General T. Michael Moseley, 18th Chief of Staff, United States Air Force

Anniversaries are occasions for both celebration and reflection--pride and introspection. We delight in past accomplishments and feel humbled by the giants on whose shoulders we stand. We look to the future with hope, optimism and, indeed, some trepidation. For, it is the present that bridges our glorious heritage to our boundless horizon. And, what we do today will not merely build upon--and mirror--the legacy we have inherited, but also shape the world we will leave to those who’ll follow. Would we measure up to the gold standard of innovation, ingenuity and vision bequeathed to us by Airpower’s pioneers? Are we worthy heirs of the Greatest Generation’s legacy of honor, valor and devotion? Would we rise to the challenge of defending our very way of life in the current existential fight--akin in scope and duration to the titanic struggles of World War II and the Cold War? Our actions today will shape the world our children and grandchildren inherit. Our legacy--the contrails we leave behind--will define the future for our Air Force, our Nation, and the global community at large. As we cherish and celebrate the proud accomplishments of the past, we must remember that today’s actions and decisions are the anvil upon which tomorrow is forged.

My office in the Pentagon offers a majestic view of Arlington National Cemetery, the final resting place of thousands of fallen heroes who served this great Nation in peace, crisis and war. I also see the breathtaking Air Force Memorial, with its three spires climbing into the heavens above Arlington’s hallowed ground. Dedicated on 14 October 2006, it honors the Airmen who have given the last full measure of their devotion in defense of our country, its allies and interests. This vista is a daily reminder of the stakes involved in every decision I make. I’m privileged to lead the world’s greatest Air Force in the company of heroes--Airmen--past, present and future. This is the legacy--and the promise--to which I am ever faithful.

In terms of lineage, my earliest predecessor was Charles de Forest Chandler, appointed on 1 August 1907 to the newly-created position of Chief, Aeronautical Division, U.S. Army Signal Corps. Captain Chandler discharged his duties with the aplomb which has been the hallmark of Air Force company grade officers ever since. Having successfully negotiated a cut-rate price for the military’s only dirigible, Chandler set out to procure the first airplane. He poured the entire air acquisition budget into exactly one airplane--which Orville Wright crashed at Fort Myer. The iconic picture of Captain Chandler shows him seated in the copilot’s seat of a Wright B plane in 1912, straddling a fully loaded Lewis machine gun, with the muzzle pointed into a tube attached to the foot pad. His success in this hair-raising attempt to engage ground targets from the air marked one of aviation’s many “firsts”: with this single act, Chandler transformed the airplane from a mere novelty into a lethal weapon of war.

Vision, innovation, and daring have been a constant theme in our history. Chandler was Commanding Officer of the Aviation School at College Park, Maryland, where Henry "Hap" Arnold and many other aviation fledglings took their training. Arnold and his fellow pioneers saw the immense military potential inherent in flying machines. Arnold quickly established a world altitude record and, in October 1912, successfully demonstrated the merits of aerial reconnaissance by locating a cavalry troop. The next month, while participating in an artillery fire directing experiment, he performed the very first successful spin recovery. In 1934, then-Colonel Arnold led ten B-10 bombers on a flight from Washington, D.C., to Fairbanks, Alaska--a 7,360-mile (11,845-kilometer) roundtrip journey, accomplished with no losses. This feat proved the feasibility of sending an aerial force across a continent, flying over rivers, mountains, and deserts. Thereby, Arnold planted the seed which would eventually blossom into global reach and global power. Moreover, at a time Europe was girding up for another war, he demonstrated that, with the advent of Airpower, geography would no longer provide the sanctuary--or “splendid isolation”--it has offered for millennia.

Arnold developed the innovative concept that effective Airpower required a balance of airplanes, pilots, support personnel, and air bases. In line with this construct, the Air Service grew exponentially, reaching a World War II peak force of 2,372,292 personnel and nearly 80,000 aircraft. Arnold advocated cutting-edge research, as well as development and acquisition of systems that became the keystone of today’s Airpower: long-range bombers, jet propulsion, radar and communications, global airlift, and nuclear weapons. Rapidly failing health forced Arnold’s retirement in early 1946--before an independent Air Force was officially proclaimed. He left the fledgling Service in the able hands of Carl “Tooey” Spaatz, a Distinguished Service Cross winner who led the Strategic Air Forces Arnold established in both Europe and the Pacific.

