Why do pilots who are Colonels and above still maintain flying status by doing their required flying hours?

As a Soldier, and non-aviator, I would say it is a "Lead By Example" thing. Similar to an Army Senior Leader (Colonel, BG, MG, LTG) being on jump (paid parachutist) status...

Neither is necessary, nor does it make sense.

There are a couple reasons, many of which have been discussed here already.... the leadership aspect. I feel that there is 1 other PRIMARY reason above and beyond the leadership aspect..... RETIREMENT. This is more true for those that fly heavies (cargo aircraft). Once they retire, they are current with their fly certifications, especially with multi-engine air frames. Many will go to civilian/commercial aircraft. Regardless of flying for FedEx, UPS, Delta, American Airlines, Et. Al.... If they come out of the Air Force with CURRENT fly certifications, there will be fewer hoops to jump to get a job flying for someone. Fighter pilots will need to get certification on multi-engine aircraft, but they will still come out current on many aspects of flying (instruments, etc). Not only that, but many fliers just like to fly.....

Why not? If they love to fly, go for it. My former boss hasn't flown since he was an O6 and he missed it. He took command of an MP Bde then got his star so he was no longer in a flight status slot.

I’ve been out for 20 yrs, so my answer may be dated or Army specific. I knew a COL who went to flight school with my flight class (George S. Patton IV). I flew Generals who wore wings. I never had a problem with the fact that senior officers were pilots. To me it meant that they had some “skin in the game”, and could better relate to the role and proper uses of aviation. I have also flown with and under Commanders who had NO aviation experience, and they displayed some serious flaws in the use of aviation assets...... Few senior ranking pilots, if any, did anything more than act as a co-pilot, simply b/c their experience levels (at best) were at a WO1/2LT level. Nor would they normally be current pilots. Most Generals flew with Instructor Pilots so they could get “logged” time, perhaps at P level, rather than log CP - IF they could even log. Until the invention of ACIP, they likely did not get flight pay. After ACIP came into existence, they would get a certain amount of flight pay which was time (year) based, on years of flying status. All Commissioned Officer (RLO) pilot’s started actually loosing percentages of flight pay on a sliding scale - as the years went up, the pay went down - almost down to a pittance. This presumedly was due to the fact that senior Commissioned pilots had plenty of other duties.... Only the Warrant flight pay kept going up, and maxed out for their entire career.

I would toss my vote with the majority who cite the necessity of maintaining awareness of the material and operational situations that face the front line pilots to allow for realistic decisions as their commander. I would minimize the idea of maintaining currency strictly for post military positions in commercial aviation; there are many more opportunities for senior officers in other areas than commercial flight. Additionally, the fact that most pilots like to fly enters the picture. I know my day was a lot better after an opportunity to strap an aircraft on.

Actually, in the fighter wings, the commanders do indeed fly combat missions. We even lost a BG to enemy fire during Vietnam. Col Robin Olds flew combat sorties in Vietnam and had four kills. There is an array of reasons. Being a fighter pilot myself, I’d say ego drives a lot of it. And skills don’t fade away as you get older...most times being smart will trump actual hand skills. And there’s the flight pay thing...

As others have said here... It's about leading from the front and making decisions "fighting" one's unit from the cockpit. Army Aviation struggles with this SO much due to the fact that commissioned aviators are almost "expected" to not be as proficient as the warrant officers they lead. It's a dangerous line of thought that I've always rejected. As commissioned aviators, I believe it's our responsibility to work twice as hard to be just as good as a warrant officer behind the controls and be able to fight and lead the unit in the cockpit. That requires concentrated effort as a junior officer and to continue to fight for any flight time possible as one progresses through the ranks.

I know in my experiences it easier or at least more motivating to take orders from so eine who's at least qualified to do the job themselves. I am not saying that a high level officer has earned everything they've achieved and could probably do the job with their eyes closed but it still feels good to know that your superiors could and still can do what they are asking you to do.

For those flying fighters, the experience they have is very useful to those junior to them. We are getting to the time where it is the senior leaders who have the air to air experiences. There were not many Iraqi fighters after the first little bit of OIF. Besides, ACM is a perishable skill. It relies heavily on timing.

You are talking logic and reason my friend. Should have buried that when you swore in at MEPs.