A time of transition Remarks to the Air Force Association's 24th Annual Air & Space Conference & Technology Exposition by Acting Secretary of the Air Force Michael B. Donley Washington, D.C. Sept. 15, 2008 Thank you for that kind introduction, and thank you to the Air Force Association for hosting this tremendous event. It is great to be back serving with the finest Air Force in the world. I appreciate the opportunity to be among so many friends of air, space and cyber power. Thank you for all you do for America's Airmen and the Nation that they so proudly serve. Strategic Intent It's been an interesting summer. On June 5th, Mike Wynne and Buzz Moseley were at a four-star meeting in Dayton, Norty Schwartz was at Scott Air Force Base planning his retirement, and I was worrying about finishing the Pentagon Memorial on time and was getting ready for a long weekend at the beach. Well, I never made it to the beach. Many of you will recall that the office of the Secretary of the Air Force is located immediately above that of the Secretary of Defense. And Mike Wynne, with his characteristic grace and humor, recently quipped: "Who knew the SecDef could shoot up through the floor?" Our unscheduled leadership transition has been a difficult challenge for those of us directly involved, each in our own way. But I believe there are several observations on which all of us can agree. First, as Secretary Gates has publicly noted, we are all grateful for Mike Wynne's and Buzz Moseley's years of dedicated service. Second, we all appreciate the work of the Secretariat and Air Staff to support the smooth transitions we have experienced thus far. Third, we would unanimously agree: It's not about us. Our joint interest, before and after June 5, has been focused on how best to support the Total Air Force, Airmen and civilians, and the warfighting capabilities that daily rest on their broad shoulders. Finally, we as individuals, and the Air Force, are all ready to move forward and focus on the future. General Schwartz and I are getting to work on exactly the types of things that you would expect of a new leadership team. We are also beginning work that would ordinarily occur as a new administration arrives. Events this summer dictated that the Air Force would start our transition earlier than anticipated. Our first order of business has been to address areas of immediate concern - such as strengthening the nuclear and acquisition enterprises. In tandem, we have come to closure on a few issues that were immediately in front of us: deciding to implement only a portion of the planned global wing reorganization; deciding to modify current Battlefield Airmen training programs rather than embark on a new program with a significant infrastructure and resource bill; and a decision to focus on fixing current problems with the PT uniform, ABUs, and APECs jackets before we address future decisions on the Service Dress uniform. For your reference, the Service Dress uniform was an issue when I last served as Acting Secretary with Gen. McPeak in 1993. And I want to be clear that my policy on this matter remains the same: any questions on uniforms go to the Chief. My goal is to use this time wisely to prepare the Air Force for the new administration and Quadrennial Defense Review. We will do this by focusing enterprise-level attention on several key areas of concern through a series of "mid-term studies" that are due by the end of the calendar year. Immediate Priorities Before we get to these mid-term studies, several priorities must receive our immediate attention. As an institution, we must strengthen the Air Force nuclear and acquisition enterprises, prevail in the Global War on Terror, take care of our Airmen and their families, and modernize our aging air and space fleet. Nuclear The Air Force's first priority is to reinvigorate the nuclear enterprise. While many individual corrective actions were already underway in response to the Taiwan and Minot incidents, we established an Air Force nuclear task force in June to review the nuclear mission area from a strategic perspective, including a thorough review of our inspection processes. The task force is developing a nuclear roadmap to ensure we are fully recommitted to this vital mission area. We'll review progress with Air Force senior leaders, and our other partners in OSD, Defense Agencies, DTRA, and DOE at a nuclear summit later this week. I expect this conversation will extend to CORONA. At the summit, we expect to achieve consensus for accelerating plans to expand the Nuclear Weapon Center's role in nuclear sustainment, and to move toward a more centralized inspection process enabling consistent application of common standards across the enterprise, and improving our ability to track unit compliance and effectiveness over time. We will also discuss how to improve our focus on the nuclear capabilities embedded within the bomber force, and how to manage the tension of supporting theater and global missions, both conventional and nuclear, with what is a relatively small long range aircraft fleet going forward. Prevail in the Global War on Terror The Air Force's second priority is to continue to lean forward for today's Joint fight. America's Airmen have proudly contributed Global Vigilance, Reach, and Power since the first day of the Global War on Terror, and we will continue our hallmark of excellence in current operations. Over 33,000 of America's Airmen are deployed to contingencies worldwide, with over 26,000 Airmen deployed to 63 locations across the Middle East. Thousands more project America's strength from their home bases. While the Soldiers and Marines have borne much of the burden for the current fight in Iraq and Afghanistan, Airmen make critical contributions daily, and over 157,000 Airmen have shouldered the burden of multiple deployments to theater. Airmen extend America's Global Reach. For operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, Airmen average 145 airlift and refueling sorties per day on behalf of the Joint team, moving people and cargo to and within theater. America's Airmen have airlifted over 2,800 heavy