United Forces & Families: Senior Leaders’ Perspectives
September 24, 2025
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This transcript was generated with the assistance of AI. Please report inconsistencies to comms@afa.org.
Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.):
Well, good afternoon, everyone. This has been an incredible three days, and I want to thank everybody for joining us in those incredible three days. I can’t think of a better way to close out the 2025 Air, Space, and Cyber Conference than with this panel right here. Our Space Force and Air Force Senior Leaders and their spouses will share their personal experiences and perspectives on the issues that matter most to Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Each of these panelists bring a wealth of insight shaped by both professional and family service. So we’re going to get right into this, and as I told them backstage, I flipped the coins, so the first people starting out are the Saltzmans. So we’re going to begin with you. At AFA, we often talk about the linkage between strong families and mission effectiveness. So you’re our most senior leaders in the Space Force and Air Force, but you also have your own families, and you’ve been navigating the challenges of military life for longer than most of us. So what do you have–what kind of advice do you have for balancing the mission demands with the health, wellness, and family needs so that the Force will remain healthy and sustainable over time? Easy question.
Gen. B. Chance Saltzman:
That is easy.
Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.):
And I got a second part to it, just in case. So how has that changed over time? You did it as lieutenants, and now you’re general officers and running the services and kind of track that journey of progress.
Gen. B. Chance Saltzman:
Well, we won the coin toss, so I guess we elected to receive. So I’m going to defer to the second half. So go ahead, Jennifer.
Jennifer Saltzman:
We’ll see. Hey, you guys, thanks for coming. I appreciate it very much. Last thing at AFA, hopefully you had a great time. Every time you’re out in the hallways, you see people connecting and chatting and catching up, and it’s awesome. So thank you very much for being here. I would say, obviously, navigating through all of those things, always a challenge, right? Just different challenges. I was thinking about when you were just saying that, one of the things that feels like a full circle moment about kids and families, the first assignment we had was in Montana, and we waited over a year, I believe, because we were dying to live on base. You know, we were the adults that were going to get to, you know, get a house and all these things. The connections that you can make and the services that are on base and the friends that we made there are still dear friends of ours that we travel with at least once a year. There’s a group of nine of us, I believe, that still get together, and that was that first initial, you know, introduction into, you know, being military. What does that mean? I didn’t grow up in a military family. This was the first exposure I had, and I think it was a real gift to be able to just be all together and realize what an important thing that he decided to do that military living on a base provides. And then the full circle part is, so first assignment we lived on a base, last assignment, which is kind of cool to say, last assignment we live on a base, which is awesome too. So I would encourage, because it is tricky, obviously moving is not an easy thing. I mean, it’s also not an easy thing raising kids anywhere, whether you’re in the same school or you move every couple of years. There’s no easy way, but being on a base, the times that we lived on our base are our kids’ favorites because they had more freedoms. You know, they didn’t realize that they got to stay outside and play tag until it was dark because they were on a base and we knew they were safe. So they had opportunities to make friends easier, and you’re all in the same boat. I mean, being able to live on a base. So I would say my thought would be, if you ever have the opportunity to live on a base, do. It’s super fun. There’s always somebody around. You know, all of a sudden in your driveway you’ve got, you know, 20 people, and you’re chatting and hanging out. And if you’re lucky enough to still have a bowling alley, you can go to a bowling alley. So that would be my suggestion.
Gen. B. Chance Saltzman:
I would just add, you know, it takes more than a couple or more than a family to navigate all of the challenges that you guys know so well out there in military life. And I kind of feel like that first group we were with at our first assignment, that was our educational seminar, right? Those were the people you said, “How does the MPF work? How do you take leave?” And we kind of learned the ropes with that group in your first assignment. And now here at the end, it’s the therapy session, right? This is the group of people that we get together with who have the same common problems, and we go, “Are you seeing this? Yeah, I’m seeing this. Can you believe they’re doing that? That’s secretary. That new secretary, he’s crazy.” You know, it’s the therapy session, and that builds a resiliency. That network is, I think, what’s really important, and you get that in spades. Don’t tell them I said that. That’s what you get in spades, I think, with that community on base.
