Combat Air Force Airmen integrate into new plan

  • Published
  • By Justin Oakes
  • Air Combat Command Public Affairs
LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. (AFNS) --  Combat Air Force officials released the 2010 CAF Strategic Plan Sept. 15, a document that focuses on the development, planning and employment of integrated combat capabilities.

"The Combat Air Force is a group of eight major commands and the Airmen that work in those commands across our Air Force; this plan has everything to do with the power and vigilance that the Air Force brings to the fight," said Maj. Gen. H.D. Polumbo, Jr., Air Combat Command director of plans and programs.

It was a collaborative effort of these major commands that led to the 21-page CAF strategic plan entitled, "Securing the High Ground: Agile Combat Air Power" -- a plan that has been in the works since 2008.

"'Securing the high ground,' sounds like an easy day, right?" said Chief Master Sgt. Martin Klukas, ACC command chief. "I'll sum it up by saying it's about people, power and places. Our Air Force is doing a great job at preparing our warriors to operate across a wide range of joint and coalition military operations, but it's about developing their agility and ingenuity to keep that edge."

Standardization is just one of the many key focuses under the new strategy that Airmen can expect to see.

"This is a total force effort, so everyone's involved," General Polumbo said. "We'll be working together by standardizing the equipment and training across all major commands. It's a major undertaking, but again it comes back to our Airmen being able to do their jobs anywhere in the world."

General Polumbo emphasized that the global power and vigilance of the Air Force comes from the CAF, which incorporates a wide spectrum of military operations and capabilities including intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, command and control and space, but it really is about all of the professional Airmen across many different career fields.

"Because Airmen need to be able to fully integrate and operate with both our sister services and our coalition and allied partners, we are focusing on our education, training and evaluation efforts to make sure we can deliver agile combat air power in a time when we see conflict morphing into a type of hybrid warfare," Chief Klukas said.

Airmen play a vital role in the 2010 CAF Strategy Plan.

"Our priorities start with Airmen and the importance of taking care of their needs and their families," General Polumbo said.

"We recognize people as our key ingredient to executing our strategy," Chief Klukas said. "They are our greatest resource so it stands to reason that we also must take care of their families. We are working hard to improve our family support systems and to ensure the entire team has the tools to be successful in relationships both at home and work."
As highlighted in the new plan, top Air Force leaders view Agile Combat Air Power as the lynchpin of the 2010 strategy.

"We in the Air Force -- but more importantly we as the U.S. military -- have a responsibility to the American people to win our nation's wars," General Polumbo said. "Agile Combat Air Power relies on agile Airmen operating flexible multirole platforms that can go into combat operations and win decisively. This is our strategy for success in the CAF now and in the future."