duty Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles to the theater. They have fielded a new Joint Precision Airdrop System (JPADS) to directly drop supplies and equipment to Joint and Coalition forces with unprecedented accuracy. Once in theater, U.S. and Coalition forces are supported by over 46 satellites, along with their network of operations centers and ground stations, operated by Airmen at bases across the globe. Airmen facilitate joint command and control, GPS-based navigation, accurate weather forecasting, and the collection, processing, and dissemination of intelligence. Data transit across time zones in milliseconds on networks defended by cyber warriors. Our fighter/attack aircraft are on combat patrol and Battlefield Airmen are embedded with Joint and Coalition forces, synchronizing the delivery of precise and reliable fires that are the hallmark of projecting America's Global Power. This includes the "Quiet Professionals" of Air Force Special Operations Command, who fly a multitude of specialized aircraft to infiltrate, resupply and exfiltrate forces, perform special missions and deliver surgical strike. Your Air Commandos and Special Tactics Teams are in high demand and have been immersed in the Global War on Terror from America's earliest operations against the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Airmen also deliver Global Vigilance. They provide persistent watch over today's battlefield, moving data and actionable intelligence instantaneously to command centers and tactical units. Integration of new aerospace and communications technologies have yielded quantum increases in operational effectiveness. The armed MQ-1 Predator and its larger cousin, the MQ-9 Reaper, have been in particularly high demand. Airmen are currently flying 27 Combat Air Patrols (CAP) of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) in support of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, delivering 24-hour situational awareness and precision strike to ground and special operations forces. This exceeds the 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review goal by providing 6 additional CAPs two years ahead of schedule. America's Airmen have also fielded over 4,000 ROVER systems to enhance connectivity between ground forces and air power assets flying overhead. Airmen have also pushed the envelope for reachback - such as remote split operations for UAS. Reachback allows the Department of Defense to deploy fewer forces to theater and yet deliver precise and reliable combat power. America's Airmen care for our wounded, ill and injured in theater, and bring them back home. Airmen operate hospitals in Balad and Bagram, and they continue to streamline aeromedevac, shortening the time to move an injured warrior from an average of 45 days during Vietnam ... to an average of 10 days during Desert Storm ... to as few as three days for the conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan. With advances in medical technology and operational effectiveness, we are witnessing the highest survival rates of any conflict in U.S. history. Once home, our injured warriors are provided with some of the most comprehensive wounded warrior programs in the nation's history. Collaboration between the Services for medical care is expanding rapidly, allowing wounded warriors to receive medical care closer to home, and easing the burden on families. From deployment to combat operations to redeployment to care of the wounded, your Air Force is deeply committed to the current fight. Take Care of People Your Air Force is built on technology dominance, but its most important asset is its people - Regular, Reserve, Guard and Civilian. In the active force, we have halted the drawdown of personnel. In fiscal year 2009, our end strength will be capped at 330 thousand, providing head space to rebalance our skill sets and apply manpower to new and emerging missions, and areas in need of greater focus. Strengthening maintenance and the nuclear enterprise are two pressing manpower priorities, along with meeting growing demands for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance. Cyber operations are a growth area for all of the Services, and our manpower adjustments will increase the cyber workforce. Stressed career fields will also receive close attention. Military families are a foundational element of America's defense posture. Our commitment to military families is reflected in the base communities we foster and the Airmen and Family Readiness centers that assist deploying service members and their families with a wide variety of programs. Projects to expand Child Development Centers and increase child care spaces are planned throughout the next few fiscal years. In 2008, we created 724 spaces at three new centers. Wounded warriors are receiving special attention, as well they should. Air Force medical providers and personnel representatives, in tandem with Interagency and local partners, create the support network needed to ensure their success in continuing military service or transitioning to productive civilian life. Acquisition Like our workforce, Air Force acquisition processes are also in need of reshaping. Our immediate concern is the Air Force's ability to manage complex procurements and ensure that our acquisition processes can withstand the protests that seem to be becoming a more prevalent part of the procurement process. In some functional areas - such as Unmanned Aerial Systems, Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles, and ROVERs - DoD has shown that we can rapidly develop, acquire and deploy technology to meet urgent warfighter needs. But in most areas, I share the concern of many that recapitalization of our Air Force is not adequately funded and will take too long. With the tanker, seven years of history on this program have culminated in a missed opportunity to begin modernization of an important capability for the Joint warfighter. I fully support Secretary Gates' decision to defer this decision to the next administration, but eventually, the Air Force and DoD will need to circle back on air-to-air