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      AFGSC kicks off fourth Global Strike ChallengePublished Nov. 5, 2014
                    
                    By Carla Pampe
                    
                    
                    Air Force Global Strike Command Public Affairs
            **BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. (AFNS) --**The fourth Air Force Global Strike Command Technology and Innovation Symposium kicked off Nov. 4, here.
The symposium is part of the culmination of the Global Strike Challenge, a competitive event where the top security forces, maintainers, and missile and bomber crews are recognized as the "best of the best" in their specialties. Competition events took place August through October at the team's home bases.
Crews from the command’s six wings, as well as competitors from the Air Force Reserve and Air Combat Command, arrived in the Bossier City area for the symposium, official score posting, and awards ceremony at Barksdale AFB.
Lt. Gen. Stephen Wilson, the commander of Air Force Global Strike Command, opened the symposium and stressed the importance of the strategic deterrence mission.
"We are a big piece of our nation's strategic deterrence -- that foundation, that bedrock from which our nation gets its security," he said. "We've assembled some of the best and brightest from around the country ... Ask (them) challenging questions, think about what they say and internalize it. Think about how we can make ourselves better."
Retired Gen. Jack Chain, a former commander in chief of Strategic Air Command, was the opening guest speaker for the day, and highlighted the importance of leading from the front.
Chain shared valuable lessons he learned over the course of his 35-year Air Force career with the symposium attendees.
"One is to always set yourself apart from the crowd," he said. "Know what your boss needs. Know what you know and what you don't know, and how to fill that void. Always have personal integrity, and learn to work with a diversified team.
"Most importantly, do what is right -- and you always know what's right," Chain said.
Former Eighth Air Force commander, retired Lt. Gen. Robert Elder, talked to the group about the Air Force's legacy of providing alternatives to force-on-force conflict for the commander in chief.
"We are a multi-dimensional Air Force," he said, "And we are known for innovation."
Elder highlighted the Air Force's contributions to joint military actions from its inception in 1947, including the Korean War, the Cold War, Vietnam, Operations Allied Force, Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, Odyssey Dawn and today.
"We protect the nation and its global interests by conducting global, regional and tactical operations in concert with national and partner instruments of power," he said.
The last speaker for the symposium session was Maj. Gen. Garrett Harencak, the Assistant Chief of Staff for Strategic Deterrence and Nuclear Integration, Headquarters U.S. Air Force.
Harencak's focus was on engagement and advocacy, telling the group, "The continuing relevance of what you do needs to be talked about, by all of you.
"For generations, the American people understood the value of what you do in the deterrence mission,” he said. “They don't now. That is my fault -- it's all of our faults -- because we don't talk about it."
The general spoke about the nuclear triad of bombers, intercontinental ballistic missiles, and sea-launched ballistic missiles, and the importance of each, saying that if you cut even one leg of the triad, the deterrence mission is weakened.
"The nuclear triad allows us to give the president of the United States options," he said. "We have to make people understand the value of what we do. You are doing incredibly cool things, so let's talk about it."
Global Strike Challenge concludes Nov. 5, with a traditional score posting and trophy presentations.nuclear deterrence 



joint 



training 



Global Strike Challenge 



symposium 



ICBM 



AFGSC Featured News
        Senior Leader Priorities
                SecAF, CSAF, CMSAF begin Indo-Pacific trip focused on ACE
                    
                    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 fightInnovation
                F-16s arrive to be modified for autonomous testing
                    
                    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 finalistsMAJCOM News
                Safety enterprise announces new mission, vision, goals in 2024 strategic plan
                    
                    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
 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