Secretary visits Airmen in Southwest Asia

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Jeff Loftin
  • 379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFNS) --  The secretary of the Air Force met and spoke to 450 Airmen during an Oct. 11 visit to an air base in Southwest Asia. 

Secretary Michael B. Donley toured the base and the U.S. Air Forces Central Combined Air and Space Operations Center, and told Airmen that the Air Force is very involved in the war on terrorism.

"I've been in this job just under four months now," Secretary Donley said. "I've been itching to get downrange and visit with the Airmen in the theater that are on the front lines for freedom and democracy."

The secretary first addressed the perceptions about the Air Force's involvement in the war on terrorism.

"The United States Air Force is in this fight," he told Airmen packed into the Coalition Compound theater here.

The secretary said just getting people and resources to the area of responsibility requires a "tremendous air bridge." He also said the Air Force special operations support and the communications capability "enables the joint war fight."

Additionally, he highlighted the mission of the Combined Air and Space Operations Center. 

"(The) CAOC provides just unbelievable capability across the board in all dimensions of airpower in this theater," he said.

Secretary Donley also praised the Air Force's aerial evacuation of patients, calling it "second to none." He said the seamless transition of medical care "has produced the highest survival rates of any war we have ever had."

"In every respect, from deployments to operations in theater to redeployment, the United States Air Force is deeply committed to this conflict," the secretary said. "We are all with you in this effort."

In addition, Secretary Donley addressed the impact the negotiations between U.S. and Iraqi officials on troop strength may have on operations.

"I think this is good news," he said. "It represents the natural evolution of our mission in this theater in ways we hoped would develop.

"The U.S. and coalition forces have been here several years now," Secretary Donley said. "A big push by these forces is to build up the indigenous Iraqi capability so they are capable of defending their country with their own forces, to get the armed forces trained, to get an air force created and to get police forces out there. I think this is sort of a natural evolution of a conversation one would expect as the Iraqi government gets more mature and stable."

The secretary also talked about the future of the unmanned aircraft systems and the "tremendous capability" they have provided in the war on terrorism. 

"It hasn't been a part of our institutional Air Force," he said. "We're ready to take it and get it embedded into the institutional Air Force budget and make sure it gets paid for going forward."

Secretary Donley said acquiring a new tanker and combat search and rescue helicopter are priorities for Air Force recapitalization.

"We have recapitalization challenges in just about every mission area in the United States Air Force," he said. "Even with our existing modernization plans as they are, it is just taking too long to get things done. We've been getting good support from Congress ... but, we would need a significant infusion of funds to get done what I think we need to get done in the time period we would all be comfortable with."

Although acquiring new technology is a priority for the Air Force, the secretary said the service's most valuable resource is its people. He said the service is very focused on taking care of its Airmen and their families. The secretary said one quality-of-life issue he recently addressed was dormitory construction.

"I'd like to speed the introduction and construction of new dorms," he said. "We've had a program planned to do that. Sometimes major commands, for good operational reasons, had to dip into dormitory money. I've put a stop to that, so going forward in 2009 we will execute the dormitory plan as programmed and funded by Congress."

In addition to quality of life projects, Secretary Donley said manning will also improve. He referred to recent news the service would increase manning by 14,000 in fiscal 2010.

"In that band between 316,000 and 330,000 we are trying to do some reshaping to meet new missions that have come online," he said. "We're focused on (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance). We're focused on cyber. We're bringing back more manpower in maintenance and the nuclear area.

"As we go to 330,000 and make these adjustments, we are very cognizant of the need to keep the total force in balance," he said. "We're trying to make adjustments in the Guard and Reserve components about proportionately the same as we make active-duty changes."

Even with the service's current end strength, the secretary said the U.S. military has never been stronger than it is today. 

"You've given the United States the best and strongest military that it has ever had," he said. "Not only do we have a well-trained officer corps, but our enlisted corps is the envy of the world." 

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