Gina Allvin:
Well, I’ll–am I on? Okay. I’ll add to what Jennifer said, because everything she said was absolutely spot on. But we do have a lot of people who live off base. But let’s–this is just a reminder. Even if you live off base, go connect with the community on base, because they have all your programs and what such. And like you said, first time–so I’m–Dave had already been in for a while when we were married, so I wasn’t there as the–you know, when he was lieutenant or anything. So we were living off base, and all we kept thinking is, “Oh, I want to live on base,” because I drove on there, and I go, “Look at all the kids running around having a good time together. That’s awesome,” because we can’t do that off base. The kids can’t, you know, be a little, you know, club of bikes riding around all over the place wherever they want to go. On base, they could do that. They could go over to the shop and get some snacks and whatever. It was kind of cool for–you know, well, when we were there, it was Edwards. We were going to get ice cream at the shop at, because it’s blazing hot. But those were the connections that you can foster. So I really did appreciate the people who were on base who actually pulled me in a little bit, but then I had to participate. They invited me, but I had to say yes at some point. It may not be every time, but at some point you have to say yes to participate, so you start learning and making those connections so that you can learn about the Air Force, especially at the very beginning, or Space Force, service. There you go. I won’t do the end.
Gen. David W. Allvin:
So, well, first of all, great experience. Thanks, Burt, for putting this on. You know, Salty and I were backstage, and we said, “Well, gosh, it’s the last day in the afternoon. How many people are actually going to be here?” And then when we saw the crowd, we were like, “Hey,” and then we looked at each other and said, “They’re not here to see us. They’re here to see Jennifer and Gina, so we’ll just be there.” Looking good next to them. But I took the question a little bit differently. You know, when you said that how do you navigate with a family life and the service demands, the one word that came to my mind was “communicate.” So everyone here was talking about the external engagement, but it starts with the communication with each other and understanding what you are going to do together. And when you start with a set of expectations of understanding this is what’s ahead of us, what’s on the agenda, what are we signing up to do, we see a lot throughout, as we’ve gone throughout the Air Force, that everyone — there’s a lot of people who are really struggling to make the family and the service work together. But if you start off from the beginning and you know the expectations of each other, what you intend on doing together, because the goal is when you take off this uniform, you still have this teammate. So if you start off with understanding expectations, what do we want to do together as a couple as we go through our life, through which a lot of it or some of it is going to be in the United States Air Force? Because if we are struggling to try and meet those expectations that we didn’t have an agreement on to begin with, it’s going to be a tough road. You’re going to be less effective and you’re going to be less happy. But if you have that understanding with each other, this is what we’re going to do as part of our life journey together. I don’t care if you spend four years or four decades. At the end of it, you’ll be able to look at each other and say, “Yeah, that’s what we said we were going to do.” And so it helps you on the other end of that. So I think that communication, getting those expectations with each other from the start, and when things change, have another conversation about that. I think that’s what keeps you strong.
Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.):
Great answers. Hey, and that brings up a point. I think you were saying traveling around the Air Force. So as you travel around the Air Force and you travel around the Space Force and you meet Guardians and Airmen and their families and you listen to them talk, what’s your sense of how they’re doing with this journey that we just started talking about there? We’ll go ahead and start with you over there, Ms. Gina.
Gina Allvin:
Okay.
Gen. David W. Allvin:
I can start and you can pick it up. Whenever I get that look, see, that’s the communication. It’s like, “Dude, it’s on you, brother.”
Gina Allvin:
Everyone understood that look.
Gen. David W. Allvin:
I think what I would say is I think when I think of our Airmen and the conversations we’re having, I can’t imagine myself having those same conversations when I was their age, when I was where they are. They just seem so much more sophisticated than I was, so much more in tune. And sometimes they’re in tune because they have access to information, good information, bad information. They have access to the Airman NCO Facebook page, which is what I’m talking about, Reddit pages, whatever. But they are more in tune with some of the things I don’t think I was paying any attention to. And so that’s new and different from what I remember of myself at that age. But the thing that’s the same, they still got the same issues. If you’re a pilot, you still want to go fly. If you’re working, you still want to have a good house to live in. If you’re in an area where you have kids, you want a good school. If you’re in an area where you want to have a spouse, all those sort of things, those sort of maintain throughout time. I think I’m just more surprised at the types of questions they ask. I’m like, “I wouldn’t have had the knowledge to even know to ask those questions.” That’s been my experience, I think.
