Skip to main content (Press Enter).
 News
    
        Newsroom

    Photos

    Week in Photos

    Air Force TV

    Commentaries

    Features

    Art

    About Us
    
        Air Force Senior Leaders
    
        SECAF

    CSAF

    CMSAF

    Biographies

    Fact Sheets

    SECAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library
    
        CSAF Leadership Library 2022

    CSAF Leadership Library 2021

    CSAF Reading List Pre-2020 Archive
    
        2018 CSAF Reading List

    2017 CSAF Reading List

    2016 CSAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library 2023

    CMSAF Leadership Library

    50 Years of the CMSAF

    Adjunct Professors

    Air Force Strategic Documents

    Arctic Strategy

    Empowered Airmen

    State Licensure Portability

    Careers

    AF Federal Advisory Committees

    AF 75th Anniversary

    Policy Updates

    AF Content Management

    Contact Us

    AF Sites
    
        Site RegistrationU.S. Air Force LogoAir Force

        Policy UpdatesNewsroomReoptimizationBIOGRAPHIESAF Senior Leaders      Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman delivers a keynote speech “Guardians in the Fight” during the Air and Space Forces Association 2023 Warfare Symposium in Aurora, Colo., March 7, 2023. (U.S. Air Force photo by Eric Dietrich)Chief of Space Operations Gen. B. Chance Saltzman delivers his keynote speech “Guardians in the Fight” during the Air and Space Forces Association 2023 Warfare Symposium in Aurora, Colo., March 7, 2023. Saltzman gave Guardians the goal of achieving space superiority while maintaining the safety, security, stability, and long-term sustainability of the space domain for the Joint Force. (U.S. Air Force photo by Eric Dietrich)
                
                Photo Details /
                        Download Hi-Res
        


        Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman delivers a keynote speech “Guardians in the Fight” during the Air and Space Forces Association 2023 Warfare Symposium in Aurora, Colo., March 7, 2023. (U.S. Air Force photo by Eric Dietrich)Chief of Space Operations Gen. B. Chance Saltzman delivers his keynote speech “Guardians in the Fight” during the Air and Space Forces Association 2023 Warfare Symposium in Aurora, Colo., March 7, 2023. Saltzman gave Guardians the goal of achieving space superiority while maintaining the safety, security, stability and long-term sustainability of the space domain for the Joint Force. (U.S. Air Force photo by Eric Dietrich)
                
                Photo Details /
                        Download Hi-Res

Saltzman outlines ‘theory of success’ guiding Space Force in fulfilling its essential missionsPublished March 7, 2023
                    
                    
                    Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs
            **AURORA, Colo. (AFNS) --**Offering familiar themes refined with his personal prescription for ensuring superiority in space, Chief of Space Operations **Gen. B. Chance Saltzman**, told an influential audience March 7 that an evolving but clear-eyed “theory of success” is required to guide the still young **Space Force** and position it properly to carry out its essential missions.
“A theory of success provides Guardians with  shared purpose, and common understanding of our overall strategy towards this objective,” Saltzman said during his keynote address at the Air and Space Forces Association 2023 Warfare Symposium.
But because space is complex and the Space Force is still young, Saltzman added an important caveat – this theory of success, which he dubbed “Competitive Endurance,” is only the starting point for a blueprint that will be constantly tested, refined, re-thought and adapted to conditions.
“This theory is a starting point for a debate I believe is critical – absolutely critical – to the success of our young service,” Saltzman said.
Saltzman, who became the service’s high-ranking military officer in **November**, has been methodically merging the Space Force’s current posture with some new and revised approaches he has embraced to ensure its continued growth and success in a complicated and increasingly crowded warfighting domain.
In January, for example, Saltzman published his assessment of the qualities, culture, and hardware necessary to make the Space Force successful. That effort is broadly defined in “**three lines of effort**” that were detailed in memos sent to all Space Force personnel.Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman delivers a keynote speech “Guardians in the Fight” during the Air and Space Forces Association 2023 Warfare Symposium in Aurora, Colo., March 7, 2023. (U.S. Air Force photo by Eric Dietrich)Chief of Space Operations Gen. B. Chance Saltzman delivers his keynote speech “Guardians in the Fight” during the Air and Space Forces Association 2023 Warfare Symposium in Aurora, Colo., March 7, 2023. Saltzman gave Guardians the goal of achieving space superiority while maintaining the safety, security, stability and long-term sustainability of the space domain for the Joint Force. (U.S. Air Force photo by Eric Dietrich)
            
            
            Photo Details /
                Download Hi-Res
    
    Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman delivers a keynote speech “Guardians in the Fight” during the Air and Space Forces Association 2023 Warfare Symposium in Aurora, Colo., March 7, 2023. (U.S. Air Force photo by Eric Dietrich)Chief of Space Operations Gen. B. Chance Saltzman delivers his keynote speech “Guardians in the Fight” during the Air and Space Forces Association 2023 Warfare Symposium in Aurora, Colo., March 7, 2023. Saltzman gave Guardians the goal of achieving space superiority while maintaining the safety, security, stability and long-term sustainability of the space domain for the Joint Force. (U.S. Air Force photo by Eric Dietrich)
            
