James discusses priorities with Stuttgart-area Airmen

  • Published
  • By U.S. Africa Command Office of Public Affairs
STUTTGART, Germany (AFNS) --  Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James met with senior leaders and Airmen during a visit to U.S. Africa Command Nov. 18.

The visit to AFRICOM was the culmination of a weeklong trip where James made stops in Morocco, Egypt and Djibouti, among other locations.

Throughout the day, James met with AFRICOM senior leaders and was briefed on a variety of missions and programs. But it was a luncheon with about 30 Airmen from across the Stuttgart community that gave James the kind of opportunity she enjoys most about her job: a chance to be engaged with the men and women with whom she proudly serves.

“It’s an honor to be here today so I can thank you for all you do in support of our military, because what you’re doing is making a difference,” James said.

Following the luncheon, James met with about 150 Airmen from AFRICOM, U.S. European Command, and Special Operations Commands Europe and Africa during an Airmen’s Call where she addressed questions from the attendees and talked Air Force priorities.

James took time to bring the Airmen up-to-date on the accomplishments and insights she gleaned during a fruitful trip that included visits with senior leaders in Morocco, a first-ever stop at Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa in Djibouti, and completion of the delivery of F-16 Fighting Falcons and an AH-64 Apache gunship to Egypt.

She based the rest of her discussion around her top three priorities: taking care of people, getting the right balance for what we need today and for tomorrow, and making every budget dollar count.

“It’s challenging when you don’t know what your budget is going to be,” James said, “but we are now fairly certain that we will soon have a two-year budget agreement … and this means stability.”

James also praised Airmen for keeping the Air Force strong despite it being the smallest it has ever been.

“We’re the smallest Air Force we’ve been since the 1990s, and the average age of our aircraft is 28 years, and still, we remain a global power,” she said.