Gina Allvin:
So I do get to speak with the Airmen some, but Dave speaks with them obviously more often. So I’ll go more the spouse side. I’ll go more when we meet with them when we’re traveling around. Actually, I’m going to mirror him a little bit as well, because it’s the communication that they’re having online between bases, between continuing those relationships, which were harder to do when we were younger, with AOL and whatever. So it was harder to keep those long-distance communications and relationships. It’s so much easier now. You can be friends with so many people, and you can just be there for so many people, whether you live by them, anywhere in the state, or on the other side of the world. So that is what I’m hearing, that they’re still reaching out and connecting with each other, and learning from each other, and sharing their opportunities, and advocating for each other. So it’s really great.
Gen. B. Chance Saltzman:
What always jumps out to me is the level of excitement that being in the service generates for the young people. It is every time I get a chance to escape the NCR and go out and talk to the Airmen on the base, to the Guardians on the base, I’m immediately kind of reinvigorated, because there’s this sense of excitement that they’re contributing. They’re doing something new and exciting, and you can see just joy in their eyes when they start talking about the mission, and it’s awesome. And then they go to their dorm rooms and get heads down on their phone and lock in to their gaming system. And I hear from the middle-aged group that’s out there, “Yeah, we’re having a hard time getting them out of the dorms and coming and connecting.” And so those are the two things that I think are most common as we go around. One is excitement that they’re doing something important, and then the way the newer generation, the way the younger people connect, is far different than the way we connected. And I think we just have to recognize that and try to sort through it. But we were just up at Clear Space Force Station, and if you haven’t been up there, what a remarkable place that is, a little bit off the beaten path. And when there’s eight feet of snow, it makes perfect sense to stay in your cozy room. But they try to figure out how to get people together to have communication. And I remember Jennifer and I, when we were younger, you would go to the club or you would go to the bowling aisle, like she said, and that’s where you really got mentoring, the people that were just a few years ahead of you, passing on some of those lessons that they had learned throughout their time in the service. And I’m wondering if we are connecting properly at those junior levels to make sure that we can continue to pass on those lessons. And so I’m just always looking for ways to instill that.
Jennifer Saltzman:
Just one other thing, going out there, and that’s my favorite thing to do. I’m so fortunate that most of the time that when he travels to some of these places that I get to go to, and meeting Guardians and young families, it’s awesome. And not only are they excited, they’re so smart. And the challenges that they’re facing and the way that they’re trying to figure out new ways to do things, and it does, it just kind of is a sparkle that does reinvigorate you and go, gosh, you know what, we’re going to be okay, actually. Better than okay, because the force is strong and it’s encouraging to be around that energy. And then the other piece about the spouse part is sometimes then I get to get a collection of spouses together, and sometimes it works out and it’s just a few people and sometimes it’s quite a few. And regardless of whether it’s one or 15 or 20, my favorite thing, and it was just actually and now I’m going to forget the location, which is bad. I barely know where I am right now. So they were sitting and I overheard, you know, two people say — and I think there were eight of us maybe and said, oh, my gosh, you know, I didn’t know your child went to that school. We just got here and they exchanged numbers and now there was this connection. And I was like, that’s what this is all about, is making sure that you realize that you are on this really big team and everybody’s cheering for you and everybody, you know, needs those connections. So, you know, I just get very excited when, you know, I see those kinds of things when we get to travel.
Gen. B. Chance Saltzman:
Hey, Dave, I don’t know if it’s the same for you when you go out there and they’re so excited and you see all the innovative ideas and how creative they are and you immediately feel the pressure. Like, are we doing enough to make sure that they have what they need to do their job? Way too much pressure. I’m exhausted when I leave.
