NATIONAL HARBOUR, Md. (AFNS) — Air Force Chief of Staff General CQ Brown, Jr. urged Total Force September 19 to be intensely focused, act quickly, and “accelerate change” in redesigning the service to respond to modern threats that are fundamentally different – and more complex – than those of the previous 30 years.
And while emerging security threats, particularly those posed by our “rhythmic, acute and unforeseen challenges,” Brown told Airmen during his keynote address at the Air Force’s Air, Space and Cyber Conference Association, that he is convinced that the moment will be reached.
“We’ve done it before, and we can do it again,” Brown told an audience of more than 2,500 airmen, government and industry officials and various air power advocates, using specific moments from the 75 years of service history to validate its confidence.
“We now find ourselves in a pivotal period, which is fundamentally reshaping the international security landscape,” Brown said. “And while our nation has been focused on countering violent extremists for two decades, our competitors have been focused on how we wage war.
“Our tactical skills are sharp, but we need to reframe our thinking to meet the challenges we will face in the future. In many ways, today’s security environment resembles our past,” he said. -he declares.
Brown told Airmen that service culture must adapt to policies, practices and tactics. In this regard, he said there were “five areas that will drive culture change:”
· Mission command;
· Generation of forces;
· Agile combat employment;
· Versatile airmen, and;
· Wing A-Staff construction.
“We have to do it now,” Brown said, referring to the five areas, “because our adversaries won’t wait for us to perfect these concepts.”
Brown reinforced the premise by taking the audience on a journey through history.
In 1948, when the Soviet Union tried to strangle West Berlin by blocking land routes to the city of two million people, the Air Force launched a massive airlift to support the city and prove a critical geopolitical point, that American air power could be delivered anywhere at any time. time.
“Without firing a shot, we embarked on the largest aerial resupply mission in history during Operation Vittles, landing at Tempelhof Airport every 45 seconds and delivering over 13,000 tons of single-day freight,” Brown said.
In the 1950s, when fears about the Soviet Union’s nuclear capability grew, the Air Force allied with industry and academia to design, test, build and launch a ballistic missile intercontinental Atlas in just two years.
The trend continued into the 1970s and 1980s, Brown said, when the Air Force again played a major role in the development of stealth technology.
The tangible — if not still visible — result of that effort, Brown said, was “an all-new breakthrough capability, the F-117 Nighthawk, in record time (and) paving the way for the stealth technology we see today.” “.
The record is unbroken decade by decade. In the 1990s, during the 78-day air campaign to end Yugoslavia’s ethnic cleansing of Kosovo Albanians, there were “several firsts for our air force,” Brown said. Among the most significant is the commissioning of the first MQ-1 Predatorthe first operational use of the B-2 bomberand the first time the Combined Air Operations Center was used as a weapon system.
And in 2001, of course, after the attacks on American soil, the Air Force, together with the United States, “we stood up as Americans and saw the strength of our nation when it was put the challenge”.
“At each stage, with each new test, however uncomfortable, we have proven that we can meet any challenge. We have proven that we are ready to take risks. And we have proven that we can solve any problem by collaborating within our Air Force and within (the Department of Defense), with allies and partners, industry, academia” , did he declare.
In these examples and many more, the Air Force distinguished itself and protected the nation by “getting results; challenge the status quo and not wait for the ideal conditions to act,” he said.
It was fueled “by experimentation, rapid prototyping, adapting new ideas, and a penchant for action, risk-taking, and creative disruption at all levels of Airmen,” he said. .
To be successful this time, Brown said the Air Force needed to harness those same qualities and culture, but refine it for modern challenges. Above all, he said, is the need to maximize collaboration.
Brown has dubbed this approach “integrated by design” because it relates to working closely with allies and partners at the beginning “with the end in mind.”
Brown told Airmen that service culture must adapt to policies, practices and tactics. In this regard, he said there were “five areas that will drive culture change:”
· Mission command;
· Generation of forces;
· Agile combat employment;
· Versatile airmen, and;
· Wing A-Staff construction.
“We have to do it now,” Brown said, referring to the five areas, “because our adversaries won’t wait for us to perfect these concepts.”
Brown also underscored a point he’s made before — that success is driven by creative, determined Airmen who drive the changes the Air Force needs to succeed.
“We must harness any innovation that can put significant capability into the hands of warfighters. We can’t let “perfect” become the enemy of “good enough”.
Turning to the public, Brown put the blame directly on them. “You are the heart of our innovation, and I am constantly reminded that each of you drives the potential of our technology and the potential of our ideas; both are unlimited.
“Our Airmen, those who sit here in this room, those who do the work every day on our bases around the world – active, guard, reserve and civilian – and our vast and incredible partners in industry and academia “, Brown said.
“These are not new challenges,” Brown said. “But the complexity and combination is more than ever before… We know the strategic competition and we know what it means to accelerate change.”
Brown concluded on a note of optimism.
“Last year I told you I don’t believe in the impossible,” Brown said. “We’ve done it before and we will do it again.”