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THE SECRETARY OF THE AIR FORCE

CHIEF OF STAFF, UNITED STATES AIR FORCE

WASHINGTON DC

The Wright brothers' historic flight in 1903 ushered in the dawn of a dramatic era of

scientific, cultural, and technological advances. As the Air Force celebrates this centennial of

powered flight, we do so with the recognition that, despite the daunting challenges of a more

dynamic security environment, the next hundred years will witness equally fantastic achievements.

The 2003 United States Air Force Posture Statement reflects this optimism. In this report, we

relate some of our accomplishments of 2002 as well as our vision of an innovative and adaptive

force capable of guaranteeing American air and space dominance for the decades to come. Our

successes are America's successes; they are the direct result of the selfless and unconditional

service by men and women of the Total Air Force and their families.

During the past year, and in the midst of combat and a variety of contingency operations,

we evaluated, implemented, and validated a host of technological advances, organizational

changes, and concepts of operation. These enabled us to deliver desired effects faster and with

greater precision than at any time in the history of warfare. Such adaptation is characteristic of

our service, as airmen continually strive to push innovation ever forward en route to unprecedented

air and space capabilities for combatant commanders, the joint force, and our nation. In the

year ahead, we will move our expeditionary Air Force closer to realizing the transformational

imperatives of this new era, machine-to-machine digital integration of manned, unmanned, and space

assets, and joint command and control. Our concepts of operations leverage this integration, and

expand our asymmetric advantages in air and space—advantages that are fundamental to defending

America's interests, assuring our allies and coalition partners, and winning the nation's wars.

We recognize the responsibility for America's security is not one we shoulder alone. We

work tirelessly toward developing and training professional airmen, transitioning new technologies

into warfighting, and integrating the capabilities of our sister services, other government agencies,

and those of our friends abroad to act in the most efficient and effective manner across all

operations—from humanitarian to combat missions. At the same time, we pay special attention

to the consolidating aerospace industry, our acquisition processes, and our critical modernization

challenges, to ensure we will be able to draw upon our core competencies for decades to come.

Blessed with full endorsement from the American people, the Congress, and the President,

we will remain the world's dominant Air Force. We are honored to serve with America's airmen,

and we sincerely appreciate the confidence in our commitment and capability to provide our great

Nation with superiority in air and space.

JOHN P. JUMPER JAMES G. ROCHE

General, USAF Secretary of the Air Force

Chief of Staff

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 1

WHAT WE DO ........................................................................................................ 7

DEVELOPING AIRMEN: THE HEART OF COMBAT CAPABILITY ............................................... 8

TECHNOLOGY-TO-WARFIGHTING: THE TOOLS OF COMBAT CAPABILITY ............................... 8

INTEGRATING OPERATIONS: MAXIMIZING COMBAT CAPABILITIES ....................................... 9

EXPEDITIONARY CONSTRUCT ......................................................................................... 10

OPERATIONS IN 2002 .................................................................................................... 12

TRAINING TRANSFORMATION ........................................................................................ 16

JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF EXERCISES, INTEROPERABILITY TRAINING, AND EXPERIMENTATION .... 16

TASK FORCE ENDURING LOOK .................................................................................... 17

WHO WE ARE ....................................................................................................... 19

FORCE DEVELOPMENT: A NEW LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PARADIGM ......................... 20

EDUCATION AND TECHNICAL TRAINING: EMPHASIS ON JOINT LEADERSHIP/WARFARE .......... 21

DIVERSITY .................................................................................................................... 22

RECRUITING ................................................................................................................. 22

RETENTION ................................................................................................................... 23

SUMMARY .................................................................................................................... 23

WHERE WE’RE GOING .................................................................................... 25

CAPABILITIES-BASED CONOPS ................................................................................... 26

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: WELLSPRING OF AIR AND SPACE CAPABILITIES ................... 29

EXECUTIVE AGENT FOR SPACE ...................................................................................... 29

DRAWING EFFECTS FROM SPACE .................................................................................... 30

HORIZONTAL INTEGRATION OF MANNED, UNMANNED, AND SPACE ASSETS ................... 32

ADDRESSING THE RECAPITALIZATION CHALLENGES ....................................................... 34

ORGANIZATIONAL ADAPTATIONS .................................................................................. 36

WARFIGHTING INTEGRATION DEPUTATE ........................................................................ 36

CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER (AF/CIO) .................................................................... 37

BLENDED WING ........................................................................................................... 37

COMBAT WING ............................................................................................................ 39

ACQUISITION AND BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION ............................................................. 40

ENSURING READINESS .................................................................................................. 41

EXPANDING AEF PERSONNEL ....................................................................................... 43

SUMMARY .................................................................................................................... 43

NEXT HORIZON ...................................................................................................... 45

INTRODUCTION

As America approaches the 100th anniversary

of powered flight, the Air Force realizes that

the nation is only in the adolescence of air

and space capabilities. Yet we envision a

future that will manifest dramatic advances

in propulsion, operational employment,

weapon systems, information technology,

education, and training for our air and

space forces. It is a future of unprecedented,

seamless integration of air and space

capabilities with joint command and control

at the operational level of war, and machineto-machine integration at the tactical level.

We are pursuing these changes—some

elementary, others revolutionary—which

will dramatically escalate the capabilities

available to the joint forces of the United

States, perpetuate American air and space

dominance, and redefine the nature of

warfare.

If there was any ambiguity about the nature

of the security environment in this new

century, the attacks of September 11, 2001

crystallized the setting. Just as the turmoil

of the previous decade eluded prediction,

the dynamic setting of the decades ahead

poses even greater predictive challenges

as centers of power and sources of conflict

migrate from traditional origins. No longer

will it suffice to prepare for real and perceived

threats from nation-states. Instead, America

must apply the sum of our operational

experiences and experimentation to develop

dynamic, flexible, and adaptable forces,

capable of dissuading, deterring, and

defeating a much wider range of potential

adversaries, while still assuring our friends

and allies.

This fluid setting underscores the need

for doctrinal agility, and expeditious and

responsive acquisition, planning, and

execution across the spectrum of capabilities

in support of homeland security—from

the most difficult anti-access scenario to

humanitarian relief. As new generations

of technology proliferate among potential

adversaries, we also are reminded of the

need to keep pushing technology forward.

In less than one hundred years, we elevated

from a Kitty Hawk bi-plane flying 100 feet on

a 12-second flight, to a host of sophisticated,

stealthy aerial vehicles capable of reaching

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any place in the world, and an array of

satellites that circle the globe continuously.

We do not rest on these achievements,

but instead engage a new generation of

innovation. Therefore, our mission is to

make calculated research, development,

and procurement decisions with the resolve

to integrate all of our combat, information,

and support systems into an enterprise

architecture that contributes joint air and space

capabilities to help win the nation’s wars.

Meeting these requirements also warrants

our continued transformation into an

expeditionary force with the culture,

composition, and capabilities to fulfill our

evolving operational tasks. As the scope

of global contingencies requiring American

involvement has multiplied, we have

witnessed the substantial value of agility,

rapid response, and integration. Thus, we

are becoming ever more responsive in time,

technology, and training, and in the process,

we are elevating Air Force contributions

to joint capabilities, while developing our

airmen as joint warfighters.

A year ago, Secretary Rumsfeld laid out a

number of key priorities for the Department

of Defense (DoD). All of these—from

pursuing the global war on terrorism and

strengthening joint warfighting capabilities,

to streamlining the DoD processes and

improving interagency integration—demand

across-the-board changes in the way the

Defense Department operates. The Air Force

has taken advantage of this opportunity

to evaluate and strengthen our capabilities,

and to fundamentally drive our investment

strategy.
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As we contemplate more than a decade of

unprecedented success using air and space

power, we recognize that we never fight

alone. The emerging interdependence of

joint, coalition, and alliance partnerships

throughout a decade of contingency warfare

has been a profound lesson learned.

Through cooperative planning, we will

realize the full potential of our Service—

bringing to bear fully integrated air and

space capabilities.

It is our imperative to approach this planning

and integration with innovation and vision,

fundamentally focused on capabilities. All

of the armed forces are focusing on meeting

the Quadrennial Defense Review’s “1-4-2-1”

force-shaping construct, by defining the

fundamental capabilities required to meet

the challenges of a changing world. These

are: to defend the United States through

Homeland Security; to deter aggression

and coercion in the four critical regions of

Europe, Northeast Asia, Southwest Asia

and the Asian littorals; to swiftly defeat

aggression in overlapping major conflicts

while being capable of decisive victory in

one of those conflicts; and to conduct a

number of smaller scale contingencies. A

revitalized, capabilities-focused approach to

operational military requirements will allow

us to meet these missions.

Our focus on capabilities for an uncertain

future has inspired us to adapt anew the

way we organize, train, and equip our forces.

We have begun by developing Task Force

Concepts of Operations (TF CONOPS),

which will define how we will fight and

integrate our air and space capabilities

with joint, coalition, and alliance forces.

The requirements that emerge from these

operational concepts will guide a reformed

acquisition process that will include more
active, continuous partnerships among

requirement, development, operational,

test, and industry communities working

side-by-side at the program level from

methodical, sequential bombardment, to

near-immediate, simultaneous kinetic and

non-kinetic strikes on specific targets to

achieve desired effects in joint warfighting.

Significantly, these advances have allowed

a measure of our combat success to evolve

from—“number of sorties per target” to

“number of targets per sortie.”