refueling. None of us can yet answer the question, "where do we go from here?", but clearly all of us need to reflect on what we have just been through. My personal view is that this experience has not been a healthy one for the Air Force or DoD, for the contractors, or for our working relationships with each other, or with Congress. We clearly need the "cooling off" period to which Secretary Gates referred, and we will need a new approach going forward. Within the Air Force, we initiated a "quick look" at lessons learned from recent protests sustained by the GAO to be applied in the program decisions immediately ahead. We will also be meeting with GAO to gain close-in perspectives on how we can better document Air Force decision-making to withstand contractor protests. We are also conducting two deeper looks at the acquisition enterprise as a whole. The first will take the form of an Air Force internal self-assessment. The second review will involve an independent assessment by an FFRDC. Strategic Context Looking ahead, all of the services are navigating a highly dynamic national security environment. The strategic context is characterized by the tension of building a military force to meet the two-Major Combat Operations (MCO) construct - which has been the primary driver for force structure requirements - and a realization that near-term operational requirements at the low end of the conflict spectrum seem not only more likely, but more persistent. We will see these tensions play out in the Quadrennial Defense Review as the demand curve continues to shift emphasis toward Joint enabling capabilities. Budgetary pressures and operational and strategic considerations are likely to favor capabilities that facilitate Joint operations - such as lift, ISR, cyber, space and communications - spanning the entire conflict spectrum. Mid-term Studies We have initiated a series of mid-term studies to better understand how this strategic context is influencing the Air Force. The studies will prepare the Air Force for discussions with the incoming administration, as well as the next Quadrennial Defense Review. On the list of topic areas are irregular warfare, cyber, a long-term Unmanned Aerial System roadmap, space management and organization, and the migration of budget resources from supplemental appropriations to our baseline budget. Irregular Warfare / Counterinsurgency / Building Partnership Capacity The Air Force has made considerable progress toward enhancing America's capacity to conduct irregular warfare at the tactical level. Mission planning has evolved, and the tremendous efforts of thousands of Joint Terminal Attack Controllers reflect our commitment to IW and COIN. A new IW Center of Excellence was established in 2006 and new doctrine was published last year. However, to be truly effective in today's strategic context, the Air Force must continue to elevate its progress to the strategic level. Through the mid-term study, we will revisit and reconfirm how the Air Force can enhance America's capacity for irregular warfare, counterinsurgency, and building partnership capacity as part of the Joint team. Cyber Cyber operations offer tremendous promise for use in irregular warfare and major combat operations. With a relatively low cost of entry, cyber operations also offer a unique opportunity for building partnership capacity for Coalition operations. As a Nation, we have clearly moved forward and embraced net-centric operations in many of our warfighting constructs, and our push toward "net-centricity" is yielding dividends in operational efficiency and effectiveness. Net-centric constructs now exert fundamental influences on how we organize for military campaigns and consider military strategy, even in day-to-day operations. Yet net-centric operating constructs introduce unique new vulnerabilities, particularly in the cyber domain. So along with our sister services and interagency partners, the Air Force remains firmly committed to the emerging warfighting domain of cyberspace. We are strengthening education and training in cyber skill sets, such as programs at the Air Force Institute of Technology, the Air Force Academy, and Undergraduate Network Warfare Training. We are pushing forward with new cyber career fields, and expect partnerships with industry and across the Interagency to grow. We have paused some of the organizational realignments in cyber so that we can fully consider the broader Department of Defense and Interagency discussions now underway. We expect to have a clearer picture within the next two months that will inform decisions on what kind of headquarters organization will be most responsive to Air Force, DoD, and Interagency needs. Whatever the results look like, I can assure you that the Air Force remains committed to growing and advancing our cyber capabilities. Long-term UAS Roadmap As we rebalance our force structure to meet existing and emerging mission areas, another trend affecting the Air Force is the ratio of manned and unmanned aircraft procured each year. Right now, about 2% of the Air Force total aircraft inventory is unmanned, but this figure is trending upward. In fiscal year 2007, for example, over 10% of the tails procured by the Air Force were unmanned. In the coming fiscal years, our procurement of unmanned systems will range anywhere from 25% to 50% of new tails. Given these kinds of numbers in procurement of unmanned aircraft, we need to consider how we will manage the personnel and infrastructure pieces of the entire UAS architecture - which includes pilots, senior operators, intelligence analysts, communications personnel, and many others - over the long term. We must consider how to institutionalize new operating constructs so we can leverage this tremendous capability in operations beyond Iraq and Afghanistan, to ensure this capability becomes much more than a "one war wonder." Space Management / Organizational Review We have also initiated a mid-term study to review organizational alignments and managerial responsibilities for the national security space enterprise. The study will focus on three key areas. First, similar