# News

## U.S. Air Force LogoUnited States Air Force

# Kendall provides Logistics Officer Association keynote, underscores importance of logistics in executing ‘Seven Operational Imperatives’ 

              - Published  March 18, 2022
              -                             By Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs                                                     

**SALT LAKE CITY (AFNS) --  **

**Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall** provided a virtual keynote during the Logistics Officer Association Symposium, during which he emphasized the critical role of logistics March 16.During his remarks, Kendall stressed the importance of logistics both in general and as it pertains to his **seven operational imperatives** and achieving operational success.“Air Force logisticians are often the unsung heroes of our department,” Kendall said. “I recognize the incredible importance of what you do every day to ensure our war materiel and personnel get where they need to go, and that is no easy task.”Kendall noted while there are logistics implications for each of the seven operational imperatives, the imperatives titled “defining optimized resilient basing, sustainment and communications in a contested environment” and “readiness of the Department of the Air Force to transition to a wartime posture against a peer competitor” are particularly intertwined with core logistics and agile combat employment concerns.To underscore this point, Kendall defined the role that logistics, engineering and maintenance play into agile combat employment operations while operating out of various locations.“It's the idea that one doesn't just operate from an individual fixed base,” Kendall said. “The satellite bases dispersed from a hub and spoke concept provide numerous locations to make forces more difficult to target because of their disbursement.”He also explained the seventh imperative, readiness of the Department of the Air Force to transition to a wartime posture against a peer competitor, is closely related to logistics functions and capabilities.“The second logistics-intensive operational imperative is about assessing the comprehensive ability of our department to quickly and effectively transition to war, deploy and support air and space forces overseas to defeat aggression thousands of miles from the United States,” Kendall explained during his keynote.This imperative, he said, has implications for all facets of the logistics enterprise from transportation to supply chains and all the critical resources the department would depend on to support any kind of contingency.Kendall also conveyed gratitude for partner nations and recognized his imperatives are largely unachievable without the continued support of allies, many of which the department depends on for permanent forward basing.“It is an absolute imperative to work with our many allies around the world to implement and succeed in this imperative,” Kendall said.This year’s LOA Symposium boasted its highest attendance since 2002. The non-profit LOA has served as the premier professional development organization for Air Force logistics, aircraft maintenance, and munitions officers for the last 40 years.

FSUSAFAFAir ForceSecAFSecretary of the Air ForceFrank KendalllogisticsofficerAssociationseven operational imperativeslogistician