This process can only be successful with the

help of a vibrant defense industry. Yet today

the aerospace industry is consolidating

to a point that threatens to diminish the

advantages of competition. This, in turn,

can lead to loss of innovation, diminished

technical skill base, lower cost efficiencies,

Airmen view the F/A–22 cockpit at Lockheed Martin in

Marietta, GA.

and other challenges. We must foster

increased competition to ensure the long-term

health of an industrial sector critical to our

national security. While the Air Force will

F/A–22 production line.

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An Air National Guard basic training class passes in review

during graduation ceremonies at Lackland AFB, TX.

Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps cadets set up tents at

Ellsworth AFB, SD. Tent construction helps build teamwork

among cadets. The cadets receive training in leadership, weapons,

and survival.

continue to advance the vision and associated

capabilities for air and space, we also must

challenge industry in order for it to stay on

the cutting edge of technology and efficient

management practices.

Finally, transforming our force will not be

possible without a process to educate, train,

and offer experience to the right mix of

Active Duty, Air National Guard, Air Force

Reserve, and Civilian airmen who understand

the nature of our changing security

environment. To achieve this, we

will evolve what we have traditionally

called the “personnel” function in new

ways so as to blend Professional Military

Education, advanced academic degrees,

and assignment policies under the auspices

of “Force Development.”

This is the United States Air Force in 2003—

inherently innovative, tirelessly dedicated,

and comprised of the very best airmen and

capabilities in the world to ensure American

security and defend her interests. This is what

our nation expects, and we will continually

meet that expectation.

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WHAT WE DO

The United States armed forces exist to fight

and win our nation’s wars, which no service

can accomplish alone. The Air Force’s pivotal

role is to deliver fully capable and integrated

air and space power to the Joint Force

Commander (JFC). By dominating the media

of elevation, the Air Force offers unique

warfighting capabilities that leverage the

strengths of surface forces and expand the

range of potential effects.

Air and space are realms with unlimited

horizons for discovery and development.

While the Air Force has made tremendous

strides in realizing the visions of early

airmen and exploiting the operational

potential in each medium, we know there is

an array of capabilities as yet undiscovered.

As the Air Force strives to realize these

possibilities, we deliver a multitude of air and

space achievements for joint warfighting.

Although relatively short, Air Force history

reveals fundamental competencies that are

core to developing and delivering air and

space power—those unique institutional

qualities that set the Air Force apart from the

other services and any other military force

in the world. By identifying and keeping

these competencies foremost in our vision,

we are able to more effectively advance the

unique capabilities, as well as the ultimate

effects, the Air Force provides to the joint

force and the Nation.

The Air Force continually develops areas

of expertise that make us the preeminent

air and space force in the world. Previously,

we distilled these into six distinctive

capabilities which we referred to as

our “core competencies”—Air and Space

Superiority, Global Attack, Rapid Global

Mobility, Precision Engagement, Information

Superiority, and Agile Combat Support.

However, just as our concepts of operations

and capabilities continuously evolve, so

also does the way in which we articulate Air

Force competencies. With deeper refinement,

we learned there are more fundamental

elements to what we are as an Air Force

and how we develop our capabilities for

joint warfighting. These are our underlying

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institutional air and space core competencies—

those that, in fact, make the six distinctive

capabilities possible: Developing Airmen,

Technology-to-Warfighting, and Integrating

Operations. These three air and space core

competencies form the basis through which

we organize, train, and equip and from

which we derive our strengths as a service.

Developing Airmen

The heart of combat capability

The ultimate source of air and space combat

capability resides in the men and women

of the Air Force. The potential of technology,

organization, and strategy are diminished

without professional airmen to leverage their

value. Our Total Force of Active, Guard,

Reserve, and Civilian personnel are our

largest investment and most critical asset.

They are airmen: steeped in our expeditionary

Service ethos. Therefore, from the moment

they step into the Air Force through to

their last day in service, we are dedicated to

ensuring they receive the precise education,

training, and professional development

necessary to provide a quality edge second

to none. The full spectrum capabilities of

our Air Force stem from the collective abilities

of our personnel; and the abilities of our

people stem from career-long development

of professional airmen.

Technology-to-Warfighting

The tools of combat capability

The vision of airmen in employing air and

space power fundamentally altered how we

address conflict. As the leader in military

application of air and space technology,

the Air Force is committed to innovation

and possesses a vision to guide research,

development, and fielding of unsurpassed

capabilities. Just as the advent of aircraft

revolutionized joint warfighting, recent

advances in low observable technologies,

space-based systems, manipulation of

information, precision, and small, smart

weapons offer no less dramatic advantages

for combatant commanders. The Air Force

nurtures and promotes its ability to translate

vision into operational capability in order
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to produce desired effects. Our innovative

operational concepts illuminate the

capabilities we need, allowing us to develop

unsurpassed capabilities to prevail in conflict

and avert technological surprise.

The F/A–22 is demonstrative of this ability to

adapt technology to warfighting capabilities.

Originally envisioned as an air superiority

fighter, it has been transformed into a multirole system. The F/A–22 not only brings

to bear warfighting capabilities without

equal for decades to come, but also includes

those we did not foresee at its inception.

Collectively, the platform’s supercruise,

stealth, maneuverability, and novel avionics

will deliver the ability to create crucial

battlefield effects to the hands of the

warfighter, and allow access to revolutionary

concepts of operations.

Integrating Operations

Maximizing combat capabilities

Effectively integrating the diverse capabilities

found in all four services remains pivotal to

successful joint warfighting. The Air Force

contributes to this enduring objective as

each element of air and space power brings

unique and essential capabilities to the

joint force. Our inherent ability to envision,

experiment, and ultimately execute the union

of a myriad of platforms and people into

a greater, synergistic whole is the key to

maximizing these capabilities. In so doing,

we are able to focus acquisition and force

planning on systems that enable specific,

effects-based capabilities, rather than on

individual platforms.

Embedded in our exploration of innovative

operational concepts is the efficient integration

of all military systems—air, land, maritime,

space, and information—to ensure maximum

flexibility in the joint delivery of desired

During Bosnia operations, we quickly fitted the Predator with sensors, coupling existing technology with a relatively new platform.

Subsequently in Afghanistan, we expanded Predator capabilities by adding air-to-ground ordnance and linking it to other systems

such as the AC–130 gunship. Within three months and within budget, the Predator engaged in combat.

Inside the Integrated Battlespace Arena, Michelson Laboratory,

China Lake CA, warfighters keep a close eye on screens showing

a real-time picture of theater air assets and a live feed from a

Predator surveillance aircraft during Millennium Challenge 2002.
effects across the spectrum of conflict, from

war to operations short of war. However,

effective integration involves more than

smart technology investment—it also requires

investigation of efficient joint and service

organization and innovative operational

thinking. Thus, investments in our people

to foster intellectual flexibility and critical

analysis are equally as important as our

technology investments.

Collectively, our air and space core

competencies reflect the visions of the

earliest airmen and serve to realize the

potential of air and space forces. We foster

ingenuity and adventure in the development

of the world’s most professional airmen.

We seek to translate new technologies

into practical systems while we encourage

intellectual innovation at every level of war.

And, we drive relentlessly toward integration

in order to realize the potential and

maturation of air and space capabilities.

Our proficiency in the three institutional air

and space core competencies underpins our

ability to deliver the Air Force’s six distinctive

capabilities in joint warfighting. In turn,

our capabilities enable desired effects across

the spectrum of joint operations through

our task forces drawn from our air and space

expeditionary forces. The results of this

relationship between core competencies,

distinctive capabilities, and operational

effects are manifest in the array of successful

missions the Air Force accomplished in the

past year and those we continue to execute.

Expeditionary Construct

Our core competencies reflect a legacy of

innovation and adaptation to accomplish

our mission. This point is underscored by

the fact that, in spite of over a 30% reduction

in manpower in the past twelve years,

we have faced an exponential increase in

worldwide taskings. Intensifying operations

tempo (OPSTEMPO) requires significant

changes in the way our force trains, organizes,

and deploys to support JFC requirements. We

are a truly expeditionary force—the nature of

our “business” is deployed operations.

The Air Force meets JFC requirements by

presenting forces and capabilities through

our Air and Space Expeditionary Force (AEF)

construct. This divides our combat forces

into ten equivalent AEFs, each possessing

air and space warfighting and associated

mobility and support capabilities. A

key element of our ability to deliver these

tailored and ready expeditionary forces is

our development of Task Force Concepts of

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Operations. Our TF CONOPS describe how

we fight and how we integrate with our

sister services and outside agencies. They

are the fundamental blueprints for how

we go to war. Combined with our AEF

construct—the principle tool we use to

present expeditionary wings, groups, and

squadrons—TF CONOPS will guide our

decisions in operational planning, enable us

to provide scaleable, quick-reacting, taskedorganized units from the ten standing

AEFs; and sustain our ability to ensure

trained and ready forces are available to

satisfy operational plans and contingency

requirements.

The AEF construct incorporates a 15-month

cycle during which two AEFs are designated

as lead for a 90-day “eligibility” period.

During this period, the two are either

deployed or on alert for daily, worldwide

expeditionary taskings, for which they

are tailored and presented to the JFC as

expeditionary squadrons, groups, and wings

(depending on the specific requirement).

Meanwhile, the remaining eight AEFs are

in various stages of reconstituting, training,

or preparatory spin-up. It is during this

preparatory time (approximately two

months) that we integrate the training-to-task

of AEF squadrons immediately prior to their

on-call window.