to the nuclear roadmap, the study will serve as a vehicle to synthesize various high-level discussions on the national security space enterprise such as the Allard Panel, developing a list of critical issues that can be subjected to root cause analysis. Next, the study will articulate areas in which the Air Force has made considerable progress in the space arena in recent years, such as the "back to basics" approach that has led to 58 consecutive successful medium and heavy space launches, and Air Force progress in credentialing our space professionals. Articulating these successes will ensure that the new administration is aware of progress to date and enable them to set their sights forward. Airmen often serve as the connective tissue and integrator across a diverse and somewhat fragmented national security space enterprise. The third area for the mid-term study will articulate the Air Force's perspective of future work that is required to strengthen space management and organization. This will be a good topic for transition and the QDR and everyone seems to have an opinion, so we might as well have our own. Supplemental to Baseline Migration Like all the services, the Air Force has relied on supplemental funding to cover the operational costs of wartime demands for increased ISR, flying hours, combat logistics support and other areas since 9/11. However, we must prepare for a potential reduction - and eventual elimination - of large supplemental appropriations at some point in the future. We have begun a planning effort to merge a portion of our enduring wartime costs into our baseline budget. We are developing specific migration targets and are working to a timeline that will allow us to modify future budgets as necessary. This effort will ensure we stand ready to defend our resource needs in a constrained budget environment without supplementals. Goals Irregular Warfare, UAS, Space, Cyberspace, and the budget are all good issues for discussion during transition. This will be the sixth transition for me in my 30 years in Washington. They are all different. I recall 1980 where a large incoming transition team worked intensely for about 8 weeks, only to be dismissed by the new Secretary of Defense. In 1988, many Reagan appointees expected to continue in their positions following the election of then Vice President Bush, only to discover he had a different idea. Know who we are becoming So, how can the Air Force best prepare for transition? First and foremost, we need to be certain about who we are, what we do for the Joint team, and how we must transition for the future. The national security environment is evolving, and we are adjusting our force structure and skill sets accordingly. The Air Force is smaller and busier than ever. With the today's tempo and the daily adjustments in our force structure and workforce each day, it is sometimes difficult to step back and view these changes from the Airman's perspective of 30 thousand feet, 22 thousand nautical miles or as a holistic, interconnected network. Yet these daily adjustment are contributing to the major trends influencing the Air Force. We need to understand not just who we are, but who we are becoming. We are not only operators of aerospace platforms delivering people, cargo, and weapons. We are also providers of a tremendous capability for command and control of the air and space picture and operators of systems and networks that facilitate joint warfighting, and help to integrate many dimensions of national power. All Airmen, in every functional specialty and discipline, are contributing. Be prepared Second, we need to be prepared to engage - and if necessary debate - the major issues facing our Air Force. Good stewardship demands developing a deep understanding of the macro-level trends affecting the Air Force. Our mid-term studies are a step in this direction; we are looking more deeply into the strategic, enterprise-level challenges facing our service. As we do so, we will cultivate reasoned, carefully considered perspectives. We will be able to present these views not by digging in or staking out turf, but from a careful analysis and a seasoned appreciation of the many joint and national influences affecting today's strategic decision-making. Think Joint Finally, we need to remain focused on Joint needs. National security is a team effort, and our goal for the Air Force must be for all to consider America's Airmen as critical contributors to a vast and complex national security enterprise. By staying focused on the needs of the Joint team, we convey our commitment to being good stewards not only of the Air Force, but in support of our broader national security enterprise. You know you are doing many of the right things when others advocate on your behalf when scarce resources must be allocated. Conclusion The Air Force faces several strategic management challenges. Today, I have laid out our framework for responding to these challenges over the coming months. I am optimistic that as we work through these challenges, we will continue to deliver the kind of decisive air, space and cyber power that the American people deserve and expect. And, just as in the past, the Airmen of tomorrow will inherit a force that we decide upon today. A few days ago, I presented General Schwartz with his formal commission as Chief of Staff, suitably framed, and signed by the President and Secretary of Defense. In doing so, I brought to his attention the last line found on all such commissions, both military and civilian, which reads: "to serve at the pleasure of the President, for the time being." Having been tasked with responsibility for the world's finest Air Force, this is a charge that I take seriously. And I want you to know that whether my time with you is long or short, I remain fully committed to our core values of Integrity First, Service Before Self, and Excellence in All We Do, and to making this Air Force even stronger and better for the next generation. Thank you for being here today, for your dedication to duty, and for the tremendous support that you provide to the Airmen of the Total Force. (Archives)