Gen. David W. Allvin:
Okay, old man, we got the ideas. You go figure out how to scale them. Absolutely.
Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.):
So one of the things that’s changed in the Air Force and the Space Force missions since I was in the Cold War in the ’80s and then Desert Shield, Desert Storm and Post in the ’90s, you know, we’re on this constant deployment schedule. And that was, you could predict that and you had to handle that. But now as we’ve added more and more capabilities in space and in the RPA world, for example, we have a lot of Guardians and Airmen doing their mission 24/7 here at home. And then once they’re done with that, they’re going home and having to cut the yard or manage the house or do, you know, do the grocery shopping. So it’s a little different than when you’re concentrating somewhere else on only a mission versus you’re in the fight and then you go home. That’s hard. How are you guys working that with the Guardians and Airmen and how are they handling that?
Gen. B. Chance Saltzman:
Yeah, quick story. Right after one of the big salvos, I think it was an Iranian missile salvo that went into the Middle East into some of our bases. And I was at Buckley on the ops floor talking to the Guardians who are on the watch trying to make sure that missile warning information gets out to the field. And I remember talking to this one specialist and I walked away with the impression, A, he’s doing a great job. He’s doing exactly what he needs to do. But there was a sense of stress because he knows what the consequences are if he doesn’t do his job properly. It doesn’t matter that he’s 8000 miles away. It doesn’t matter that he’s technically not in harm’s way. He feels the stress of combat slightly different and it feels a little different when you’re there. And then suddenly he’s got to get in his car in a parking lot and drive home and help the kids with math problems. And that’s not an easy thing just to turn it off and say, OK, compartmentalize. Now I’m not in a combat environment anymore. I’m at home with the family. And I just think when so much of our effort is done, employed in place, that we have to recognize that. And I think that’s kind of step one is for leadership from frontline supervisor all the way up to the field comm commanders need to understand that these Guardians in their ops centers understand the consequences of the work they’re doing. That adds mental stress to their workload. You don’t necessarily have to be downrange in a deployed environment to feel that kind of stress and then to turn it off and go home. We just have to recognize that and make sure they have the resiliency and the tools and the ability to deal with that kind of stress, I think.
Jennifer Saltzman:
Yeah, I think it’s definitely the recognition of that that is the reality that, you know, you do need to have that communication piece and realize that it is hard and making sure that, you know, we all don’t deal with stress and all those things the same way. But, you know, communicating and making sure that, you know, your Airmen or your Guardian, you know, that they’re that you’re understanding the heaviness of what they’re doing, even though they do get to come home, you know, at night. That so I think it’s just the recognition that it is a problem and saying it out loud and saying it’s, you know, it’s something that we need to make sure that you’re always paying attention to.
Gen. David W. Allvin:
Yeah, I think, you know, we actually have in the Air Force been doing this for, you know, seven decades. Different, though. I mean, every time they go on alert and they’re down in the missile silos, that’s employed in place as well. It’s different. I think that then and Salty sort of brought it out. When you find yourself sort of in them in the moment, even though you’re geographically separated, whether it’s doing space operations or doing RPA activities, which can have, you know, which can be very kinetic and violent at the end state. And then you come home. That is that is a shift. And I think we’ve said it here. So I’ll just repeat it again. If you’re doing that by yourself, that’s hard. The mission is hard as well. But you know that there are other people within your same unit that are doing that as well. So sharing the common experience of saying this is different. How do we adapt to it together? That’s how I think how we do it. Not I go to work and I do this thing that puts me in a different combat environment. Then I have to do the intellectual and emotional whiplash to get back to my family. There’s probably someone next door to you who’s doing the same thing, maybe on a different shift. So discussions, shared experiences, and then with the families, assuming they’ve built that unit connectivity as well. Hey, how are you doing? You know, I see your spouses. How does that how does she feel about that? Or how’s he do? Then you understand again, you’re making this horizontal connection rather than just this individual. I’m getting through it and this is hard.
