The state of the force-2006

Remarks at the Air Force Association Symposium, Orlando, Fla., Feb 2 2006

This is really a awesome opportunity to be among friends and supporters of the great men and women of the Air Force who are absolutely dedicated to fighting the global war upon terror which is our number individual goal.

Your theme is Interdependence. [General Moseley] and I live that each day as we together lead our Air Force into an ever-better subsequent time The Air Force is still pushing the boundaries, as did Billy Mitchell and plane Chennault. We stand in awe of the Challenger ship's company from 20 years ago who made the ultimate sacrifice, pushing against the frontiers of technology. Then we gather up our courage to unravel supercruise for the F-22A and we dream of more.

This is our Air Force, and you should be assuming of where we have been and I daresay prouder of where we are going. I have feeling confident saying that because the leadership that was delivered to General Moseley and myself is a team novel into global reach and global power; a team that is experiencing the majesty of global surveillance and global vigilance; a team that is prepared for the challenge that our mission statement asks; delivers sovereign options upon behalf of the United States and its global interests, hover and fight in air and space and cyberspace.

This is that leadership team that has neared us the force that we have to work with--creative, innovative, adoptive and flexible.

The Air Force Association's unwavering support of our brave men and women is always appreciated. You understand better than any other by what mode important it is that our companys know that their nation supports them and that her citizens realize the sacrifices that they make each day to provide the repose of us peace of mind.

I thank you for making interdependency your theme this year. The idea of interdependency is causing us to think about the part that we have today and the character that we will play tomorrow.

I sometimes think that the Air Force plays its character so well that it becomes an assumption of the plan. While it is a antecedent for action, we perform the character again, so well, that tribe forget that they need to in fact resource it.

sum of two units examples are global reach and air dominance. They have been hard earned and they ne to be nurtur not assumed. Interdependency must be real. It cannot be just words we whisper to each other at staff meeting and around water cooler or here in the display area. Interdependency accurately captures by what mode small unit joint forces fight right now, right today. It has become a part of who we are.

It does, however ne discussion and translation with equal reason as not to detract from a single mission focus of a Trident submarine, or the vigilance of those running the Minuteman Missile, or the joint nature of a lengthy range strike bomber. As we describe the features of the Quadrennial Defense Review that will be released nearest week we must lay to quiescence any assumptions that the nation's upholders have been relieved of the charge laid down in the Preamble of the Constitution. We must still provide for the for the use of all defense.

You will find in the QDR that we remain responsible for the entirety of the representation of warfare and that individual spectrum of warfare has been highlighted and that is asymmetric, cross-border threat, with its hold global reach.

This immediate challenge that we face is by what mode to bring all of our forces to bear upon the problem to extract the best solution for the right application. I would ask this forum to consider the point in dispute from inside of the warfighter commander's brain. The put in motion to more jointness, to this filled interdependency, will be a seismic shift in the way we define our operations of the future

Interdependency is the transparent, horizontal integration of the Air Force among itself, within the other services, among coalition partners, and our allies. We must realize that these changes will push improvement in all of the missions by the agency of eliminating duplication, emphasizing persistent situation awareness across service boundaries. These changes will also pave the way for sharing information from strategic to tactical as the best means of achieving the desired outcome--a stronger defense for America.

Before I procure too far into the details, permit me step back for a instant and give you the framework as I diocese it for the whole interdependency discussion. We must recognize that everything, each requirement, every weapon system, and ultimately each dollar, everything we do in the time to come will be colored by the stark fact that today, right now, our Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Airmen are engaged in a gory fight with a deadly enemy.

This is an enemy that flies no flag, secure from dangers no borders, and has no standing army. They intend to fight for as lengthy as it takes for them to create victory or for us to let slip our will.

As the QDR heads above to Congress with the 2007 bag next week, it is important to understand by what mode the Air Force and the entire department are shifting across this entire appearance of defense which we are charged with.