Arlington, VA, September 19, 1995 -- At its 1995 National Convention, the Air Force Association reasserted its belief that the Air Force needs more forces to fight and win the two near-simultaneous regional conflicts required by US national security strategy.

According to the Association's Statement of Policy for 1996, which was overwhelmingly approved by convention delegates, "the Air Force component of the force structure must include not less than 24 combat-coded fighter and attack wings, at least 184 operational bombers with precision-guided munitions, and a modernized airlift capability that will meet requirements for 49 million to 52 million ton miles per day."

The AFA policy paper said defense cuts have gone too far already and that the defense program is too often marked down from the requirements of strategy in order to meet arbitrary budget ceilings. It added that "response to conflict of the future will be heavily dependent on land-based airpower and space power and that our planning should be directed to that end."

Special attention must be paid to weapon systems and force modernization, the paper said. "In 1995, for the first time in its history, the Air Force will purchase no bombers and no fighters." Without more aircraft, the Air Force will not be able to maintain even its reduced complement of 20 fighter wing equivalents beyond the turn of the century, AFA warned.v
"Superiority of US forces in conflicts of the future depends on priority and investment today in force modernization, particularly in stealthy aircraft, precision-strike munitions, modern air mobility, information warfare capabilities, and space systems that enable us to hold the high ground," the paper said.

The paper was especially critical of "the drift and delay in space launch modernization," a situation it called a national problem, not just a military problem.

While encouraged by a number of positive actions on behalf of military people and veterans, AFA pointed out the growing gap between military pay and private sector compensation. The Association was also concerned about reductions in retiree benefits, especially access to medical care.

AFA criticized the nation's inattention to industrial preparedness, noting that issues like the defense industrial base and force reconstitution have virtually disappeared from national strategy documents.

In addressing "operations other than war," AFA said that when US forces are committed to combat, they must be under US command, except as provided for by established treaty arrangements.

To meet threats that have "diversified, proliferated, and evolved," the nation will continue to need superior land, sea, air, and space forces, the paper said. "The most severe challenges, however, are likely to be complex, fast-breaking, and highly technological, occurring in distant locations where the zone of conflict is lethal and deep. Core capabilities in this realm of conflict point to the US Air Force as the nation's first line of defense."