The Secretary of the Air Force explained the Air Force priorities that drive the fiscal 2007 budget request to members of the Senate Appropriations Committee subcommittee on defense March 29.

Secretary Michael W. Wynne told the committee there are three crucial areas of concern for the Air Force -- winning the war on terrorism, personnel challenges, and maintaining, modernizing and recapitalizing aircraft and equipment.

He focused on methods used to rein in the rising personnel costs the Air Force faces in the upcoming years. One method, Total Force Integration, has exposed unnecessary redundancies that have and will be eliminated to capitalize on operational capabilities of the Guard and Reserve, he said.

"In addition to using our people more efficiently through Total Force Integration, we've instituted Air Force Smart Operations 21 -- smarter and leaner operations," Secretary Wynne said. "No process or organizational construct is immune to this Air Force-wide critical review."

The efficiencies of these methods and the lessons learned over the last 15 years permit an end-strength reduction of 40,000 full-time equivalents across the Future Years Defense Plan, he said.

"Using our manpower smarter is the key to retention and the key to force management," Secretary Wynne said.

"Air Force Smart Operations 21 will also help with the second challenge -- operations and maintenance increases."

Soaring fuel costs and the maintenance cost for the aging aircraft fleet affect the operability due to the declining military utility of these aircraft, he said.

"We can harvest savings from cutting requirements for redundancies and excess capacities in our aircraft and missile fleets," Secretary Wynne said.

Currently there are legislative restrictions that prohibit the retirement of nearly 15 percent of the aging aircraft fleet. Lifting these restrictions on retirements will ensure the Air Force technological edge for the future and eliminate exhaustive resources on aircraft that have declining military utility, he said.

"Our commitment is to increase the aggregate military utility across the total spectrum of operations for the Joint Force commander," Secretary Wynne said. "This means modernizing, capitalizing and recognizing efficiencies as we manage this total force."