Gina Allvin:
So we went to go visit Creech. So I was very fortunate. There was somebody who was on the team with us. We actually had just been stationed there. So and he’s an RPA pilot. So he was really had all the background knowledge. So it was so wonderful because he could really explain what was everyone was going through. And he said that for one thing, they have an hour, isn’t it about an hour? Usual commute to go back home because there is no housing where they’re at, at all, anywhere. So they have a good hour to decompress, which is horrible to think, but at least they have that time and they were using it for that. Or they would maybe get together after shift and go to the gym, kind of calm down, you know, but like you said, being aware of it, acknowledging it, don’t ignore it. Right. So and when you come home, which I still have never learned this lesson. So you I he knows I feel that sometimes don’t hit them with everything when they walk in the door, because I do sometimes because it’s, you know, here on my list and it’s way down here on his list. So, you know, the kids, the you know, the family that when they welcome the service member home, when they’re coming home from that, just it’s good to have that little bit of awareness. But at the same point, then you just embrace men and pull them in and make their life back to the regular. But give them a moment. I think it’s good.
Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.):
Thanks for that. Let’s talk about a fun subject: Kids. So raising children in the military has both challenges and it has a lot of rewards. And it’s a little different when you say go home and tell your third grader you’re moving to another base than when you tell your 16 year old you’re moving to another base. So how did you guys you got some good stories about your work with your children as you navigated your career?
Gen. David W. Allvin:
No, I’m not starting because Salty, don’t you either, because if we do it, actually, we’re the ones who are doing the work. No, no, no. We’re just going to support the people who do the work. So you can start.
Gina Allvin:
OK, well, sometimes you miss the mark. We thought we were we were moving to Germany. We thought we gave them, you know, wasn’t what was it? Wasn’t doing it. What’s the other Rosetta Stone for German? And we gave it to the kids and they are just like, well, that’s nice. They just kind of so we kind of we had to explain moving to Germany. So you should learn German. But it is hard when they were younger. Actually, it was harder when they were younger. I felt it was harder when they were younger for them to adapt to a new environment than it was when they were older. Older, they understood it. Didn’t necessarily like it, but they understood it. It’s hard for young, young kids to understand. And we were moving around a lot because, again, our kids were. We were a little older when we started to have the kids. So it’s, we still… they’re home. We still have kids. They’re adults, but we still have kids. So. We do.
Gen. David W. Allvin:
Let’s get on to another subject because that’s a little. I’m going to interrupt you one thing. So when Gina talks about it’s tough when they were younger, sometimes it’s also the the environmental whiplash, shall we say, the atmospheric. So our kids went from Altus, Oklahoma
Gina Allvin:
Honey, baby.
Gen. David W. Allvin:
Honey, baby, lovin’ on em and everything. And we went from there. I was selected to be a fellow on the Council on Foreign Relations. So when you go from Altus, Oklahoma to New York City, that’s a culture shock for kids who are trying to figure it out. So there is a lot of that adapting. Why is everybody angry at me? No, they’re not mad. That’s just how they talk around here.
Jennifer Saltzman:
The kid thing, of course, like I said earlier, you know, it’s it’s difficult if you are raised in the same town. There is going to be challenges and it’s hard to be a parent. And so I applaud and I honestly can’t believe, you know, dual mill families. And I’m like, oh, my gosh, you guys both do this and you have kids? How many full time jobs do you want? I mean, it’s so it’s an awesome I appreciate it. I cannot challenge that or handle that many different jobs at the same time. But I would say, I mean, like it’s just it’s an individual thing. I mean, we have two kids and the things that we would have chosen varied very much. You know, if it if we moved in high school during with one, we knew they were ready to go like, oh, no problem. We get to go to another school. I get to reinvent myself again. I love it. And then the other, you know, not as much. Right. So, you know, each of you all will get to determine what’s best and what’s going to work for your family. And knowing that navigating through all that stuff as a team is is is, you know, is is better or it’s more it’s helpful to be able to be on the same page and know that you may make a plan. And we all know that, too. We made a plan. And oh, my gosh, we’re moving here. Not yet. You know, not until you actually and I, you know, didn’t want to hear like, no, are we really, really moving there? You know, I don’t want to, you know, and, you know, introduce that to kids and tell it was really happening and then see where we were in time and place of life and see what was going to work best for our family.