Yet, it is important to note that while our

combat forces cycle through deployment

vulnerability periods, they sustain wartime

readiness throughout the 15-month training

and preparation cycle—a critical driver of

our 90-day eligibility window. Our AEF

cycle thus precludes the need for “tiered”

readiness by allowing our combat forces

to remain current and capable for any

contingency or operational plan.

While ensuring necessary capabilities for

the JFC, AEF cycles allow us to provide our

airmen with a more stable and predictable

environment in which to train, re-fit, and

equip. In addition, AEF scheduling makes

it easier and more practicable for the Air

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Reserve Component (ARC) forces—Air

Force Reserve Command (AFRC) and Air

National Guard (ANG)—to bring their

essential contributions to bear by allowing

them to plan definitive absences from

their civilian employment. This is a critical

advantage of the AEF construct, as ARC

forces comprise nearly half of the forces

assigned to AEFs and contribute the majority

of forces for some mission areas.

Operations in 2002

Confident in our air and space capabilities,

and committed to meeting any mission

tasked, the Air Force completed an

unprecedented array of operations and

exercises in 2002. From the mountain

ranges in Afghanistan and the jungles of

the Philippines to the deserts of the Middle

East, and across every continent and body

of water, the Air Force joined with land and

naval forces to secure America’s national

objectives. With each mission, the joint force

grows more capable as it applies vision,

experimentation, and integration to every

undertaking. We do not act as individual

services, but in concert as joint warfighters,

as we prevail in the war on terrorism and in

all undertakings.

Assuring our nation’s citizens, the Air Force

conducts a range of alert postures involving

more than 200 military aircraft at over 20

airbases for Operation NOBLE EAGLE

(ONE). In conjunction with unprecedented

NATO airborne warning support and other

U.S. assets, we have provided continuous

combat air patrols over sensitive/high

risk areas, and random patrols over other

metropolitan areas and key infrastructure.

Last year, we flew over 25,000 ONE

fighter, tanker, airlift and airborne

warning sorties, made possible only

through the mobilization of over 30,000 A loadmaster on a C–17 guides equipment onto his plane at

Willow Grove Air Reserve Station.

Operation NOBLE EAGLE

Over 200 Air Force aircraft are involved daily securing America’s

skies—to date, we have flown over 25,000 fighter, tanker, airlift,

and AWACS sorties.
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reserve component airmen. In fact, the

ANG and AFRC have effected over 75% of

the total ONE missions. We will continue

this critical mission, as we execute our most

fundamental responsibility—homeland

defense.

Throughout Operation ENDURING

FREEDOM (OEF), the USAF has maintained

a continuous, steady-force presence in

Afghanistan and the rest of the area of

responsibility of more than 14,000 airmen.

Air Force assets provide crucial intelligence

and situation awareness, combat power

and support capabilities for the combatant

commander. A key reason for American

military success in the region is the

performance of Air Force special operations

airmen. Working in teams with other

special forces, ground units, and coalition

elements, airmen special operators

heroically bring to bear the full weight of air

and space capabilities—from the ground.

They introduce our adversaries to the full

lethality of our airmen, fully integrated on

the ground, in the air, and from space.

Fully engaged in all aspects of the war

on terrorism, from mobility to close air

support, our aircraft and crews flew more

than 40,000 OEF sorties in 2002— over 70

percent of all coalition sorties. Over 8,000

refueling missions marked the linchpin

capability for the joint fight—the tanker

force—while the magnificent achievements

of airlift assets rounded out overwhelming

mobility efforts. Simply put, Air Force

mobility forces made operations in a distant,

land-locked nation possible.

Beyond air operations, we operated and

maintained several constellations of earthorbiting satellites, and in 2002 we launched

18 missions with a 100 percent success

rate—including the first space launches

using Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles.

These activities bolstered America’s assured

access to space and ensured vigorous, global

intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance

(ISR), missile warning, precision navigation

and timing, communications, and weather

systems. In addition, manned, unmanned,

and space ISR assets not only delivered

unprecedented battlefield awareness, but

with the Predator unmanned aerial vehicle

(UAV), also introduced transformational

combat capabilities.

ONE and OEF levied particularly heavy

demands on our security forces. In CONUS

and forward locations, increased alert

postures warranted significant increases in

security personnel who constitute a critical

element of our force protection capabilities.

These demands have raised our force

protection posture worldwide and have

forced us to adjust to a new “steady state”

condition. Security forces bear the brunt

of the adjustment effort despite a resultant

baseline shortfall of approximately 8,000

personnel to meet the alert postures. In the

near term, we involuntarily extended for

a second year nearly 9,500 ARC security

forces. However, in order to relieve these

ARC forces, we concluded a two-year

agreement with the Army for short-term

support, and initiated several ongoing

efforts to combine technology, new processes,

and some manpower shifts to achieve a

long-term adjustment to this new era.

Operation ENDURING FREEDOM

Over 250 Air Force aircraft are committed daily for combat and

support mission for the Global War on Terrorism,—to date we

have flown over 40,000 sorties.
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As we adjust, we continue to deliver force

protection through the integrated application

of counter and antiterrorism operations,

and preparedness for chemical, biological,

radiological, nuclear, and explosive (CBRNE)

incidents. We employ a tailored selection

and application of multi-layered active and

passive, offensive and defensive measures.

Intelligence and counterintelligence programs

support this integrated effort and remain

critical to our success. In this regard, we

continued to develop and employ all-source

intelligence systems; cross-functional

intelligence analysis procedures; and an

operational planning process to implement

Force Protection operations that deter, detect,

deny, and destroy threats. Our goal is to see

first, understand first, and act first.

Though engaged in these security

enhancements and the global war on

terrorism, our combat operations were not

limited to OEF in 2002. Iraqi forces fired on

coalition aircraft over 400 times during 14,000

sorties supporting Operations NORTHERN

WATCH (ONW) and SOUTHERN WATCH

(OSW). The Air Force maintained a continuous,

regional presence of more than 9,000 airmen,

while air and space assets provided vital

intelligence, situation awareness, and

indications and warning to monitor Iraq’s

compliance with United Nations’ directives.

Whether on the ground or in the skies,

our airmen also conducted a host of other

missions above-and-beyond standing security

requirements around the globe. Even though

2002 Global Expeditionary Operations

• Afghanistan • Aruba • Australia • Bahrain • Belgium

• Bosnia and Herzegovina • British Indian Ocean Territory

• Bulgaria • Canada • Chile • Colombia • Croatia • Cuba

• Cyprus • Djibouti • Ecuador • Egypt • El Salvador • Estonia

• France • Germany • Greece • Guam • Haiti • Honduras

• Hong Kong • Hungary • Iceland • Indonesia • Israel • Italy

• Jamaica • Japan • Jordan • Kazakhstan • Kenya • Kuwait

• Kyrgyzstan • Lithuania • Macedonia • Malaysia • Mexico

• Micronesia • Morocco • Mozambique • Netherlands

• New Zealand • Nicaragua • Niger • Norway • Oman

• Pakistan • Paraguay • Peru • Philippines • Poland • Portugal

• Puerto Rico • Qatar • Romania • Saudi Arabia • Sierra Leone

• Singapore • South Africa • South Korea • Spain • Sweden

• Tajikistan • Thailand • Tunisia • Turkey • Turkmenistan

• Uganda • United Arab Emirates • United Kingdom

• Uruguay • Uzbekistan • Venezuela • Yemen • Zambia

• Zimbabwe
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“The Air Force really came through for us...I can’t thank them

enough...I don’t think people realize what our Air Force can

do for us. It’s not just going to war. It’s helping citizens in need

...in cases like this with search and rescue.”

Anna Maria Swann, wife of commercial fisherman Mike Swann,

rescued by the 920th Rescue Group from Patrick AFB, FL.

C–130s equipped with modular airborne

fire fighting systems flew nearly 200 sorties

while assisting U.S. Forest Service firefighting

efforts in numerous states. In addition,

when Hurricane Lili endangered Louisiana,

Air Force aeromedical and critical care

forces rolled in with C–9 aircraft to transport

and safeguard 40 patients from threatened

hospitals.

An F–16CJ “Wild Weasel”

from the 13th Fighter

Squadron, Misawa Air Base,

Japan, pulls away from the

refueling boom of a KC–135R

Stratotanker assigned to the

New Jersey Air National

Guard over western Turkey.

Both aircraft flew missions

in support of Operation

NORTHERN WATCH.

the war on terrorism is our national military

focus, airmen joined soldiers, sailors, and

marines in the Balkans, South America,

Europe, Asia, and around the world to

assure our friends and allies, while deterring

and dissuading our adversaries.

Worldwide humanitarian and non-combat

evacuation operations missions remain

other key tasks for Air Force personnel. In

2002, for example, airlift crews exceeded 2.4

million airdropped daily ration deliveries in

Afghanistan, evacuated allied personnel at

threatened locations around the world, and

flew typhoon relief missions to Guam, while

our explosive ordnance specialists removed

unexploded munitions in Africa. Yet, while

conducting unprecedented food, medical,

and civil engineering and evacuation relief

efforts in warring regions, we were also

on call to perform critical, quick-response

missions during natural or man-made crises

at home. Through explosive ordnance

disposal, fire fighting, law enforcement

support, and rapid medical response

expertise, we conducted daily operations in

support of local, state, and federal agencies.