Chandler’s, Arnold’s and Spaatz’s service as the Nation’s top Airmen fuelled the Air Force’s ascent from an enabling support-element to an independent Service with global responsibilities--America’s only Armed Service capable of providing global surveillance, global command and control, and the requisite range, precision, persistence, and payload to strike any target, anywhere, anytime, at the speed of sound or the speed of light. Their accomplishments embody the innovation, foresight and ingenuity that became the trademark of Airpower--especially when wedded to Airmen’s courage, perseverance, and readiness to break with conventional practices. The story of General Billy Mitchell illustrates all these qualities--as well as their price. No tribute to Airmen would be complete without it.

Mitchell learned to fly in 1916. Two years later, he commanded all American air combat units in France. In September 1918 he planned the first-ever coordinated air-ground offensive, leading some 1,500 British, French, and Italian aircraft in the Battle of Saint-Mihiel. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the Distinguished Service Medal, and several foreign decorations. But, Mitchell alienated his superiors and colleagues by openly disagreeing with the shared belief that World War I would be “the war to end all wars.”

In the midst of a national procurement holiday, he advocated the development of bombsights, ski-equipped aircraft, engine superchargers and aerial torpedoes. He encouraged pilots to challenge speed, endurance and altitude records. In 1921, Mitchell demonstrated yet another aspect of cross-domain dominance--and the vulnerability of battleships--by sinking the captured German Ostfriesland and the USS Alabama. Tired of his vocal advocacy of Airpower, Mitchell's superiors sent him to Asia. He came back with a report predicting war with Japan, starting with an attack on Pearl Harbor. In the euphoria of the “roaring twenties,” his warning was mostly ignored.

When the Navy dirigible Shenandoah crashed in a storm, killing 14 of the crew, Mitchell issued a statement accusing senior Army and Navy leaders of incompetence and "almost treasonable administration of the national defense." In 1925 he was court-martialed and found guilty of insubordination. Mitchell resigned and spent the next decade preaching Airpower to all who would listen. Few in the U.S. did. Mitchell died in 1936--never to see his concepts implemented in the devastating combination of cross-dimensional, ground-air-sea effects known as the Blitzkrieg. It wasn’t till after the World War that followed the “war to end all wars” was won--in the ruins of Stalingrad and Kursk; upon, over and under the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans; on the beaches of Normandy and Iwo Jima; and in the skies over Britain, Dresden, Schweinfurt, Ploesti, Tokyo, and, ultimately, Hiroshima and Nagasaki--that Mitchell was officially recognized for “his outstanding pioneer service and foresight" and awarded the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor.

Since the days of Kitty Hawk, Airpower has been seen through the lens of its awesome technology: beautiful flying machines streaking effortlessly across the sky; mighty rockets flawlessly lifting satellites into orbit; and persistent electronics sensing, signaling, connecting, transmitting, processing, and controlling integrated, cross-dimensional effects in air, space and cyberspace. Yet, it is people--Airmen--who transform hunks of metal, buckets of bolts, microprocessors, and circuitry into the Nation’s war-fighting edge. Taking care of Airmen--America’s sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, husbands and wives--means much more than just providing them with the training, equipment and quality of life they deserve. Taking care of Airmen calls for leadership they can trust with their lives. It also requires a concerted effort to uphold their pride, foster their Warrior Ethos, and safeguard their rightful position in the pantheon of the Nation’s defenders.

Think about this: the mission of the USAF is to fly and fight in air, space and cyberspace--to go after the enemy, to control the battle-space, to secure freedom of maneuver. How well have we done? The last time an American Soldier was killed by enemy aircraft was 1953. Desert Storm is commonly called the "100 hour war"--that's how long the ground campaign lasted--because a 38-day air war made it so. Operation Allied Force in the Balkans was won without a single American boot on the ground. Brutal dictatorships were toppled in Afghanistan and Iraq in record time, with most of the necessary killing done from the air. Airpower’s success isn’t measured in American casualties; rather, as George Patton so aptly put it, its objective is “to make the other bastard die for his country”--or cause, or belief system.

Today, our Nation stands, once again, at the intersection of history and destiny, with human lives in the balance. Today, as the 18th Chief, I lead an Air Force which has been in continuous combat for over 16 years. The strain is taking a toll on our people and our equipment, as we fly the oldest fleet in our history. Yet we persevere, going above and beyond the call of duty every hour of every day because our country depends on us to an unprecedented extent. The Air Force literally underwrites the national strategy of reassuring allies, while deterring, dissuading and decisively defeating enemies.

