Page 8 - Aerotech News and Review – March 2024

DAF leaders lock arms, present plan to reoptimize Air Force, Space Force
AURORA, Colo. — In a show of unity fueled by a sense of urgency, se- nior Department of the Air Force civil- ian and military leaders unveiled Feb. 1 2 ,2 0 2 4 ,asetofsweepingdecisions designed to reoptimize the Air Force and Space Force to maintain preemi- nence, deter adversaries, and prevail in an era of Great Power Competition.
The leaders — Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall, Assistant Sec- retary of the Air Force for Financial Management and Comptroller perform- ing the duties of the Under Secretary Kristyn Jones, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin, and Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman 􏰀 outlined 2􏰁 specific decisions during a panel discussion at the AFA Warfare Symposium. The package of decisions, they said, will position the services to better confront China and maintain the hard-won superiority in air and space that has been a crucial foundation for deterrence and for protecting the na- tion’s security.
In explaining the “why” behind the decisions, Kendall was clear and un- mistakable.
“We have the most pacing challenge we have ever faced – China, China, China. Ladies and gentlemen, we are out of time, we are out of time, we are out of time,” he said, reprising two fa- miliar themes.
“The United States does not seek a conflict􏰂 we have every hope that one can be avoided,” Kendall said in his leadoff remarks. “We are, however, involved in a competition, an endur- ing competition that could turn into a conflict at any time. We can no longer regard conflict as a distant possibility or futured problem that we might have to confront.
“Our job, our fundamental mission – the reason we exist – is so we can be ready now and always. The name of the game is deterrence. But deterrence rests on strength and the will to use it,” he said.
With that foundation laid, Kendall and the other leaders walked through the decisions and changes that will re- sult.
“We need fully capable units with all the assets they need to fight China or possibly Russia on short or no notice. We need units fully ready to deploy or conduct operations in place also on short or no, notice,” Kendall said.
“We need mechanisms to ensure these units are in fact ready and ad- dress any shortfalls that may be found. We need the right mix of Airmen and Guardians with the skills necessary for high end combat and to ensure techno- logical superiority. We need an efficient and effective pipeline of technologies flowing continuously into more com- petitive capabilities for our highest pri- ority missions.”
He also laid down a mandate.
“Successful execution of these changes will be the Department of the Air Force’s and all senior leaders’ top priority,” Kendall said.
The senior leaders who followed Kendall — Jones, Allvin and Saltzman — echoed his assessments and the need to move fast while also adding detail about specific parts of the initiative.
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partment’s headquarters designed to merge strategic planning and modern- ization more precisely and seamlessly with long range. The effort would also address resources needed to achieve the results.
One element, for example is a new command to be called the Integrated Capabilities Command that will merge and consolidate work being done separately across different commands that do not always mesh as needed. As designed, this new command will look into the future, understand force design, and test operational concepts against that and look for opportunities to update and improve force design into the future. At the same time, this new command will examine the current force and current modernization efforts to prioritize them for the senior leader- ship to decide which ones get resourced at what level.
Jones, as did others, acknowledged that effort is complex, and the lead- ers do not have every answer to every question.
“We are confident that the changes we are putting into place will move us forward [ and we’ll] adapt as needed,” she said.
“This effort is not about efficiency or doing more with less. ... The world has gotten more dangerous, our battlespace is increasing, technology is advancing, decision space is shrinking, the pace of our adversaries is accelerating. All of this is driving our need to change.”
Allvin made a similar point as he outlined the decisions assigned to the Air Force.
“We are committed to these [ deci- sions] . We do not have them exactly right, but I am unapologetic to stand here in front of you and say I do not know the exact, final destination,” he said.
“Because if we wait to move, to have those final answers, we will be too late,” he said. “We have to have trust and confidence that the analysis we’ve done will put us on the right path. I am fully confident ... we can ad􏰃ust once we get on course.”
Among the more high􏰄profile chang- es Allvin outlined was reconfiguring air wings into “Units of Action.”
These “Units of Action,” he said, will be more capable of operating as a self- sufficient unit with the command and control, mission, and sustainment layers needed to provide airpower. E ach will include experts that understand what it takes not only just to get the jets air- borne, but to support them in an austere environment, be able to regenerate that combat power, be able to do logistics under attack, and other functions that Allvin and other senior leaders say are going to be required in the highly com- plex combat environment anticipated in an era of Great Power Competition.
These units will be organized so they can be severed from their home instal- lations, which planners expect will face disruptions that require leaving leaders and capabilities in place that Allvin said can “fight the base.”
In his remarks, Saltzman conceded that the decisions are substantial, but he portrayed them as an opportunity.
See SPACE, Page 12
Aerotech News and Review
U.S. Air Force photo by Melanie Rodgers Cox ar College students during his visit to Maxwell Air
Chief of Space O
Force Base, Ala., Jan. 23 , 2024.
perations G
en. Chance Saltzm an addresses Air W
Space Force leaders take on Air University
U.S. Air Force photo by Melanie Rodgers Cox
Chief of Space O perations G en. Chance Saltzm an addresses School of Advanced Air and Space Studies students at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., Jan. 23 , 2024.
By Billy Blankenship
Air University Public Affairs
MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. — Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman and Vice Chief of Space Operations Gen. Michael Guetlein spoke to Air University students while visiting Maxwell Air Force Base,Jan.2 2 -2 3 .
The Space Force leader duo shared updates on the De- fense Department’s newest service branch while stressing the importance of competitive endurance and the founda- tional service framework.
“This is quite an honor and privilege. It doesn’t seem like it was that long ago that I was at SAASS,” said Saltzman, a 2005 graduate of School of Advanced Air and Space Studies, as he talked to the current students about the service’s Theory of Success. “I don’t see the fight in space having a clear endpoint. That’s why it’s success and not victory. We want to be in competition because competition is better than crisis or conflict, especially with our great power competitors.”
The Theory of Success the head Space Force leader referenced includes three tenants to achieve competitive endurance􏰅 avoid operational surprise, deny first􏰄mover advantage, and responsible counterspace campaigning. He challenged students to study and look for holes in these concepts.
Saltzman and Guetlein were able to engage with stu- dents from SAASS, Air Command and Staff College,
S􏰆uadron Officer School, Air War College and the Joint Flag Officer Warfighting Course and conduct a university instructor round table. This was Guetlein’s inaugural visit to campus as the VCSO, as he was still on his first week in the position.
“We need to spend our time understanding why we’re doing what we’re doing across the joint force,” the VCSO said to a combined ACSC and SOS audience. “The threat is the ‘why’ we are here at SOS, ACSC, and across the rest of Air University. If we forget about why we are here, we forget about optimizing the pause from our day-to-day jobs to think and be grounded in the force and what we need to be.”
Both leaders engaged with students about the critical role the space domain plays in the joint environment, equipping leaders at various levels with ways to leverage the newest service.
“Space is different from a war fighting domain perspec- tive,” Guetlein said. “The old way of doing business is not going to cut it. It worked for us in the past but won’t work going forward. Our modern society relies on space for everything we do. I could lose access to some of the other domains, and it wouldn’t affect me in the way it would space.”
There are currently 12 Space Force Guardians serv- ing on the Air University staff who were able to spend time with their service leadership, along with nine ACSC students, two flights of SOS students in the Space Force􏰄 specific track, two at Air War College, and one in JFOWC.
Jones focused on changes at the de-
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March 1, 2024