Gen. B. Chance Saltzman:
Jennifer and I grew up in the same hometown and I switched school systems about halfway through. So I had one school system. He was a county kid at first. Yeah. Yeah. Jennifer went. Jennifer graduated from high school with kids she was in kindergarten with. So, yeah. Well, yeah, I kid needed to stay in preschool an extra year, I think, though. So I say that because our experience was radically different than than what our kids experienced moving around every two, three years, sometimes every year. Remember, sixth, seventh, eighth grade, all in three different schools. Right. So what we tried to convince ourselves of, whether it was right or wrong, is that it’s not better or worse. It’s just different. And it’s going to be different. So let’s make the most of the differences and experiences. Let’s make the most of this. Let’s stay involved. So just embrace the fact that this is how it works. What can you do to get the most out of this experience? And the kids are pretty resilient. You know, I think that in the end, they look back. Ours do, at least. They look back and they go, you know, I remember being in class and a picture in the book of the Golden Gate Bridge showed up. And and my daughter was able to say, well, I’ve been there. Like, I know what that looks like because I’ve seen it in person. You should see how strong the wind is there. And she was suddenly the hero of the class, because this was just a picture to a bunch of sixth graders who were on the other side of the country. But she had this more worldly experience. And I think the older they get, the more they appreciate the things they got to see. Doesn’t make it any easier sometimes when you have to uproot the 16 year old. But but I think in the end, you know, you have to appreciate it was just different. And we have to embrace the fact that there are positives, even if sometimes the moves can be disruptive.
Gina Allvin:
I will just add the one little thing. A little bit on what Jennifer said about, you know, you debate on when you’re going to introduce things. So there’s also we all kind of knew when moving was going to be coming up and start introducing the idea early with lots of options. And just to see the realm of possibilities that could be out there and things to do, just put it in the back of their head. So it wasn’t such a major shock right off the bat. So letting them know and not just, you know, feel like the pawn on the board that we keep moving around. So they had not that you were doing that. I didn’t mean that. But it’s the like, didn’t I? But it put that idea in their head that they had things they could see. And then they’ll still say later, like, are we ever going to go there to see that thing that we had looked at? Like, well, maybe maybe we’ll end up there at some point or we’ll make a trip there. But it did kind of broaden their horizons of what Golden Gate Bridge, stuff like that. What what are our possibilities? And their imaginations kind of took off for that. So it was kind of a nice thing to do, too.
Gen. B. Chance Saltzman:
And when in doubt, you can buy ’em a puppy.
Gina Allvin:
OK, I did that.
Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.):
What what was his name or her name? The puppy?
Gina Allvin:
Ajax. And Ajax is 16. Still trucking on.
Gen. B. Chance Saltzman:
Sometimes we miss the puppies more than the kids.
Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.):
Well, that actually could be a tradition. And we’re going to talk about traditions and how important they are. And I know the Space Force is young and you’re building traditions. And they’re very important because of the connection that those that your tradition in your culture have with your people. But perhaps puppies could be part of the new tradition. But would you like to talk a little bit about just what traditions and culture mean to you and how hard it is to work that into everybody’s fabric of their daily life as you’re building a new service?
