There is no question people will be talking about this 50th anniversary celebration at Nellis for years to come. Most of you have heard about our long-range planning initiatives that led to this vision. The focus of the remainder of my remarks will cover where we go from here in our planning effort. While planning may sound like a rather dry topic, it is absolutely critical to everybody in this room. I also want to spend some time on the battlelab concept, our most recent effort to promote innovation.
All successful enterprises engage in strategic planning.
That is especially important in times of uncertainty and change. Frankly, an important and a distinctive part of our Air Force heritage has always been the ability to innovate. If you look back at our leaders as pioneers, from Billy Mitchell to Hap Arnold, to Curtis LeMay, to Bennie Schriever, and to Moody Suter, we've always been looking ahead and seeking new ways of employing air power. Over the course of the past several years however, we kind of lost the handle on long-range planning. Though regrettable, it was understandable.