Letter to Airmen recognizes Air Force transformation

  • Published
SAN ANTONIO (AFPN) --  In his latest "Letter to Airmen," Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley discusses measures that will shape and transform the Air Force. 

General Moseley said Airmen today are engaged in a vast array of missions from operating satellites in deep space to applying air power to the surface battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq, and launching an Air Mobility Command aircraft every 90 seconds, every day.

"We're working hard to put the right people, plans and programs in place to transform and re-shape the Air Force while continuing to lead the Department of Defense's transformation from an 'industrial' to an 'information' age force -- all while heavily engaged in a global, long war on terrorism," General Moseley wrote.

"Our initiatives focus directly on increasing our ability to operate in joint and coalition environments, while looking to achieve even higher levels of access, agility and lethality," he wrote.

The general expects Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st century to allow the Air Force to work smarter, not harder, and to cut contract and operating costs. These savings will free more resources for recapitalization and modernization.  

"We operate the oldest air and space inventories in the history of the U. S. Air Force. It's therefore absolutely imperative we modernize and replace these old aircraft and spacecraft to ensure our dominance across those warfighting domains," General Moseley wrote.

He expressed his gratitude that Airmen are the most "important piece of the equation," and said that many warfighting enhancements and initiatives directly improve the ways the Air Force trains and prepares for combat.

Airmen will fly, operate, maintain and support this modernized, more lethal air and space equipment with a more flattened personnel structure and with fewer people.

"To stay within our allocated budgets and to increase our investment accounts, the reality is we have to draw the force down," General Moseley wrote. "This current 12-percent drawdown is realistic and certainly doable.

"Even with the 12-percent reduction in manpower, we can get more of the total force in (air and space expeditionary force ) 'buckets.' We can get more combat-focused and trained. We can get more deployable and more expeditionary in every thing that we do! We owe that much to the country," he wrote.

This "Letter to Airmen," released Aug. 23, and other senior leader viewpoints can be found on the library section of Air Force Link.