The President has invoked the apparently-permanent “national emergency” resulting from the 9/11 attacks to activate Defense (and, I believe, Homeland Security, for the Coast Guard) Department for unlimited (both in number and duration) recall of retired military service members to active duty (outside of wartime and select roles, recall of retirees is limited in duration and, for officers, sharply limited in number simultaneously recalled.)
There are suggestions in other comments that this addresses the USAF pilot shortage (which the 25/service limit on recalled officers would limit without use of an order tied to war or national emergency), but there is no limitation to that application in the order, which activates and delegates the full unrestrained emergency power to the service secretaries subject to the discretion of the Secretary of Defense.
Without further Presidential action, every single retired member of the Armed Forces could be called up, indefinitely, under the terms of this order.
“His specialty was alfalfa, and he made a good thing out of not growing any. The government paid him well for every bushel of alfalfa he did not grow. The more alfalfa he did not grow, the more money the government gave him, and he spent every penny he didn't earn on new land to increase the amount of alfalfa he did not produce. Major Major's father worked without rest at not growing alfalfa. On long winter evenings he remained indoors and did not mend harness, and he sprang out of bed at the crack of noon every day just to make certain that the chores would not be done. He invested in land wisely and soon was not growing more alfalfa than any other man in the county. Neighbours sought him out for advice on all subjects, for he had made much money and was therefore wise. “As ye sow, so shall ye reap,” he counselled one and all, and everyone said “Amen.”
>WASHINGTON — President Trump signed an executive order Friday allowing the Air Force to recall as many as 1,000 retired pilots to active duty to address a shortage in combat fliers, the White House and Pentagon announced.
>... But the executive order itself is not specific to the Air Force, and could conceivably be used in the future to call up more officers and in other branches.
> The Air Force needs about 1,500 pilots more than it has. Bonus programs and other incentives have not made up the shortfall.
Because they haven't been offering enough? I find it hard to believe they couldn't find 1500 pilots to come back for a million a piece, surely if something's important enough to sign into law as an EO it's worth the price of ten F-22's.
Paying people more takes Congressional action and costs money, above and beyond the pay those people would make based on rank, time in service, etc.
Signing an EO doesn't require Congress, and doesn't cost extra money. Plus, if you use the USAF pilot shortage to justify it to Congress, they might limit the numbers to the quantity you can justify as necessary for that purpose, and limit the use of whatever solution is adopted to USAF pilots. With this EO, there are no numerical or functional limits, the military can reactivate whoever it decides it needs.
AFAICT, it makes available to the Secretaries of Defense and Transportation the special powers available to some existing set during states of emergency.
