem to be hired based on computer proficiency almost to the exclusion of all else. We've had guys who didn't know what a mortar was or couldn't see the importance of using the phrase "apparent machine gun with a bipod" vs. "automatic weapons."