LACK OF ENGINEERS LOOMS FOR AIR BASE.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE - Facing a heavy workload with F-16 fighter flight tests and a shortage of engineers, the 416th Flight Test Squadron has taken on the job of recruitment.

The 416th and other military units like it are facing a shortage of engineers caused by a decade of downsizing and hiring freezes coupled with a surging job market.

The problem is not unique to Edwards. Throughout the military's test and evaluation community, civilian professionals under age 45 - who constituted about 45 percent of the work force in 1990 - now account for fewer than 30 percent.

At the same time, the 45- to 60-year-old bracket grew from just over 50 percent to nearly 65 percent, according to a recent report to Congress.

At Edwards, about 39 percent of its civilian work force will become eligible for retirement in 2003.

``There's not a midrange group of people,'' said Tim Cacanindin, deputy director of engineering for the 416th. ``We see a gap in experience.''

The problem was made worse by long-term hiring freezes in the 1990s that stopped the military from hiring those with new talents and skills.

``The test and evaluation community is now faced with the challenge of hiring quality scientists and engineers into the test and evaluation work force at a time when the job market is tight and opportunities abound in the private sector,'' said the report, authored by Philip Coyle III, the Defense Department's director of operational test and evaluation.

Edwards' current openings are listed on its Web site, careers.edwards.af.mil, and job line, [phone].