Air Force leaders give update on service-wide changes addressing new threats

[RYAN ROBERTSON] IT WAS JUST SIX MONTHS AGO, ON A VERY SIMILAR STAGE IN AURORA, COLORADO, WHEN THE SECRETARY OF THE AIR FORCE AND THE AIR FORCE CHIEF OF STAFF, ANNOUNCED A SERIES OF SERVICE-WIDE CHANGES IN THE FACE OF EVOLVING THREATS AND THE CHANGING NATURE OF WARFARE.

A LITTLE MORE THAN HALF A YEAR LATER, FRANK KENDALL AND GENERAL DAVID ALLVIN MET WITH THE TROOPS AGAIN, THIS TIME TO DELIVER A PROGRESS REPORT ON HOW THOSE CHANGES ARE COMING ALONG.

[FRANK KENDALL] “China. China, China, I didn’t want to disappoint you.” “(Crowd Laughs)”

[RYAN ROBERTSON] NO ONE CAN EVER ACCUSE FRANK KENDALL OF NOT PLAYING THE HITS. AND EVEN THOUGH THE 26th SECRETARY OF THE AIR FORCE KICKED OFF THIS YEAR’S AIR, SPACE, AND CYBER CONFERENCE WITH A MOMENT OF LEVITY, HE REMAINED AS ON-MESSAGE AS EVER DURING HIS KEYNOTE ADDRESS TO SCORES OF AIRMEN AND GUARDIANS.

[FRANK KENDALL] “The threat from China is increasing. I have instructed our briefers to stop referring to the Chinese Communist Party and the People’s Liberation Army as a future or emerging or potential threat. I have been closely watching the evolution of its military for 15 years. China is not a future threat. China is a threat today”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

THAT THREAT, ALONG WITH RUSSIA’S CONTINUED AGGRESSION AGAINST UKRAINE, AS WELL AS PROLONGED UNREST IN THE MIDDLE EAST, HELPED SPUR A SERIES OF SERVICE-WIDE CHANGES FOR THE AIR AND SPACE FORCES THAT WERE ANNOUNCED IN EARLY 2024.

[FRANK KENDALL]

“The short version of our progress of the on the 24 decisions that we announced is that all the actions required are well underway. A few are slightly behind their original schedule, but overall progress is excellent, and nothing is far enough off track to cause major concern.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

DESPITE THAT OPTIMISTIC OUTLOOK, CONCERNS DO REMAIN. NOTABLY WITH CONGRESS.

BETWEEN BUREAUCRATIC GRIDLOCK AND AN EVER-INCREASING EMPHASIS ON COST-SAVING PRACTICES, KENDALL SAYS HE REMAINS COMMITTED TO MOVING THE BALL FORWARD THROUGH COMMUNICATION.

[FRANK KENDALL]

“My overall guidance is that we need to move at the speed of leadership, not the speed of bureaucracy. What that means in practice is that any concerns or issues are elevated quickly to the senior leaders so they can be resolved. To be blunt, we don’t have the time for petty parochial interest or arguments about turf.”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

FOR THE AIR FORCE’S TOP BOSS IN UNIFORM, GENERAL DAVID ALLVIN, THAT TIME IS AS MUCH A RESOURCE AS FUNDING AND MANPOWER,

SPEAKING AFTER SECRETARY KENDALL, THE AIR FORCE CHIEF OF STAFF, SAID MUCH HAS BEEN DONE IN THE LAST SIX MONTHS, BUT THERE IS STILL DISTANCE YET TO BE COVERED.

[GENERAL DAVID ALLVIN]

“This is not academic. We just finalized the command selection list. So in summer of 2025 you will have 60 of your wings, or 40% of the United States Air Force, which will be under this construct. And we will continue to move down that ramp, because we’re moving forward on that. This is not an intellectual exercise. We’re moving out”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

ALSO AMONG THE GENERAL’S POINTS OF EMPHASIS, IS THE PROVISIONAL STANDUP OF THE ‘INTEGRATED CAPABILITIES COMMAND’ WHICH WILL OVERSEE THE LARGEST RESTRUCTURING OF THE AIR FORCE SINCE THE START OF THE COLD WAR NEARLY 80 YEARS AGO.

[GENERAL DAVID ALLVIN] “

Because this is something we absolutely have to get right, but we know we have to get right fast, and so putting those together to make sure the operators from all of the different functional areas are coming together, imagining the future, and number one for integrated capabilities command, we have to remain competitive into the future”

[RYAN ROBERTSON]

A FUTURE THAT ALLVIN SAYS HAS TO REFLECT AN AIR FORCE THAT’S RIGHT FOR ITS PLACE IN TIME AND HISTORY. AN AIR FORCE THAT HAS CHANGED BECAUSE THE THREATS HAVE CHANGED.

[GENERAL DAVID ALLVIN]

“There will be challenges ahead. There will be dark skies ahead, there will be trouble ahead, and if we don’t plan for how we’re going to navigate through that, the storm will come upon us, and we won’t be prepared in this our time of consequence. It is up to us to have the courage, the boldness to take these actions, and I believe that these actions will result in what our airmen need, which is one Air Force, and what the joint force demands, which is one Air Force, what the nation demands, which is one Air Force to meet the challenge and ensure we can continue to fly, fight and win and deliver air power anytime.”