AFA Policy Forum

General Michael E. Ryan
Chief of Staff, United States Air Force
Remarks at the AFA National Convention
September 14, 1999

"Remarks at the Air Force Association
National Convention"

Thank you Doyle (Larson) for the introduction.

AFA leaders: Doyle Larsen (AFA chairman), Tom Mckee (AFA president), General John Shaud, AFA board members. Secretary Peters, Ms. DiBattiste, General Lyles. General Newton, General Myers, General Jumper, General Robertson--what a great group of field commanders we have here). General (retired) Dougherty, General (retired) Skantze, General (retired) Moorman, General (retired) Loh. General Jacobsen (air chief from Norway). Chief Finch (Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force) and former Chief Master Sergeants of the Air Force: Chief McCoy & Chief Pfingston. Colonel Bernie Fisher (Medal of honor winner). Special guest Buzz Aldrin (Apollo 11 astronaut). Distinguished guests. Ladies and gentlemen.

I want to thank you very much for the generous welcome, but I am the one who should be applauding you—the leaders and members of this great Air Force Association.

The association together with industry, our active duty, guard, reserve, civilian, and retired participants form an awesome team in this nation’s defense. I want to thank you all for being a true "center of gravity" for our Air Force over so many years-truly contributing above and beyond.

Last year i spoke about General Spaatz’s "airman’s faith" and how important control of the aerospace dimension was and is to warfare. I firmly believe in that faith—it allows us to take advantage of opportunities, to never discount the possibilities, to take the initiative at the right time, to innovate in the face of adversity, to strike deep and hard at the critical moment—how about them Cowboys!

During the past twelve months since the last convention the United States Air Force hasn’t missed many opportunities to respond to crises or contingencies in a substantial, significant, and successful way. And these successes have much, much more to do with people than equipment—our Air Force members have literally and figuratively served above and beyond.

I’d like to review a bit of last year’s history. Last November we once again built up our forces in the Gulf to nearly three hundred aircraft and ten thousand people in response to increased Iraqi violations of United Nations resolutions. One month later we unleashed that potent force during Desert Fox—our B-1 bomber crews saw action for the first time during that operation—they, along with the rest of the force, performed above and beyond.

As we were recovering our forces from that air campaign, Kosovo began to loom on the international horizon as a serious threat to stability in the Balkans. It had been less than four years since we had completed the successful air campaign in Bosnia. And when Milosevic began to abrogate his international agreements and brutally repress the population of Kosovo, the world’s eyes turned to NATO for a solution.

It was clear that NATO could not stand by while a tyrant purged a portion of his population because of their religion and ethnicity. It was equally clear that allied nations were not prepared to use ground forces to redress the situation. And so they turned, as they had in Bosnia, to air power.

We deployed over seventeen thousand people and over five hundred aircraft. Just deploying and positioning the force was a monumental effort.

Before the build-up we were operating from five fixed and four expeditionary bases in support of Bosnia. At the end of the build up we had moved into twenty more (Fairford, Rhein-Mein, Brize Norton, Budapest, Pisa, Cervia, Gioia del Colle, Mont de Marson, Geilenkirchen, Rota, Sigonella, Trapani, Akrotiri, Istres, St. Mawgan, Furstenfeldbruck, Souda Bay, Balikashir, Bandirma, and Moron)

It was a tremendous logistical effort to bed down and sustain this dispersed force throughout the conflict. Our airlifters and logisticians did a fantastic job—there is no question about the expeditionary capabilities of this air force of ours, and it’s our incredibly dedicated airmen who make it happen. They serve above and beyond.

When I was visiting Aviano during the conflict, I talked to several sergeants about bedding down in the rapidly constructed tent city there. They laughed and said they were pros at it, they had done it in Saudi Arabia, in Kuwait, in Turkey— "no big deal."

If you think about it, almost sixty percent of our force has entered service in the last ten years—from desert storm on. They have known little else than high optempo, involving austere airfields and remote locations. They’ve been expeditionary all along, we just hadn’t provided the label.

We flew over eleven thousand airlift sorties—moving hundreds of millions of pounds of cargo. And although the C-17 represents only thirteen percent of the airlift force--we called and it hauled—over a third of the cargo. Our air refuelers flew seven thousand sorties—off-loading over three hundred million pounds of fuel. And we deployed space support personnel in theater and used unprecedented levels of data fusion from our space-based systems and airborne assets. We reached back to information centers worldwide to provide actionable knowledge for the commanders.

We used nearly every force enhancing capability and, i think, every acronym we had—AWACS, Joint Stars, Rivet Joint, U-2, Compass Call, ABCCC, Predator, and a host of national assets. And our people and many in this room came up with innovative ways to link these systems together in near real-time.

The size of the operation was impressive. For the United States Air Force this was a major theater war—by percentage of force in tankers, bombers, fighters, and ISR assets, Allied Force, combined with our other contingency deployments was bigger than our efforts during Desert Storm, or for that matter, Vietnam.

And this was a total force effort. For instance, the guard and reserve provided forty percent of our deployed KC-135 force and a quarter of our A-10 force. We called up nearly five thousand reservists, but a huge number volunteered. We can’t thank them or their employers enough—they all serve above and beyond.

The mission capability rates on our aircraft were excellent — that in the face of worldwide spares shortages. Those rates are due in large part to the tremendous effort of our maintenance force. They worked incredible hours, seven days a week to keep the systems operational and loaded—and our supply and transportation system averaged less than three days to deliver parts to the theater — and to make the parts available our depots surged into overdrive. All of that is about people—serving above and beyond.