Gen. B. Chance Saltzman:
Well, that’s you know, it is always at the forefront of our mind that the military tradition is one of those things that we just kind of take for granted. You know, as long as we’ve had a country, we’ve had military service as a part of it. And you don’t do anything for 200 years without kind of anchoring on a few key traditions. And so when you’re the newest service, people immediately say, what’s your culture? What are the traditions? What are you doing? And you feel this tremendous pressure like, OK, get out a pen and paper. Let’s start making up some traditions. But that’s not really how they work. You know, they kind of evolve over time and they kind of anchor on things that are important and the values. And, you know, you celebrate your values with your traditions. And so we’re learning a little bit. But I think to some degree, you have to just do some things and see if it takes hold. You have to try different ideas. You know, you want to encourage the values. And so you say, what what could be some traditions that we could hold on to that creates this value or that emphasizes this value? The other thing I think traditions do is they let members of an organization know that they’re a part of a lineage. And I think that, you know, when I guarantee you, Dave Allvin thinks this and I and I’m telling you, I do as well. The fact that he numbers himself as the Chief of Staff of the Air Force means he’s recognizing that there was a whole group in front of him that did amazing things. And he feels obligated to live up to that lineage. I feel the same way. And it’s and so the traditions are the links to the past that make sure that it keeps us honest. It says we’ve got to keep doing this. We’ve got to keep moving forward as hard as it gets, whatever our current challenges are. Those shoulders are the giants that we’re standing on and the next generations are counting on it. And it’s in our traditions that we pass on the lessons and the values to the next group. And so we’re actively looking for what those traditions are. At BMT, every brand new Guardian gets a patch and a note from an active duty Guardian that says, I welcome to the Space Force. I wore this patch. I’m proud to give it to you. We have a patching ceremony. You wouldn’t believe the look on their face. You wouldn’t believe the I mean, families, they’re crying because they’ve got this patch that was passed down from an active duty member and given to them. Those are the kind of things that I think are easily going to extend because they’re so powerful. And we’re just looking to make sure we capture those because they do mean so much to the organization.
Gen. David W. Allvin:
Yeah, I want to jump on that because I was just going to hit where Salty was that when we think about traditions, though, traditions can also be contextual. There are probably some things that were traditions when I was younger that aren’t anymore. And it’s probably a good thing. So there there are there are traditions that they are a link. But traditions are also based on they’re made up of behaviors. And those behaviors are the ones that you need to make sure that the traditions that you’re carrying forward are the right ones. They’re the right ones that they come after that ones who come after us want to remember and want to emulate and follow. And while a soapbox isn’t appearing underneath me, I’m going to go a little bit of a left turn on that, because we’re talking about behaviors and traditions and culture. I look back at nearly four decades and I see that there have been waxing and waning of of of behaviors within our force that have altered our culture a little bit. Coming out of the Cold War into the 90s. And Gina and I can talk about our 9/11 experience. We’re at Grand Forks with a very young squadron. And and we noticed a sort of alarming helplessness within the spouses in our squadron to this shocking event. But then immediately after that, for the first few months, we did what we hadn’t done in the 90s when we were doing Northern Watch and Southern Watch. We started deploying a little bit as units and we would they would get together and they would go and the spouses, the families would be left behind. And that connection was made. Going back to connections, team, we don’t have that. We went away from that in the 90s and we went away from that after about the first couple of years of what we were then calling the global war on terrorism. The reason we did that was because it was becoming the norm. So we were like solving for efficiency. So that is when we started just deploying onesies, twosies. And then it became a few of our Airmen would go away for a deployment and they’d come back and be like, what did you do on your vacation? You know, there was this separation. There wasn’t this shared experience. And so when we think about what we’re doing now with this unit training and doing collective training at these training ranges and then going out as ATFs and soon as combat wings, that’s that’s the active duties time to train and have these new behaviors as a unit. But you know what? It’s also the family’s opportunity to train and get ready and make sure you’re building the resiliency of connecting within the flight, the squadron, whatever it might be. Because if we don’t do that and we continue whenever the challenges come, we have a lot of helping agencies. But team, they’re supposed to be helping agencies, not the primary agencies. They’re supposed to be the backstop. They’re supposed to be sort of the safety net for us. And so in our traditions, getting back to what it means to do things as a unit. As a unit with the family. So when the principals go and the rest of the family is there, you already have that unit. You already have the built in connection. You don’t have to go to the helping agency first. I’ll tell you all, if the balloon goes up and we have to really be ready, the helping agencies don’t have the capacity. And if we haven’t built the muscle memory within the squadrons and the wings to be able to take care of each other and have accountability horizontally, we aren’t building a tradition of resilience. We’re building a tradition of reliance. I think we need to really think about that. And the behaviors we do, let’s get back to that. And I think we’re going to be better served in the future. Off my soapbox.