During the wildfire season, ANG and AFRC
16

Training Transformation

Training is a unique American military

strength. As potential adversaries work to

overcome our technological superiority, it is

imperative we enhance this strength through

improved proficiency at the tactical level

and integration at the joint level. Training

is integral to our core competencies and

the critical enabler for military capabilities,

so we are engaged with the other services,

unified commands, and Office of the Secretary

of Defense in developing and implementing

a training transformation plan. Our objective

is to train as we will fight, and increase

the joint context of our exercises through

live, virtual, distributed, and constructive

environments. It is the realism of this

training that gives us the edge in combat.

This involves not only modernizing the

integration of space and information

operations on our ranges, but also planning

for their sustainment to meet future test and

training missions while implementing

environmentally sound use and management

to ensure long term availability. Additionally,

to expand range support for current and

emerging missions, we are embarking

on a new effort to identify and procure

environmental, airspace, and spectrum

resources at home and abroad. Balancing

competing economic and environmental

needs for these resources is a growing

challenge we face with our regulatory and

community partners. To support this effort,

DoD developed the Range and Readiness

Preservation Initiative. This legislation

recommends clarification to environmental

laws that, as currently written and interpreted,

can adversely affect resources available to

support training activities at ranges.

Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) Exercises,

Interoperability Training, and

Experimentation

We advanced joint and combined

interoperability skills with our sister services

and those of 104 nations throughout 111

JCS exercises and Joint Task Force (JTF)
17

experimentation, conducted in 40 foreign

countries. Exercises ranged from large field

training such as BRIGHT STAR, to command

post exercises like POSITIVE RESPONSE, to

smaller, but equally valuable, humanitarian

exercises, as in the school construction, well

drilling, and medical clinic visits of NEW

HORIZONS - JAMAICA. These activities

provided realistic training and enhanced the

effectiveness of all participating nations’ forces.

Task Force Enduring Look

Success in future operations hinges upon

our ability to learn from previous operations

and exercises. To ensure we learn from

ongoing operations and adapt accordingly, we

established Task Force Enduring Look (TFEL).

TFEL is responsible for Air Force-wide data

collection, exploitation, documentation, and

reporting for our efforts in ONE/OEF. The

objective for TFEL is clear—provide superior

support to the warfighter, and properly

recognize and apply lessons learned—during

rather than only at the conclusion of these

operations.

Through extensive investigation and

analysis, TFEL examines joint warfighting

effectiveness, determines implications, and

shapes future Air Force transformation of

expeditionary air and space power. The task

force documents lessons learned in a variety

of products that cover every conceivable

subject matter. As derivative campaigns

unfold, TFEL will broaden its assessments

in follow-on reports. Applying the lessons

in these reports and adapting from our past

experiences will help ensure we prevail in

future operations.

We are able to accomplish the full spectrum

of air and space missions and improve

our capabilities through lessons learned,

by focusing on the best way to organize,

train and equip. Creativity, ingenuity, and

innovation are the hallmarks of all that we

do, all of which begins with our people.

WHO WE ARE

“No arsenal and no weapon in the arsenals

of the world is so formidable as the will

and moral courage of free men and women.

It is a weapon our adversaries in today’s

world do not have. It is a weapon that

we as Americans do have.”

- President Ronald Reagan

20 January 1981

America is blessed with vast resources, and

chief among these is her people. In the same

way, the Air Force relies on the officers,

enlisted, civilians, and contractors that

comprise our Total Force—Active Duty,

Guard and Reserve—for cultural strength

and unbridled skill. Air Force strength

will never reside in systems alone, but

in the airmen operating them. Nor will

our capabilities improve solely through

technology, but instead through the adaptive

insight of our creative and selfless

professionals.

Therefore, we recruit and retain a remarkably

diverse group to ensure we reach the fullest

potential of air and space forces. Their

backgrounds reflect the cross-section of

Senior Airman Kaehler, 48th Security Forces Squadron, a dog

handler and her K–9, Harras, search packages at the post office

for bombs or other dangerous articles.

American culture—all races, religions,

economic and educational backgrounds,

skill and management levels, men and

women—and make this Air Force the

tremendous organization it is today. Just

as diverse individual citizens find unity

in the term “American,” our personnel

embrace an identity and fundamental

perspective as “Airmen.”

The underlying qualities found in all

airmen emanate from our core values

—integrity first, service before self, and

excellence in all that we do.

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20

Embedded in these core values are the

inherent characteristics of our confident,

capable airmen—courage, tenacity,

professionalism, vision, pride, and, when

faced with seemingly insurmountable

obstacles, heroism. Indeed, today’s airmen

carry on the traditions and visions of the

earliest generation of airmen while preparing

for the challenges of the future.

The diversity of our airmen energizes the

advancement of America’s air and space

power. Airmen embrace transformational

ideas and seek to apply them to every

aspect of the Air Force, from organizational

constructs to concepts of operations and

employment. They are able stewards of the

nation’s space programs, advancing ideas

and technologies for national security, as

well as for the environmental and economic

benefit of our Nation and the world. And

yet, ultimately our standout advantage is our

warrior airmen themselves, who demonstrate

skills and dedication in combat unsurpassed

by any in history. Whether maintaining safe

skies across the United Nations’ sanctioned

no-fly zone in Iraq, hunting down terrorists

in the jungles of the Philippines, or paying

the ultimate price while rescuing fellow

Americans in a battle on an Afghan ridge,

our airmen are proven combat veterans.

Their selflessness resonates the very best of

our Service.

Airmen are expeditionary—our natural

state of operations is not “home station,”

but rather, deployed. After two successful

cycles, our AEF construct has been validated

as an effective means of meeting our nation’s

expeditionary requirements. Yet we continue

to enhance the construct, by initiating

significant organizational change to ensure

nearly every airman belongs to one of the

ten AEFs. The effect has been a change to

our airmen’s mindset and culture, where

an individual’s AEF association cultivates

an expeditionary perspective and a clearer

appreciation for joint warfighting requirements

and capabilities.

Force Development

A New Leadership Development Paradigm

In the past, we addressed aspects of career

development, education, and assignments

individually, but not necessarily in

a coordinated, connected approach.

Recognizing this, and to prepare for the

future more ably, we introduced a systemic,

deliberate force development construct that

evolves professional airmen into joint force

warriors. This construct coordinates doctrine

and policies, concentrated to provide the

right level, timing, and focus of education,

training, and experience for all airmen,

while encompassing personal, team, and

institutional leadership skills across tactical,

operational, and strategic levels.

1st Lieutenant Philips and Technical Sergeant Moyer from the

961st Airborne Air Control Squadron, Kadena Air Base, Japan,

work with 1st Lieutenant Suwanrui, from Koh Samui Island,

Thailand, to monitor scopes aboard an E–3B Airborne Warning

and Control Systems aircraft in support of a mission for Exercise

COPE TIGER, Korat, Thailand.
21

In support of Operation NORTHERN WATCH, Senior Airman

Avila, Jr., an intelligence applications journeyman, labors over

his maps at the Combined Air Operations Center at Incirlik

Air Base, Turkey.

In the 21st Century, we need air and space

warriors with mastery of their primary

skills and others who possess competency

beyond their own specialty. However,

this diversity must be deliberate to ensure

the correct skills are paired according

to institutional requirements. Force

development encourages many to obtain

a deep perspective in their functional area,

but at the same time offers the broader

perspective we need to complement

our leadership team. We begin this

transformation with the Active Duty officer

corps and will eventually encompass the

civilian, enlisted, and Reserve component

to better meet the expanding challenges of

tomorrow.

Education and Technical Training

Emphasis on Joint Leadership/Warfare

As opportunities resident in advancing

technologies unfold, it is imperative that

the Air Force be able to draw upon a vibrant

collection of educated, technically skilled,

and technologically savvy airmen—both

Airmen from the 31st

Communications Squadron,

Aviano Air Base, Italy,

inspect the status of the

base communication system.
22

uniformed and civilian alike. We are

answering this fundamental need in Fiscal

Year 2003 (FY03) with aggressive and

innovative initiatives to enhance the abilities

and breadth of our force. Agile, flexible

training is an essential investment in human

capital, and our initiatives will ensure our

investment delivers the right training to the

right people at the right time.

In August 2002, we began our groundbreaking

Enlisted-to-Air Force Institute of Technology

(AFIT) Program. An initial cadre of senior

NCOs began receiving world-class, graduate

education to optimize them for greater

responsibilities and challenging follow-on

assignments. We will also provide a

major influx of officers into AFIT, Naval

Postgraduate School (NPS), and civilian

institutions. In addition, because more

than 42% of our civilian force will be

eligible for retirement in the next 5 years,

we are committing significant resources to

pay for advanced education as well as crossfunctional career broadening.

Future military missions and contingencies

will require greater sophistication and

understanding of the security environment,

and our expeditionary force requires airmen

with international insight, foreign language

proficiency, and cultural understanding.

We are working diligently to expand the

cadre of professionals with such skill sets

and experiences. Our education initiatives

will contribute to a major corporate culture

shift that fosters appropriate development

throughout our airmen’s careers to meet

evolving force requirements.

Diversity

Foremost among our efforts to enhance

the capabilities of our airmen is a passionate

drive for diversity. Diversity is a war

fighting issue; it is a readiness issue. We

must attract people from all segments of

American society and tap into the limitless

talents and advantages resident in our

diverse population if we hope to reach our

fullest potential as a fighting force. Nurturing

rich representation from all demographics

opens the door to creativity and ingenuity,

offering an unparalleled competitive edge

for air and space development. Today’s

multi-threat world also mandates that

we invigorate in our airmen the ability to

effectively think across cultural boundaries

and functional paradigms (or stovepipes).

