Jumper reflects on challenges facing Air Force

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  • By Staff Sgt. C. Todd Lopez
  • Air Force Print News
WASHINGTON --  During his final media availability session here Aug. 29, the departing chief of staff of the Air Force discussed his vision of the future force, Base Realignment and Closure and the challenges he faced as the service's senior military leader.

Gen. John P. Jumper said he believes the F/A-22 Raptor is the future of the Air Force, and that it was his job as chief of staff to make decisions that affect the service's future.

"The decisions we make today will deliver the force that three or four successors of mine will have to live with," he said. "Look at the F/A-22 in particular. I don't really have to look further than the short term to see what is being delivered today out there around the world."

What is being delivered, the general said, are Soviet-designed, high-tech weapons systems such as surface-to-air missiles and aircraft designed to fight the Cold War. Those weapons systems are still in production today and are in the hands of America's enemies. It is that unchecked proliferation of weapons systems that could one day threaten America's air superiority, he said.

"Everybody says the United States can't be challenged, but we see airplanes and SAM that can challenge the best of what we have today," he said. "It has to be paid attention to."

The general said he believes the F/A-22 can face those threats, and he has made great strides during his tenure as chief of staff to secure funding for and to move forward with the Raptor program.

"The F/A-22, I think, we’ve been successful on, and I think we need to keep making a case that in the global environment we are going to face in the next 20 or 30 years, this is a capability that is needed," he said.

Also part of the future may be a change in the air mobility concept of operations, the general said. The numbers of aircraft like the C-5 Galaxy and C-17 Globemaster III may be lessened if replacements for the KC-135 Stratotanker are diverse enough to double up as cargo planes when needed.

"We might be able to adjust the number of C-17s and C-5s in the fleet if we have a tanker force able to absorb the surge in air mobility requirements," he said. "You might be able to do a very good job of that if you adjust this blend of smaller tankers and larger tankers in favor of the larger tanker. I think the analysis of alternatives will support that."

The analysis of alternatives for the KC-135 tanker replacement, soon to be released, come after much controversy on Capitol Hill involving both inappropriate contracting activities and misinterpretation of congressional authorizations. Those issues have been mostly resolved, and the Air Force is on its way to finding replacements for the aging KC-135 tanker fleet, the general said.

"In the tanker business, the person found guilty is now in jail and that is the standard," General Jumper said. "We need to get on with the tanker issue. Now that we have gone through the AOA, and it is about to be released, we will proceed with the appropriate next steps, in the full light of day."

Replacing aircraft like the KC-135 and bringing in new fighter aircraft like the F/A-22 and the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter are part of a recapitalization process for the Air Force's aircraft fleet. General Jumper said recapitalization is his top concern for the Air Force.

"The thing that worries me the most is the recapitalization of our force," he said. "We are now facing problems we have never seen before because of aging aircraft."

Aging aircraft problems include the center wing box on the C-130 Hercules, engine attachment strut problems with the KC-135, and structural fatigue on F-15 Eagles that result in flight restrictions.

"We are having to deal with these aging airplane issues with an increasing amount of the budget, and we need to get on with recapitalizing," General Jumper said.

The U.S. Air Force Academy has seen much controversy in the past few years. The academy first became embroiled in issues involving sexual harassment in early 2003. Through an internal investigation, the Air Force researched the problem and then developed a solution, called the Agenda for Change.

"The Agenda for Change we put in two years ago is taking root, but it is certainly an agenda that is going to take a while before we are able to feel the full effects of it," the general said.

The agenda is designed to ensure the academy is a safe, secure environment for cadets training to become leaders.

Most recently the academy faced challenges dealing with religious respect. General Jumper said these problems too are being addressed. The religious respect guidelines released Aug. 30 a result of investigations at the academy will affect the entire Air Force.

"As we put out guidance on religious respect, we walk a fine line about how you express yourself in a professional setting, and separating personal beliefs from your professional position as a role model, especially to your subordinates," the general said.

He also said the Air Force and the academy are not unique in having problems like those at the academy. He said those problems affect everyone.

"These are societal issues that become more poignant when you are in a public institution like the (academy)," he said. "In many cases, I feel like we are at the leading edge for some of these problems."

Recently the 2005 BRAC Commission voted to approve or disapprove each of the Department of Defense recommendations for realignment and closure. The committee voted to approve about 70 percent of the Air Force recommendations. General Jumper said he does not believe the committee's decisions hurt the service's force reshaping efforts.

"This is truly a reshaping BRAC," General Jumper said. "I don't think anybody expected we'd get 100 percent. I don't look it as a severe blow; I look at it as getting most of what we asked for. We got about 70 percent of what we asked for, and that is considerable."

The general also pointed out that the BRAC process is still not complete. The president and Congress must still approve recommendations by the BRAC Commission.

General Jumper has served as the Air Force's senior-most officer since early September 2001. He took the office just days before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that destroyed a large wedge of the Pentagon and the World Trade Center towers in New York City.

The general said, early on, he never intended to rise to the level of chief of staff of the Air Force. But looking back, he remembers all those who put him there.

"Nobody gets to where they are without the help of hundreds of people along the way," he said. "Every step of the way, every crew chief I had, every flight commander I had, every wingman I had along the way were all a big part of where I was able to get eventually. Just like for everybody else in the Air Force. We have the greatest enlisted force in the world, and they make things run and make the rest of us look good."

General T. Michael Moseley, currently the vice chief of staff of the Air Force, will assume the role of chief of staff of the Air Force during a Sept. 2 ceremony at Andrews Air Force Base, Md. General Jumper will retire Nov. 1 after 39 years of service to the Air Force.