Skip to main content (Press Enter).
 News
    
        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      AF envisions smaller force to preserve readinessPublished Dec. 13, 2013
                    
                    By Amaani Lyle
                    
                    
                    American Forces Press Service
            **WASHINGTON (AFNS) --**

Discussing upcoming budgetary variables during a Pentagon news conference today, the Air Force's top civilian leader for the past six months addressed the inevitability of a smaller force.

Acting Air Force Secretary Eric Fanning, who is returning next week to his position as undersecretary of the Air Force following today's Senate confirmation of Deborah Lee James to assume the service's top civilian position, recounted traveling to more than 40 bases to meet with thousands of airmen during his six-month tenure.

"(Airmen) see better than any of us the impact that readiness is having, because they're not training, they're not flying, they're not able to maintain some things," Fanning said. "They worry about what their future is going to be in the Air Force."

Feedback from individual and group meetings with Airmen, Fanning said, showed that uniformed and civilian Air Force members believe that budget issues are keeping them from being able to contribute to the mission the way they want to.

"Even during the furlough," he said, "some civilians certainly complained about the impact it had on their pocketbook, but far more than that, civilians are telling me, 'I can't do what I need to do and want to do for the Air Force in 32 hours a week.'"

But, Fanning said, the national debt burden is a long-term national security issue, and Air Force officials are committed to being a part of the solution as the defense budget takes shape.

"I believe the American people have a right as we come out of two long wars to feel they can spend less, invest less in national security forces," he said.

He cited examples of spending reductions following historical conflicts such as World War II, Korea, Vietnam and the Cold War.

"We've usually not started (reducing spending) until the conflict is over, ... and we're still at war, ... and we've always had some type of ramp to ease into those cuts," he said.
However, he explained, sequestration spending cuts don't allow for such flexibility.

"It's not just the dollar cuts. ... It's the mechanics of sequestration, the immediacy of those cuts," Fanning said. "It's forcing us to make choices that we wouldn't make otherwise and it's forcing us to draw down in a more destructive way than necessary."

Disproportionate pressure also remains on investment and readiness, because resizing the force takes time even when it's possible, Fanning said. And congressional reticence to consider another round of base realignments and closures has proven costly and time-consuming in reducing the personnel force, creating an increasingly oversized infrastructure.

With only operations and maintenance and investment accounts remaining for quick assessment, a profound impact to readiness could ensue.

"The Air Force was already in a 20-year readiness decline, something we were just starting to address when sequestration hit," said Fanning, adding that the service's size and structure doesn't lend itself to a tiered readiness model.

"When the flag goes up," he said, "the Air Force is expected to get to the crisis rapidly -- speed is a key advantage of Air Force power."

The number of Air Force squadrons equals the combatant commanders' requirements, he said, but with little or no time to bring forces up to full readiness.

"If it takes months to generate combat air power, the president loses deterrence, diplomatic influence and contingency options on which the nation has come to depend," he said.

Fanning characterized budget compromises currently in debate on Capitol Hill as encouraging though lower than service officials would like. The additional funds over the next two years will help cover readiness shortfalls, stability and planning, he said.

"Even with this relief, we will need to resize the Air Force to one that is smaller than it is today in order to protect investments we need for the future and to shape an Air Force that we can keep ready (and) we can't do these cuts individually, ad hoc, in isolation," Fanning said. "If something's restored to the budget we present to the Hill, something else will need to go."

Still, Fanning pledged a continued commitment to helping Airmen get past the "distractions" of budget and political uncertainty.

"We will make the decisions that we can, as quickly as we can, as transparently as we can ... to get the Air Force back to that 'new normal,'" he said.
Related stories:Budget woes cause AF to refine funding priorities
CSAF outlines joint strike fighter’s valuestate of the air force Featured News
        Senior Leader Priorities
                SecAF Kendall visits Bangor ANG Base
                    
                    Vice President Harris congratulates USAFA Class of ‘24
                    
                    Senate confirms Melissa Dalton as next Under Secretary of the Air Force
                    
                    ‘One Team, One Fight’: SecAF visits Keesler AFB
                    
                    SecAF Kendall experiences VISTA of future flight test at Edwards AFBInnovation
                AFSFC reaches final phase of fielding Model Defender gear
                    
                    Around the Air Force: PCS Allowances, Air Task Forces, All-Volunteer Force
                    
                    AFIMSC focuses I-WEPTAC topics on GPC solutions
                    
                    Optimizing AI, Air University hosts Artificial Intelligence Symposium
                    
                    AFIMSC tools deliver data-driven solutions across DAFMAJCOM News
                AFMC to expand AcqDemo workforce
                    
                    AFMC empowers small businesses for Air Force reoptimization
                    
                    Acquisition Instructor Course Class 25A open for nominations
                    
                    Air Guard leaders host 2024 Wing Leader Conference
                    
                    Referral bonuses aim to help fill mission-critical vacancies
 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