We will thus recruit, train, and retain airmen

without intellectual boundaries, uniquely

capable of integrating people, weapons,

ideas, and systems to achieve air and space

dominance.

Recruiting

It takes tremendous effort to identify and

develop such airmen, yet the return for

the nation is immeasurable. Increased

advertising, an expanded recruiting force

with broader access to secondary school

students, and competitive compensation

prepare us to meet recruiting goals. Despite

the challenge of mustering such a diverse

and skilled collection of Americans, we

exceeded our FY02 enlisted recruiting goals

and expect to surpass FY03 objectives.

We will adapt our goals to meet new force

objectives; however, the capacity limitations of

Basic Military Training and Technical Training

School quotas will continue to challenge Total

Force recruiting efforts.

Officer recruitment presents similar

challenges, yet we continue to attract

America’s best and brightest. However,

we are particularly concerned with military

and civilian scientists and engineers. We

fell short of our accession goal for this group

and have begun all-out recruitment and

retention efforts for these critical specialties.

For example, in FY03 we plan to begin a

college sponsorship program to attract
23

scientists and engineers from universities

lacking ROTC programs. In addition,

we continue to find recruiting health care

professionals especially difficult, so we are

making adjustments to ensure improvement.

We will also closely monitor ARC recruitment.

Historically, the ANG and AFRC access

close to 25 percent of eligible, separating

Active Duty Air Force members (i.e.

no break in service). Continued high

OPSTEMPO may negatively impact our

efforts in attracting Air National Guardsmen,

as well as drawing separating Active Duty

airmen to the Air Force Reserve. As a

result, recruiting will have to “make up”

a substantial portion of accessions from

that market by developing alternatives.

Retention

The Air Force is a retention-based force. The

critical skill sets we develop in our airmen

are not easily replaced, so we expend every

effort to retain our people—the impetus for

our “re-recruiting” efforts. Overall retention

plans include robust compensation packages

that reward service, provide for a suitable

standard of living, ensure a high quality of

life, and retain the caliber of professionals

we need to decisively win America’s wars.

For FY02, it was difficult to calculate

accurate retention results due to Air Force

implementation of Stop Loss. Nonetheless,

we continue to reap the benefits of an

aggressive retention program, aided by

bonuses, targeted pay raises, and quality

of life improvements. Introducing the

Critical Skills Retention Bonus for select

officer specialties reinforces our commitment

to target specific skills suffering significant

retention challenges. However, many airmen

retained under Stop Loss will separate

throughout FY03—a fact of particular concern

for our rated force.

Bonuses and special pay programs continue

to be effective tools in retaining our members.

The ANG has placed particular emphasis on

aircraft maintenance fields, security forces,

and communication and intelligence

specialists, among others, by offering

enlistment and reenlistment bonuses,

Student Loan Repayment Program, and

the Montgomery GI Bill Kicker Program.

Another example is the flexible Aviation

Continuation Pay (ACP) program—an

important part of our multi-faceted plan to

retain pilots. In conjunction with our rated

recall program, our FY02 plan resulted in a

substantial increase in committed personnel.

We have a similarly designed ACP program in

FY03, and developed extensions to include

navigators and air battle managers.

Summary

Regardless of AEF deployment or home

station missions, our airmen accomplish

their duties with firm commitment and

resolute action. It’s what we do. It’s who

we are: a practical, technically sound,

ingenious force of uniformed and civilian

airmen derived from this richly diverse

nation to create the world’s premier air and

space power.

WHERE WE’RE GOING

The first hundred years of powered

flight witnessed tremendous and enduring

innovation. We commemorate this centennial

during 2003 with the theme, “Born of Dreams,

Inspired by Freedom,” which recognizes the

remarkable accomplishments of generations

of airmen. Today’s airmen are equally

impassioned to bring dreams to reality as we

pursue our vision of tomorrow’s Air Force,

“Unlimited Horizon.” Through this vision,

we build a bridge from today’s existing

capabilities to those required to win

tomorrow’s wars.

Ultimately our success will be measured by

our ability to provide our forces with assured

freedom to attack and freedom from attack.

Achieving such victory in tomorrow’s

battlespace will demand our full integration

with fellow services, allies, and coalition

partners—an essential part of the

expeditionary construct. Through our

security cooperation efforts, we build these

international defense relationships and allied

capabilities to ensure we have the access,

interoperability, and international support

for our worldwide commitments. Toward

this requirement, we are working with our

sister services to develop truly joint concepts

of operation that integrate the full spectrum

of land, sea, air, space, and information

warfighting capabilities. When America

places its men and women in uniform

into harm’s way, we owe them preeminent

resources, planning, and organization to

achieve victory over any adversary.

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Capabilities-Based CONOPS

While adapting to the new strategic

environment, our principal focus has been

transitioning from a platform-based garrison

force to a capabilities-based expeditionary

force. No longer platform-centric, we are

committed to making warfighting effects,

and the capabilities we need to achieve

them, the driving force behind our ongoing

transformation. From this point forward,

all of our operational, programming, and

budget decisions will be supported by a

predefined capability.

Our emerging TF CONOPS will help make

this essential shift by providing solutions to

a variety of problems warfighters can expect

to encounter in the future. Whether detailing

our plans for operating in an anti-access

environment or identifying how to deliver

humanitarian rations to refugees, TF

CONOPS lend focus on the essential elements

required to accomplish the mission. They

cover the complete spectrum of warfighting

capabilities (deep strike, information, urban,

and psychological operations, etc.) and

enable us to tailor forces (expeditionary

wings, groups, or squadrons) from

existing AEFs to meet JFC’s requirements.

Responsibility for CONOPS development

falls to the Major Commands, with a senior

officer on the HQ/USAF Air Staff assigned to

each CONOPS to serve as their “Champion,”

facilitating the process.

TF CONOPS directly support Secretary

Rumsfeld’s efforts to free scarce resources

trapped in bureaucracy and push them to

the warfighter. They will also be the focal

point for a capabilities-based Program

Objective Memorandum (POM). In support

of this effort, our Capabilities Review and

Risk Assessment analyzes and assesses

shortfalls, health, risks, and opportunities,

while prioritizing required future capabilities.

This helps CONOPS developers articulate

any disconnects between required capabilities

and developing programs, while providing

senior Air Force leadership an operational,

capabilities-based focus for acquisition

program decision-making. TF CONOPS

include:

26
Global Strike Task Force (GSTF) employs

joint power-projection capabilities to engage

anti-access and high-value targets, gain

access to denied battlespace, and maintain

battlespace access for all required joint/

coalition follow-on operations.

Global Response Task Force (GRTF) combines

intelligence and strike systems to attack

27

Global Strike Task Force—creates access conditions for follow-on Forces.

D+0 to D+1: Initial Shock

F/A–22s and B–2s kick down the door

 and build entry corridors

Information Operations, combined with

joint forces and special ops, target key nodes
28

fleeting or emergent, high-value or high-risk

targets by surgically applying air and space

power in a narrow window of opportunity,

anywhere on the globe, within hours.

Homeland Security Task Force (HLSTF)

leverages Air Force capabilities with joint

and interagency efforts to prevent, protect,

and respond to threats against our homeland—

whether within or beyond U.S. territories.

Space and Command, Control,

Communications, Computers, Intelligence,

Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (Space

and C4ISR) Task Force harnesses horizontal

integration of manned, unmanned, and space

systems to provide persistent situation

awareness and executable decision-quality

information to the JFC.

Global Mobility Task Force (GMTF)

provides regional combatant commanders

with the planning, C2, and operations

capabilities to enable rapid, timely, and

effective projection, employment, and

sustainment of US power in support of US

global interests—precision delivery for

operational effects.

Nuclear Response Task Force (NRTF)

provides the deterrent “umbrella” under

which conventional forces operate, and, if

deterrence fails, avails a rapid scalable

response.

Air and Space Expeditionary CONOPS is

the overarching context, which identifies

and sequences distinctive capabilities and

broad-based functions that air and space

power provide the JFC to generate desired

effects for national military objectives.

The Air Force is transforming around

these Task Force Concepts of Operations.

Space & C4ISR Task Force—horizontal integration of manned, unmanned, and space systems.
29

In addition to serving as a roadmap for

operators, the TF construct will form the

basis for resource allocation, future system

acquisitions, and POM submissions in

order to find capabilities-based solutions

to warfighter problems.

Science and Technology

Wellspring of Air and Space Capabilities

Reaching these warfighter solutions

rests in large measure with research and

development. Through robust investment

and deliberate focus in science and

technology (S&T), the Air Force invigorates

our core competency of technology-towarfighting. Combined with innovative

vision, S&T opens the direct route towards

transforming air and space capabilities.

Therefore we continue long-term, stable

investment in S&T to ensure we realize

future capabilities, as well as those that may

immediately affect existing systems.

We are improving our S&T planning and

collaboration with other services and agencies

to ensure we: 1) encourage an operational

pull that conveys to the S&T community

a clear vision of the capabilities we need for

the future; 2) address the full spectrum of

future needs in a balanced and well-thought

out manner; and 3) enhance our ability

to demonstrate and integrate promising

technologies. Some of these new

technologies—UAV systems, laser-based

communications, space-based radar, and

others—show clear promise for near-term,

joint warfighting applications. Others

present opportunities we can only begin

to imagine. We are exploring each of these

technologies, and our investment will deliver

the required capabilities of our CONOPS.