            
            Photo Details /
                Download Hi-Res
    
    Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman delivers a keynote speech “Guardians in the Fight” during the Air and Space Forces Association 2023 Warfare Symposium in Aurora, Colo., March 7, 2023. (U.S. Air Force photo by Eric Dietrich)Chief of Space Operations Gen. B. Chance Saltzman delivers his keynote speech “Guardians in the Fight” during the Air and Space Forces Association 2023 Warfare Symposium in Aurora, Colo., March 7, 2023. Saltzman gave Guardians the goal of achieving space superiority while maintaining the safety, security, stability and long-term sustainability of the space domain for the Joint Force. (U.S. Air Force photo by Eric Dietrich)
            
            
            Photo Details /
                Download Hi-Res

The three “lines” are fielding combat ready forces; amplifying the Guardian spirit; and partnering to win.
Saltzman added detail and depth to those priorities in his speech.
“The United States established the Space Force to protect our nation’s interests in space,” he said. “Our formative purpose as Guardians is to contest and control the space domain. That is why we are a military service. Military service gives you the tools, the depth, and institutional experience necessary to specialize in domain control so that you may then exploit it.”
The challenge in space, Saltzman noted, is so different than what is present in other domains and demands a unique set of tactics, equipment, and practices. That is why Space Force must have “space-minded warriors who are the embodiment of space domain specialization.”
While Saltzman explained this reality in considerable length during his speech, the essence is this: In conflict taking place on land, sea and air, brute military might be often the determining factor. In space, however, open conflict would result in widespread – and uncontrollable – space debris that would damage or destroy U.S. capabilities in addition to those of adversaries.
“Consequently, unlike in other domains, our concept for domain control in space cannot rely on overwhelming destructive force,” Saltzman said.
“Instead, our goal is perpetual competition, locked in a battle for stability in the domain, neither driving our adversaries towards disrupting the space domain nor towards desperation. That is the essence of competition. That means orienting ourselves around the idea that there is no end-state, there is no victory in space because if you do this right, you never fight,” he said.
The ultimate goal, he said, “is [to] ensure the Joint Force’s ability to achieve space superiority when necessary while also maintaining the safety, security, stability, and long-term sustainability of the space domain.”
In real life, that concept means having “resilience” in space so that the essential functions can never be fully erased. He said that means using “passive attributes like disaggregation, distribution, diversification, protection, maneuverability and proliferation.”
“If you complicate targeting, you get resiliency, you raise the threshold for attack, which equates to deterrence,” he said.
Underpinning all of it, he said, are highly trained, highly motivated Guardians. The Space Force must “double down on education and training during times of relative peace. I want to minimize the lessons learned in blood by getting it right now,” he said.LR 



USAF 



AF 



Air Force 



USSF 



space force 



AFA 



2023 Air and Space Forces Association Warfare Symposium 



Chief of Space Operations 



Gen. B. Chance Saltzman 



theory of success 



competitive endurance Featured News
        Senior Leader Priorities
                DAF leaders talk budget, reoptimizing the force
                    
                    DAF leaders speak at National Character and Leadership Symposium
                    
                    DAF members recognized during BEYA STEM awards
                    
                    DAF senior enlisted advisors discuss Airmen, Guardians in the fight
                    
                    SecAF Kendall AFA Warfare Symposium Q&A: Reoptimizing for Great Power CompetitionInnovation
                AFWERX director discusses role of tech startups, quick innovation in Great Power Competition
                    
                    DAF delivers lethality at the speed of data during Project Convergence Capstone 4
                    
                    DAF welcomes industry partners to HQ development program
                    
                    DAF announces Spark Tank 2024 finalists
                    
                    Chief Digital, Artificial Intelligence Office to host hackathon in HawaiiMAJCOM News
                Air Combat Command welcomes new commander
                    
                    USAFE-AFAFRICA commander discusses Integrated Air, Missile Defense during Munich Security Conference
                    
                    Flosi to AFMC family: Embrace change, make every day count
                    
                    AMC rises to increasing global tension
                    
                    USAFE-AFAFRICA commander emphasizes five focus areas during AFA Warfare Symposium
 Quick Links
AccessibilityContact UsEqual OpportunityFOIA | Privacy | Section 508Information QualityInspector GeneralJAG Court-Martial DocketLink DisclaimerNo FEAR ActOpen GovernmentOSI Tip LinePlain LanguageQuestionsResilienceRSSSite MapVeterans Crisis LineCareers
Join the Air ForceAir Force BenefitsAir Force CareersAir Force ReserveAir National GuardCivilian ServiceConnect
            Get Social with Us
            
            Official United States Air Force Website
    Hosted by Defense Media Activity - WEB.mil