News United States Air Force
 Corona returns to Maxwell AFBPublished March 7, 2018
                        
                        By Senior Airman Alexa Culbert
                        
                        
                        Air University Public Affairs
                **MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. (AFNS)  --**
                The Air Force’s top leaders convened at Maxwell AFB for the annual Corona South conference, Feb. 25 - 28, 2018 to discuss present and future issues regarding the Air Force.
“This year’s CORONA was extremely successful and historic as it coincides with Maxwell’s Centennial anniversary.” said Col. Melissa Stone, 42nd Air Base Wing vice commander. “We are proud to bring Corona back to Maxwell (AFB) and know that the success achieved here will pay great dividends for the entire Air Force in the coming years,” 
Attendees of the conference included Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson, Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. David Goldfein, Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson.
Throughout the week, leaders engaged in high-level discussions about the Air Force and national strategy, joint leader and force development, and education and training. 
Key attendees met with Air University’s Board of Visitors to discuss the overall direction of the university’s education and training programs and how they support Air Force strategy.
Leaders also took time to interact with local civic leaders by participating in a Montgomery Chamber of Commerce-hosted event at the Alabama Supreme Court. Leaders received a warm Southern welcome, and were able to provide local leaders a broad perspective on the Air Force mission.
For the first time in Corona history, attendees participated in a table-top exercise utilizing the unique capabilities of the LeMay Center’s Wargaming Institute to address global, strategic challenges. 
“For a full day, critical issues were dissected and explored using state-of-the-art technology combined with the organization’s internally developed visualization software which pioneered a new 3D capability for this event,” said Col. Joseph Michalek, LeMay Center Wargaming Institute director. “This was the third consecutive CORONA conference that involved the Wagaming Institute in some capacity.” 
“General Goldfein, the chief of staff of the Air Force, offered tall praise for what proved to be a highly successful Corona table-top exercise,” said Michalek. “With such high accolades, the Wargaming Institute's growth in operations is likely to continue.”
Corona conferences are held three times a year and are often the only time that all of the Air Force’s leaders meet in person and have open discussions concerning the Air Force and national defense.
The first recorded Corona meeting took place here in 1944. The Army Air Forces commander, Gen. Henry “Hap” Arnold, invited 40 generals to Maxwell AFB to discuss how the service was to move forward post World War II.
In 2006, former Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Mosley decided to bring Corona back to Maxwell AFB. The theme of the conference that year was, “Heritage to Horizons,” and Mosley said he wanted to continue the heritage theme by bringing Corona back to its roots.
Twelve years later, Corona has returned to its birth place once again.SecAF 



Secretary of the Air Force 



Air Force 



CSAF 



Air University 



training 



education 



AETC 



AF 



Air Education and Training Command 



force development 



strategy 



Air Force Base 



AU 



Heather Wilson 



42nd ABW 



Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson 



42nd Air Base Wing 



CORONA South conference 



chief of staff o fhte Air Force 



Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. David Goldfein 



Maxwell AFB