Executive Agent for Space

Embedded in all of our TF CONOPS, and

indeed within most military operations, is

an extensive reliance on systems resident in

space. The Air Force proudly fulfills the role

of Department of Defense Executive Agent

for Space with confidence and enthusiasm.

Our ability to execute this tremendous

responsibility stems from a natural outflow

of our core competencies and distinctive

capabilities. Accordingly, and in conjunction

with the other services and agencies, we are

shaping a new and comprehensive approach

to national security space management and

organization.

Our capstone objective is to realize the

enormous potential in the high ground

of space, and to employ the full spectrum

of space-based capabilities to enable joint

warfighting and to protect our national

security. The key to achieving this end is

wholesale integration: through air, land, space,

and sea; across legacy and future systems;
30

among existing and evolving concepts of

operations; and between organizations across

all sectors of government. We will continue to

deliver unity of vision, effort, and execution

to fulfill our mission of delivering the most

advanced space capabilities for America.

Drawing Effects from Space

Our horizon is truly unlimited, extending

beyond the atmospheric environs of airpower

to the reaches of outer space. Our proud Air

Force tradition of airpower is joined by an

equally proud and continually developing

tradition of space power.

In the early days of the space age, only those

at the strategic level received and exploited

the benefits of space capabilities. The

current state of affairs, however, is decidedly

different. The former distinctions between

classified and unclassified programs among

military, civil, and commercial applications

are growing increasingly blurred—in some

cases, they are virtually seamless. In short,

space capabilities now are woven deeply

into the fabric of modern society, and they

have altered forever the way we fight wars,

defend our homeland, and live our lives.

It is in this context and this understanding of

the widespread and increasing importance of

space systems that we strive to meet present

and future national security challenges by

providing dominant space capabilities

that will:

■ Exploit Space for Joint Warfighting:

Space capabilities are integral to modern

warfighting forces, providing critical

surveillance and reconnaissance

information, especially over areas of

high risk or denied access for airborne

platforms. They provide weather and

other earth-observation data, global

communications, precision navigation

and guidance to troops on the ground,

ships at sea, aircraft in flight, and

weapons enroute to targets. All of these

capabilities, and more, make possible the

tremendous success our joint warfighters

achieve during combat operations.

We will enhance these existing capabilities

and, where it makes sense, pursue

new ones such as the Transformational

Communications System (TCS), which

will strive to dramatically increase

bandwidth and access for warfighters;

and Space Based Radar, which

will complement the airborne Joint

Surveillance Target and Attack Radar

System (JSTARS) while migrating Ground

Moving Target Indicators (GMTI) into

space. We will also develop methods

and technologies to enhance our nation’s

ability to conduct rapid and accurate

global strike operations anywhere in

pursuit of US interests.

■ Pursue Assured Access to Space: We

cannot effectively exploit space for joint

warfighting if we do not have responsive,

reliable, and assured access to space. In

August 2002, the new Evolved Expendable

Launch Vehicle got off to a strong start

with the successful launch of Lockheed

Martin’s Atlas V booster. Boeing’s Delta

IV program added to the nation’s quiver

of modern launch vehicles with liftoff in

November. We will also pursue advanced

and highly versatile reusable launchers

and small expendables with extremely

short response times to achieve long-term

assured access, while taking the necessary

steps to maintain and improve our space

launch infrastructure.
31

■ Preserve our Freedom to Act in Space:

We must be able to act freely in space, or

risk losing those capabilities essential to

joint warfighting. We initiated efforts to

increase our space situation awareness,

beginning with the new Space Situation

Awareness Integration Office at Air Force

Space Command, and a similar program

at the Space and Missile Systems Center.

Future efforts are planned to develop

strategy, doctrine, and programs to

improve the protection of our own space

capabilities while denying the benefits of

joint space capabilities to our adversaries.

As it is with all Air Force capabilities, the

most important resource for national space

capabilities is neither technological nor

fiscal—it is human. Our Space Professional

Strategy fulfills a Space Commission

recommendation to develop space

professionals and nurture a cadre to lead

our national security space endeavors

at all levels in the decades ahead. These

space-expert airmen will be the core stewards

of space operations, and shoulder the

responsibility for aggressively advancing

joint warfighting capabilities into the high

ground frontier.
32

Horizontal Integration of Manned,

Unmanned, and Space Assets

The essence of transformation is found

in leveraging the nation’s technological

dominance to create maximum asymmetrical

advantage. Airmen seek unrestricted

boundaries when looking at war planning

from a theater-wide perspective, or talking

about national elements of power. Simply

stated, it is in the way we think—we must

take advantage of it.

Our foremost objective is to develop the

capability to conduct rapid and precise

operations to achieve desired effects and

shape the battlespace for the joint force.

This requires interfacing numerous DoD and

national assets—the seamless, horizontal

integration of manned, unmanned, and

space-based systems. An essential element

is designing systems that use digital-level,

machine-to-machine conversations to expedite

data flow and ensure the JFC receives

timely, decision-quality information. Such

integration will dramatically shorten the

find, fix, track, target, engage, and assess

(F2T2EA) cycle. In the end, we know that

neither JFC’s guiding operations, nor special

operators putting iron on targets, care what

source provides the data. It is an effect they

seek, and what we will provide.

Key to the warfighter’s success is Predictive

Battlespace Awareness (PBA). PBA requires

in-depth study of an adversary well before

hostilities begin. Ultimately we want

to be able to anticipate his actions to the

maximum extent possible. PBA-derived

insights allow us to utilize critical ISR assets

for confirmation rather than pure discovery

once hostilities begin. We are then able

to analyze information to assess current

conditions, exploit emerging opportunities,

anticipate future actions, and act with a

degree of speed and certainty unmatched

by our adversaries.
33

Along this path, we are transitioning

from collecting data through a myriad of

independent systems (Rivet Joint, AWACS,

JSTARS, space-based assets, etc) to a Multisensor Command and Control Constellation

(MC2C) capable of providing the JFC with

real-time, enhanced battlespace awareness.

Today, this transition is restricted by the

necessity to rely on Low Density/High

Demand (LD/HD) C4ISR assets. The

limitation inherent in LD/HD platforms

forces us to shift their exploitation capabilities

between theaters to cover emerging global

threats and events. This sub-optimizes

overall battlespace awareness and limits our

efforts at predictive analysis. In the interim,

responsive space-based ISR assets will help

mitigate our over-stressed LD/HD systems.

Yet ultimately, we need a synergistic

combination of military and commercial

assets, advanced data processing capabilities,

and assured reachback to achieve true

battlespace awareness.

In the future, a single wide-body platform

employing tunable antennas and sensors—

Multi-sensor Command and Control

Aircraft (MC2A)—will replace many of

the C4ISR functions of today’s specialized,

but independent assets. Air, ground,

and space assets will comprise the

MC2C, which will elevate Joint Forces

Air Component Commanders’ ability to

command and control air assets. Additionally,

every platform will be a sensor on the

integrated network. Regardless of mission

function (C2, ISR, shooters, tankers, etc),

any data collected by a sensor will be passed

to all network recipients. This requires

networking all air, space, ground, and seabased ISR systems, command and control

(C2) nodes, and strike platforms, to achieve

shared battlespace awareness and a synergy

to maximize our ability to achieve the JFC’s

desired effects.

Uniting joint and coalition information

presents the most difficult challenge in

providing one common operational picture

for key decision makers. We are working

closely with our sister services to eliminate

the seams between existing systems and

taking the necessary steps to ensure all

future acquisitions are planned and funded

to meet the interoperability requirements of

future joint CONOPS.

A critical element of successful information

merging is communications, as bandwidth

is finite and requires careful management.

Long-range or penetrating systems must

communicate beyond the horizon despite

adversaries’ attempts to exploit or interrupt

these links. To counter disruption, all systems

must be reliable, secure, and bandwidthefficient. The PBA construct facilitates this

objective by eliminating constrictive,

stove-piped communications systems while

emphasizing networked operations.

We will realize the vision of horizontal

integration in our TF CONOPS. GSTF, for

example, will deliver the right-sized mix

of assets with appropriate sensors capable

of penetrating into enemy airspace. Such

sensors may be low observable and/or

expendable, mounted on either ISR platforms

or imbedded into strike platforms. Sensors

may consist of special operations forces,

inserted before the commencement of

hostilities, who communicate with attack

platforms during combat via secure electronic

writing tablets, annotating targets and

threats on the imagery display with a stylus.

As technology progresses, and where it

makes sense, a significant portion of ISR

functionality will likely migrate to space,

affording 24/7 persistence and penetration.

Likewise, advanced defensive counterspace

capabilities will afford these systems

protection from enemy actions.
34

Combining manned, unmanned, and spacebased assets with dynamic C2 and PBA

transforms disparate collection and analysis

activities into a coherent process, allowing

the warfighter to make timely, confident,

and capable combat decisions. This is what

the Air Force brings to the joint fight. It is

what air and space warriors are all about.

We unlock the intellectual potential of

airmen who think across the dimensions of

mediums and systems capabilities, for the

joint warfighter.

Addressing the Recapitalization Challenges

Despite new CONOPS and visions for future

capabilities, we cannot rely on intellectual

flexibility to eradicate the challenge of old

systems and technologies. Though creativity

may temporarily reduce the negative impacts

of aging systems on our operational options,

ultimately there are impassable limits created

by air and space system hardware issues.