History shows that military advantage is fleeting. Just 16 years ago, in the wake of Desert Storm, the United States’ global reach and global power were the sole arbiter of world affairs. A Pax Americana replaced the Cold War nuclear standoff--until that deadly September 2001 morning, when 3,000 people were killed on American soil. That very day, the U.S. Air Force spread its wings over America’s cities in an extraordinary operation aptly named Noble Eagle. USAF continues to provide this Combat Air Patrol to this very day, serving as the Nation’s global eyes and ears--as well as its ultimate nuclear backstop--all while flying and fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, the rest of the world has not taken a time out. An arch of instability spans the globe from Latin America, through East Asia, the Indian subcontinent, Russia, China, Africa, and the rest of the Middle East. Weapons’ proliferation invests even marginal players with immense leverage and destructive potential. What keeps these threats at bay is the global reach, global power and global vigilance embodied in the USAF. Recapitalization and modernization--to include true 5th generation aircraft, capable of establishing the air dominance that is the precondition of all subsequent operations; the tankers necessary to get them to the fight; and the helicopters to rescue crews flying against advanced air-to-surface missile threats--are urgent needs. Fighting and winning the Global War on Terror, recapitalizing and modernizing our aging fleet, and preparing for an uncertain future are my top priorities as Chief. My sacred obligation, however, is to the men and women of the United States Air Force. Given the stakes, I will never falter and I will not fail.

As the youngest of America’s five Services, our battle traditions are less than a century old. Yet, we are heirs to a proud legacy of leading by example, from the front, assuming the full measure of risk and responsibility. This heritage has been forged by Airpower’s early pioneers; by the first air combat heroes of Lafayette’s Escadrille; by the Tuskegee Airmen who racked up an impressive combat record against overwhelming odds, fighting both the Nazis and racial prejudice at home; by pilots and navigators who flew into harm’s way in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Yugoslavia, Afghanistan--and Iraq again; by astronauts who blasted into space and walked on the moon; by Jolly Green Giants who risked their lives so others might live; by POWs who continued to fight from a prison cell; and many, many others.

Airmen fly and fight in inherently dangerous domains. No one can claim an exclusive monopoly on valor. Schweinfurt and Ploesti are our Iwo Jima and Omaha Beach--though we’ve been in those fights too. Than Hoa Bridge and the Hanoi Hilton are our Khe Sanh and Ia Drang Valley--though we’ve been over these battlegrounds as well. This heritage obligates us to honor the sacrifice by recommitting ourselves to the common touchstone of Warrior Virtues and a single, unifying purpose: fly, fight, win.

With these imperatives in mind, on April 18, 2007, I issued a “Vector” setting a new direction for the Air Force. I timed it to coincide with the anniversary of Doolittle’s Raid: a feat of airmanship that--just four months after the attack on Pearl Harbor--foreshadowed the American way of war and the manner in which World War II would end. On April 18, 1942, 80 Airmen flew 16 B-25s into the heart of Imperial Japan to deliver an unambiguous message: America will exploit the range and payload that are the heart and soul of Airpower to inflict destruction the likes of which were never seen. Three years later, Imperial Japan signed the instruments of unconditional surrender, without the unimaginable bloodshed that would have ensued if Airpower didn't obviate the need for invasion of the Home Islands.

Doolittle’s Raiders--like the many heroes in whose company we serve-- embody the virtues of honor, valor and devotion that have been the soul of Airmanship since the earliest days of powered flight. Today’s Airmen are the bridge to tomorrow. It is our solemn vow to sustain this legacy, earned in blood, in the heart of every Airman. It is on them--and the boundless horizon they represent--that the Creed is focused. Its words are as simple as they are profound:

I AM AN AMERICAN AIRMAN.
I AM A WARRIOR.
I HAVE ANSWERED MY NATION’S CALL.
I AM AN AMERICAN AIRMAN.
MY MISSION IS TO FLY, FIGHT, AND WIN.
I AM FAITHFUL TO A PROUD HERITAGE,
A TRADITION OF HONOR,
AND A LEGACY OF VALOR.
I AM AN AMERICAN AIRMAN,
GUARDIAN OF FREEDOM AND JUSTICE,
MY NATION’S SWORD AND SHIELD,
ITS SENTRY AND AVENGER.
I DEFEND MY COUNTRY WITH MY LIFE.
I AM AN AMERICAN AIRMAN:
WINGMAN, LEADER, WARRIOR.
I WILL NEVER LEAVE AN AIRMAN BEHIND,
I WILL NEVER FALTER,
AND I WILL NOT FAIL.

I am honored to lead Warriors--proud members of the profession of arms--the few who have answered the Nation's call to service and sacrifice. Airmen are the America’s cross-dimensional, global maneuver force. The power we wield is, at once, strategic and tactical. We are, indeed, democracy’s sword and shield, guardians and avengers. America’s Airmen are ever faithful to an ethos that unifies Warriors across centuries and war-fighting domains. At this time of war, America could ask no more--and no less--from its youngest Service.

General T. Michael Moseley, 18th Chief of Staff, United States Air Force