At a tactical level our forces performed superbly and with great courage and valor. In the face of a very formidable air defense system, they gained and maintained air superiority—when the surface-to-air radar threat came up, they were targeted and suppressed. When Serbian Air Force fighters flew they were shot down and those that didn’t fly were targeted on the ground. Their airfields were closed and much of their air defense infrastructure was destroyed.

Our interdiction and strategic attack forces pounded the Serbian military industrial capability. Our stealthy B-2s and F-117s led that deep battle. Military armament production was destroyed. Military supply areas were continuously attacked. Oil refinement was halted and petroleum storage systematically decimated. The electricity was shut down—down town, and major transportation routes were cut throughout the country.

In Kosovo itself, our forward air controllers in A-10s and F-16s kept relentless pressure on the Serbian forces—calling in strikes and destroying tanks, APC, and artillery where ever they could be found.

At a strategic and operational level, our air commanders General John Jumper and General Mike Short commanded the forces with great vision and leadership. Interfacing with General Clark, they set the conditions for success while assuring that the force was used effectively. They held firm to their convictions and their course, minimizing the risk to our forces while also minimizing collateral damage — they also served above and beyond.

Neither they nor anyone else in the Air Force believed that air power could stop directly the door-to-door infantry thuggery that was driving the Kosovars from their homes. Nor could air power directly stop the slaughter and war crimes that were taking place in isolated villages.

What they successfully argued was that to stop the carnage in Kosovo, you must go to the root cause and that was in and around Belgrade — where the strategic center of gravity lay—support for Milosevic and his repressive regime.

They kept the faith knowing the outcome would be successful—and it was. After eleven weeks Milosevic capitulated to NATO’s terms and withdrew his forces. And the result was a great victory from above, for NATO, for the U.S., for aerospace power, and, most importantly, for the people of Kosovo. There is no question that it was a just and righteous cause.

For all of those who served above and beyond—a representative few will be honored here today and tomorrow at the Air Force victory celebration at Andrews Air Force Base.

And the beat goes on—today we continue patrolling the skies in Korea, over Bosnia, and over Kosovo. We continue to respond to Iraqi aggression almost on a daily basis—in combat ops in the no fly zones. And we have deployed and placed forces on alert to respond to uncertain situations in the Far East.

We’ve also responded to humanitarian needs around the globe in Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador in the wake of Hurricane Mitch…in Albania, Macedonia, and Kosovo to support refugees…in Turkey after the tragic earthquake.

We even evacuated the entire population of Johnston Atoll before Hurricane Dora hit last month.

We’ve also delivered medical equipment to the South Pole during the middle of winter, and airlifted specially trained dolphins to Lithuania to find mines on the floor of the Baltic Sea.

Our magnificent Air Force men and women continue to act as an engagement and response force—America’s first force—first to respond and first to fight. A sage once said: "nothing noble is done without risk." We must never forget that it is our duty to minimize the risks where we can and leverage the rewards for our noble airmen who selflessly serve above and beyond.

That’s why we have pushed so hard to build aircraft like the F-117, the B-2, and now the F-22. Almost thirty years ago at this convention another General Ryan said, quote: "aerospace is an expanding matrix for deterrence and is the operational medium in which the Air Force is preeminent," unquote. That is as true today as it was thirty years ago when the Air Force committed to the F-15. And we must make it so in the next thirty years and the F-22 is critical to that preeminence — it’s a critical combat capability not just for airmen, but for soldiers, sailors, marines, and coastguardsmen alike. It will help protect all who serve.

And all those who serve deserve to share in a meaningful way in the prosperity they protect.

That’s why we as members of the Joint Chiefs along with Secretary Peters and our civilian leadership stood firm on the need to close the pay gap, implement pay table reform, and restore retirement. Taking care of people is our top priority—with the help of the Administration and Ccongress, it appears we will realize these improvements in pay and compensation—our members need them.

We still have recruiting and retention challenges, but I believe that the year 2000 will be the year we begin a turn around. We’re increasing bonuses, the number of recruiters, and advertising dollars—And initial indications are encouraging.

We’ve moved ahead in so many different areas. As you know, I’ve been very concerned since I became chief about other readiness challenges — spares support, aging fleets, deteriorating infrastructure, and funding shortfalls — that’s why last September we went forward to the Secretary of Defense, the President, and the Congress requesting an additional five billion dollars a year to make the force whole. We do face these challenges—and we’re facing them head-on, as many of you here have done in other challenging times to build an Air Force of great strength and resiliency.

And while I still have concerns, I also have great hope that the last decade and a half of draw down and decreasing budget for national defense are over. And I have great expectations that we are embarking on an era of readiness rejuvenation and momentum in modernization.

Our aerospace expeditionary force (AEF) schedule begins in just a few weeks. The ten AEF schedule will provide focused forces for both the known and the pop-up contingency tasks, and bring a much needed measure of predictability and stability into the lives of our people—and give us a measure of control over our optempo. Our people who serve above and beyond deserve no less.

The matrix of our aerospace realm and responsibilities will continue to expand—as was predicted thirty years ago. We will be called upon to protect our interests in space as we do in the air. And we must continue to meld our capabilities into a seamless integrated force.

It is not air and space segregation that’s important, what’s important is aerospace integration for combat capability where it counts.

I’m optimistic. I’m optimistic about our Air Force’s future, and I’m optimistic about our Air Force people who faithfully serve our nation. I’m optimistic because of the undisputed value aerospace power brings to our nation. It is appreciated by our national leaders—and feared by our foes.

This is an important time in the history of our Air Force — so once again, I applaud the enduring support you, here from industry and AFA, give to our one team, our one force, our one family—all of those who serve above and beyond in our great Air Force.

Thank you and God bless.