We have made tremendous strides in

modernizing and improving maintenance

plans for our aircraft; however, the tyranny

of age has introduced new problems for old

aircraft. Reality dictates that if we completely

enhance the avionics and add new engines

to 40-year-old tankers and bombers, they

Corrosion issues such as this KC–135 engine strut (left) highlight

the challenges experienced by the Air Force’s aging aircraft fleet.
35

are still 40-year-old aircraft, and subject to

fleet-threatening problems such as corrosion

and structural failure.

This is equally true for our fighter aircraft,

where once cutting-edge F–117s now average

over 15-years of age, and mainstay airdominance F–15Cs are averaging nearly

20-years of service. With double-digit

surface-to-air missile systems, nextgeneration aircraft, and advanced cruise

missile threats proliferating, merely

maintaining our aging fighter and attack

aircraft will be insufficient. In fact, the

dramatic advances offered in many of our

TF CONOPs cannot be realized without

the addition of the unique capabilities

incorporated in the F/A–22. Simply

stated, our legacy systems cannot ensure

air dominance in future engagements—the

fundamental element for joint force access Structural failure (as seen on this F–15) remind us of the

tremendous stress on our warfighting systems, many of which

have exceeded their planned service life.
36

and operations. We will thus continue

executive oversight of F/A–22 acquisition

in order to ensure program success. While

keeping our funding promises, we will

procure the only system in this decade

that puts munitions on targets, and which

is unequally capable of detecting and

intercepting aircraft and cruise missiles.

Although ultimately solving these

recapitalization challenges requires

acquisition of new systems, we will continue

to find innovative means to keep current

systems operationally effective in the near

term. We know that just as new problems

develop with old systems, so too do new

opportunities for employment, such as our

employment of B–1s and B–52s in a close

air support role during OEF. We will also

pursue new options for these long-range

strike assets in a standoff attack role for

future operations.

Unlike with the aforementioned air-breathing

assets, we cannot make service life extensions

or other modifications to our orbiting space

systems. Satellites must be replaced regularly

to account for hardware failures, upgrade

their capabilities, and avoid significant

coverage gaps. Additionally, we must

improve outmoded ground control stations,

enhance protective measures, continue to

address new space launch avenues, and

address bandwidth limitations in order

to continue leveraging space capabilities

for the joint warfighter. We are exploring

alternatives for assuring access to space, and

a key aspect of this effort will be invigorating

the space industrial base.

Finally, it is imperative that we address the

growing deficiencies in our infrastructure.

Any improvements we may secure for our air

and space systems will be limited without a

commensurate address of essential support

systems. Deteriorated roofs, waterlines,

electrical networks, and airfields are just some

of the infrastructure elements warranting

immediate attention. Our ability to generate

air and space capabilities preeminently rests

with the ingenuity of visionary ideas, yet

intellectual versatility must be supported by

viable systems and structures to realize our

Service potential.

Organizational Adaptations

Commensurate with our drive to enhance air

and space capabilities is our identification and

development of organizational structures

to aid these advances. In 2002, we initiated

numerous adaptations to more efficiently

and effectively exploit Air Force advantages

for the joint warfighter.

Warfighting Integration Deputate

Comprehensive integration of the Air Force’s

extensive C4ISR systems is paramount for

our future capabilities. This requires an

enterprise approach of total informationcycle activities including people, processes,

and technology. To achieve this, we created

a new Deputy Chief of Staff for Warfighting

Integration (AF/XI), which brings together

the operational experience and the technical

expertise of diverse elements (C4ISR, systems

integration, modeling and simulation, and

enterprise architecture specialties).

This new directorate will close the seams

in the F2T2EA kill chain by guiding the

integration of manned, unmanned, and

space C4ISR systems. AF/XI’s leadership,

policy, and resource prioritization will

capitalize on the technologies, concepts of

operations, and organizational changes

necessary to achieve horizontal integration

and interoperability.

Success has been immediate. AF/XI worked

with the Deputy Chief of Staff for Air and

Space Operations to champion increased Air

Operations Center weapon system funding

in the FY04 POM, which accelerated the
37

stabilization and standardization of the

weapon system. Subsequently, the base-lined

weapon system now has a modernization

plan, which is both viable and affordable.

AF/XI also led analysis that highlighted

imbalances among collection and exploitation

capabilities. As a result, we plan to accelerate

ground processing and exploitation capabilities

within the Future Years Defense Program

to close the gap. Major contributions in

management of the complex information

environment will continue, as AF/XI makes

better use of scarce resources, allowing the

Air Force to provide the joint warfighter the

capabilities to dominate the battlespace.

Chief Information Officer (AF/CIO)

Partnered with AF/XI, the AF/CIO

shares responsibility to spearhead the

transformation to an information-driven,

network-centric Air Force. These two

organizations orchestrate the integration

within our information enterprise, and

establish processes and standards to

accelerate funding and ensure priorities

match our integrated information vision.

The AF/CIO’s specific mission is to promote

the most effective and efficient application,

acquisition and management of information

technology resources under an enterprise

architecture. The goal is to provide the

roadmap for innovation and to function

as a blueprint for the overall leverage of

valuable information technology. Enterprise

architecture will use models and processes

to capture the complex interrelationships

between the Air Force’s systems and

platforms. A resultant example is basing

Information Technology (IT) investment

decisions on sound business cases, approved

Air Force standards, and, ultimately,

how a particular technology contributes to

specific capabilities. Additionally, we are

institutionalizing enterprise architecting as a

key construct in defining mission information

requirements and promoting interoperability.

Currently, the wide variety of IT standards

limits C2 processes and information and

decision support to our warfighters. The

AF/CIO – AF/XI team is tackling this and all

other integration challenges as they develop

an enterprise architecture that spans the entire

Air Force, while also staying in harmony with

other services’ efforts.

Blended Wing

We do nothing in today’s Air Force without

Guard, Reserve and Civilian personnel

working alongside Active Duty airmen.

A fundamental initiative of Air Force

transformation is formalizing this integration

under the Future Total Force (FTF). As

part of the FTF, we are pursuing innovative

organizational constructs and personnel

policies to meld the components into a single,

more homogenous force. FTF integration

will create efficiencies, cut costs, ensure

stability, retain invaluable human capital, and,

above all, increase our combat capabilities.

An E–8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System pilot

wears the unit patch for the new 116th Air Control Wing at

Robins AFB, GA. The blended wing comprises both Air National

Guard and Active Duty, and is the first step in the Future Total

Force mission.
38

A key effort is to “blend,” where sensible,

units from two or more components into a

single wing with a single commander. This

level of integration is unprecedented in any of

the services, where Active Duty, Guard, and

Reserve personnel share the same facilities

and equipment, and together, execute the

same mission. In essence, blending provides

two resource pools within a single wing—

one, a highly experienced, semi-permanent

Reserve component workforce, offering

stability and continuity; the other, a force

of primarily Active Duty personnel able to

rotate to other locations as needs dictate.

The first blended wing opportunity arose

with the consolidation of the B1–B fleet.

The move left behind an experienced but

underutilized pool of Guard personnel at

Robins AFB, GA. Meanwhile, the collocated

93rd Air Control Wing (ACW) (Active Duty

E–8 Joint STARS), suffered from high tempo

and low retention. Hence, Secretary Roche

directed that the two units merge, and on

1 October 2002, the blended wing concept

became a reality with the activation of the

116th ACW.

The 116th ACW tackled many pioneering

challenges: from legal questions

surrounding the command of combined

Active-Reserve component units, to

programmatic issues with funding the

program from two separate accounts, to

integrating different personnel systems

used by each component. Airmen from

both components are working through

these issues successfully, making the

116th an example for future FTF blending.

Yet, some additional Title 10 and Title

32 provisions still need to be changed

to make the FTF a reality. Meanwhile,

parallel efforts, such as placing Reserve

pilots and maintenance personnel directly

into Active Duty flying organizations

under the Fighter Associate Program, add
39

wing will now have one individual

responsible for the full range of deployment

and employment tasks—the Mission Support

Group Commander.

The restructuring will retain the Operations

Group, however group commanders will

become more active in the operational level

of war. Squadron commanders will be role

models for operators in the wings, ready to

lead the first exercise and combat missions.

Similarly, we will establish a maintenance

group responsible for base-level weapons

system maintenance and sortie production

rates. Like their operator counterparts,

maintenance squadron and group

commanders will be role models for all

wing maintainers. Meanwhile, medical

groups will retain their current organization,

although we are working changes to home

and deployed medical operations for future

implementation.

Flying and fixing our weapons systems, as

well as mission support, are essential skill

sets. Each requires the highest expertise,

proficiency and leadership. The new wing

organization allows commanders to fully

develop within specific functional areas to

plan and execute air and space power as

this leveraging of highly experienced

Reservists to promote a more stable,

experienced workforce.

As organizational constructs, blending

and associate programs lay an important

foundation for a capabilities-based,

expeditionary air and space force, which

are inherently flexible and ideal to meet

rotational AEF requirements. In a resourceconstrained environment, blending promotes

efficiencies and synergies by leveraging

each component’s comparative strengths,

freeing funds for modernization while

sustaining combat effectiveness, and

effecting warfighting capabilities greater

than the sum of its parts.

Combat Wing

The comprehensive evaluations in our

ongoing transformation include examining

our wing structure. Given all of the lessons

gleaned from expeditionary operations over

the past decades, we asked, “Could we derive

advantages in revised wing organization

for both force development and combat

capability?” The answer was “Yes,” and we

enacted changes to create the Combat Wing

Organization (CWO).

The central aspect of the CWO is the new

Mission Support Group. This will merge

former support and logistics readiness groups,

and contracting and aerial port squadrons,

as applicable. Within this group, we will

hone expeditionary skills from crisis action

planning, personnel readiness, and working

with the joint system for load planning and

deployment, to communications, contingency

bed down, and force protection. Currently,

all of these aspects exist in skill sets that

none of our officers have in total. But the new

expeditionary support discipline will address

this, and provide our officers the expertise

in all aspects of commanding expeditionary

operations. With this reorganization, each Navy and Air Force doctors perform surgery while deployed in

support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM.
40

part of expeditionary units, while also giving

maintenance and support personnel focused

career progression. This re-organization does

not fix something that is broken—it makes a

great structure exceptional.

Acquisition and Business Transformation

To achieve our vision of an agile, flexible,

responsive, and capabilities-based air and

space force, we must transform the daily

operations and enterprise processes that

provide combatant commanders with air

and space capabilities. An example of this

in action is the Air Force’s efforts to carry

out the responsibilities of DoD Space

Milestone Decision Authority (MDA). The

Secretary of the Air Force delegated those

responsibilities to the Under Secretary

of the Air Force, under whose leadership

immediate benefit was realized. Adapting

an effective process already in use at the

National Reconnaissance Office (NRO),

the Under Secretary instituted a new

streamlined space acquisition program

review and milestone decision-making

process. This new process was used for

the first time in August 2002 in developing

a contract for the National Polar-orbiting

Operational Environmental Satellite System.

This effort creates an opportunity for the

Air Force to apply performance and cost

accountability to defense industrial firms

through their chief financial officers and

board of directors by linking executive

compensation to contract performance.

In addition to the major process changes

for DoD space, the Air Force’s Business

Transformation Task Force directs and

integrates further process improvement and

adaptation. Core business and operations

support processes—such as acquisition,

logistics, maintenance, training, medical

and dental, among others—are crucial,

as they ultimately determine our overall

enterprise effectiveness and directly sustain

combat capabilities. An additional category

of processes called “enablers” completes the

Air Force enterprise. Examples of “enablers”

include management of human resources,

finances, contracts, property plant and

equipment, and information. The enablers

are important as they facilitate our core

capabilities and determine the overall

efficiency of our enterprise.

The Air Force will enact business

transformation from an integrated enterprise

perspective, examining every process

and associated link. Accordingly, we will

employ industry best practices and identify

management metrics to improve process

efficiency without degrading our enterprise

effectiveness; expand our customer’s selfservice management capability and free

up needed resources for the operational

communities; and provide real-time,

accurate financial data for better decision

making. Already, acquisition reform has

effected notable improvements, including:

■ Streamlined our acquisition and

contracting regulations, replacing

lengthy prescriptive sets of rules with

brief documents that emphasize speed,

innovation, sensible risk management

and elimination of time-consuming

process steps that have little value. As

previously mentioned, our new National

Security Space acquisition process is an

example of progress in this area.

■ Created a Program Executive Office for

Services to bring new efficiency to the

growing area of services contracts. This

key area, which accounts for nearly half

of our procurement budget, had no prior

centralized coordination and oversight.

■ Developed and initiated System Metric

and Reporting Tool (SMART), putting

real-time program status information
41

SMART puts real-time program status

on everyone’s desktop. This web-based

application pulls data from dozens of

legacy reporting systems to give everyone

from program managers up to senior

leadership direct visibility into the

“health” of hundreds of acquisition and

modernization programs. When fully

deployed in FY03, it will automate the

tedious and laborious process of creating

Monthly Acquisition Reports and possibly

Defense Acquisition Executive Summary

reporting to OSD.

■ Empowered “High Powered Teams” of

requirements and acquisition professionals

to create spiral development plans to

deliver initial capability to warfighters

more quickly, and add capability

increments in future spirals.

■ Designed a Reformed Supply Support

Program to improve the spares acquisition

process by integrating the support

contractor into the government supply

system. Contractors now have the same

capability as government inventory

control points to manage parts, respond

to base level requisitions, track spares

levels, and monitor asset movement.

■ Continued, with OSD support, expansion

of the Reduction in Total Ownership

Cost (R-TOC) program, to identify critical

cost drivers, fund investments to address

them, and generate cost savings and cost

avoidance. We also created standard

processes and a business case analysis

model to use for initiatives within R-TOC.

In FY03, OSD allocated $24.9M no-offset

investments to R-TOC that will return

$53.2M through FY08. A planned $37.1M

investment across the FYDP will save

a projected $331M in operations and

maintenance through FY09.

These initiatives are only the beginning of a

comprehensive and aggressive approach to

reforming business practices. Our efforts

today will have a direct effect on efficient and

effective air and space capability acquisition,

both immediately and in the future.

Ensuring Readiness

Integrating systems and expanding business

practices will not only have dramatic effects

on air and space capabilities, but also reduce

readiness challenges. However, we still face

daunting, but surmountable, obstacles. We

must overcome a multitude of installations

and logistical issues to secure flexible

and timely execution of expeditionary

requirements for joint warfighting.

Reconstituting and reconfiguring our

expeditionary basing systems and wartime

stocks is a critical element of our force

projection planning. While we made

significant strides in funding, we require

additional investments in bare base systems,

vehicles, spares, munitions, and prepositioning assets. Our infrastructure
42

investment strategy focuses on three

simultaneous steps. First, we must dispose

of excess facilities. Second, we must fully

sustain our facilities and systems so they

remain combat effective throughout their

expected life. Third, we must establish a

steady investment program to restore and

modernize our facilities and systems, while

advancing our ability to protect our people

and resources from the growing threat of

terrorism at current, planned, and future

operating locations—at home or abroad.

We are making progress. Improved vehicle

fleet funding allowed us to replace some

aging vehicles with more reliable assets,

including alternative fuel versions to help

meet federal fuel reduction mandates.

Targeted efficiencies in spares management

and new fuels mobility support equipment

will improve supply readiness. In addition,

our spares campaign restructured Readiness

Spares Packages and repositioned assets

to contingency sites. Moreover, to increase

munitions readiness, we expanded our Afloat

Prepositioning Fleet capabilities, and continue

acquiring a broad mix of effects-based

munitions in line with the requirements of

all TF CONOPS.

Finally, our “Depot Maintenance Strategy and

Master Plan” calls for major transformation

in financial and infrastructure capitalization

to ensure Air Force hardware is safe and

ready to operate across the threat spectrum.

To support this plan, we increased funding

in FY04 for depot facilities and equipment

modernization. We also began a significant

push to require weapon systems managers

to establish their product support and

depot maintenance programs early in the

acquisition cycle, and to plan and program

the necessary investment dollars required

for capacity and capability. Additionally,

we are partnering with private industry

to adopt technologies to meet capability

requirements. The results from these efforts

will be enhanced, more agile warfighter

support through the critical enabler of

infrastructure.

F–16 and C–130 aircraft get a top-to-bottom look during depot maintenance.
43

Expanding AEF Personnel

The attacks of 9/11 significantly increased

workload and stress in a number of mission

areas for our expeditionary forces. Manning

for these operations is drawn from

our existing AEF packages. In order

to accommodate increased contingency

requirements, we are exploring options

to augment the existing AEF construct.

Recent and ongoing efforts to maximize the

identification of deployable forces and align

them with AEF cycle assisted in meeting

immediate critical war fighting requirements.

However, some career fields remain seriously

stressed by the war on terrorism. Accordingly,

our efforts focus on changing processes that

drive requirements not tuned to our AEF

rhythm. We developed formulas to measure,

and gathered quantitative data to evaluate,

the relative stress amongst career fields to

redirect resources to the most critical areas.

We also began a critical review of blue-suit

utilization, to ensure uniformed airmen

are used only where absolutely necessary,

and maximize the use of the civilian

and contract workforce for best service

contribution and military essentiality.

We are refocusing uniformed manpower

allocation on our distinctive capabilities

to reduce the stress on our active force.

Additionally, we are carefully considering

technologies to relieve the increased

workload. These efforts exist within our

longer-term work to reengineer, transform,

and streamline Air Force operations and

organizations, and have allowed us already

to realign some new recruits into our most

stressed career fields.

Summary

As the two mediums with the most

undeveloped potential, air and space

represent the largest growth areas for

national security and the greatest frontiers

for joint warfighting. As such, air and space

operations will play an ever-increasing role

in the security of America and her allies. The

Air Force will exploit technology, innovative

concepts of operations, organizational change,

and our ability to embrace creative ideas and

new ways of thinking. We will bring to bear

the full suite of air and space capabilities for

tomorrow’s joint force commander—drawing

from every resource, integrating closely with

all services, and overcoming any obstacle

to succeed.

NEXT HORIZON

The events of the last year have emphasized

the dynamics of a new international security

era. The decade of new states following

the Cold War has been followed by the rise

of non-state actors, many following a path

of aggression and destruction. Yet, just as

America adapted to new global dynamics

in the past, we will again confront emerging

challenges with confidence and faith in our

ability to meet the demands of assuring

freedom.

45

The Air Force remains dedicated to drawing

on its innovation, ingenuity, and resolve

to develop far-reaching capabilities. The

ability to deliver effects across the spectrum

of national security requirements is the

cornerstone of the vision and strategy of

Air Force planning and programming. In

conjunction, and increasingly in integration

with ground, naval, marine, and other national

agency systems, the Air Force will play a

central role in elevating joint operations. We

recognize the greatest potential for dominant

American military capabilities lies in the

integration of our air and space systems with

those of other services and agencies, and our

success in this objective will be evident in

every mission to deter, dissuade, or decisively

defeat any adversary.