Gina Allvin:
Well, I’ll add to that because when we were doing the 1C Tuesdays, the programs on base, so they were Air Force programs, and the deployment dinners and things like that. And some places, everyone did a great job putting those on. But they’d be deployment dinners for like three people. And that’s not really very exciting. Right? It’s just not. You might make two new friends, which is great, but you’re bringing the kids together, you’re bringing your family together, you’re going to the deployment dinner. And the people who are actually putting the dinner out number the people attending the dinner. It feels awkward. And you don’t go again. A lot of people will not show up again. Except it’s a free dinner. So that’s cool, too. But it’s — you’re, like you said, you’re missing — we’re losing that community part of it. So when we do, unfortunately, have to have those shared experiences, let’s share them and build those connections and those relationships. Again, I’ve said this in the past. You do not need to live in each other’s pockets. You all have your own lives. But just to have that, like you said, muscle memory, that connection of someone you know you can call, trust, ask for help. You need to have that before you need it. So that’s it. We did move that.
Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.):
Well, let’s ask this one. And it kind of leads off of that, that great answer there. So as you look out at the Air Force and you look out at the Space Force, where are you most concerned with our families and our Airmen? And where are you most — what provides you the most hope or you’re most energized by as you look out at Guardians and their families? So how do you — what’s the best and what’s the area that you want to — that concerns you the most?
Gen. David W. Allvin:
Worries and concerns. I don’t have a lot. Heavy interest in ensuring that as the pace of change continues to accelerate and there’s sort of this greater separation because of greater experience difference between the very youngest and the very oldest, we need to still find a way to understand each level and be able to understand how to lead those Americans who come in and want to be led. They want to be led. It might be slightly differently. It might be in a way that we weren’t — didn’t come up because people forget. We’re one generation away from a conscription generation. Conscription. Yeah. So to be able to understand that, I think — I wouldn’t say I’m concerned, but we need to put tremendous focus on that, I think. And if we get that right, I think we can accelerate both our understanding of how to lead and their understanding of how to be led. That’s maybe the concern area. The hopeful area, man, there’s too many to count. They’re great. They’re talented. They’re coming in. And they still want to serve this great nation. You can’t go wrong with that.
Gen. B. Chance Saltzman:
Yeah, I think it’s a full circle discussion here today because, you know, when we go out to the field and we see the excitement, there’s nothing but hope. You know, as we wind down our careers, all you can hope is that you’re leaving the service better than you found it. And the only way to figure that out, if you’ve done that, is you go out and you talk to the young people and you see if you’re setting them up for success. And if they’re excited and they understand the mission and they are ready to get to work every day, then you feel like, hey, I think we’re going to be great. And I can tell you by talking to them, we’re going to be great. And that’s what gives me the most hope.
Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.):
Thank you.
Jennifer Saltzman:
Not really a concern. Sorry, I’ll be really fast. Oh, no, you go. Take your time. But not a concern. But I always, I’m definitely, you know, I want to make sure always that everybody understands that they are appreciated and needed and welcome. There’s a place for everybody and none of this, the service cannot function unless each and every, you know, Guardian, Airman, family member is, you know, working as a well-oiled machine. We need everybody. So, I mean, communication, once again, we say communication and connection a lot. But the communication piece, you always, I’m concerned that, you know, you didn’t reach everybody or somebody new came in and, you know, you weren’t aware. And so, you always want to make sure that, you know, new families or, you know, new people to your base always know that they’re welcome and invited. And it is, it’s a different, you know, we don’t get, you don’t check in and get, you know, a piece of paper with a list of your, you know, your leadership and all the people with phone numbers. And, I mean, that’s what we used to get because we’re old. And, you know, the way that younger families communicate, just to make sure that we’re not missing and making sure that we know that everybody is not only welcome but needed. That’s, but hope, there’s lots of hope because, I mean, best forces the world’s ever had, so.
Gina Allvin:
Absolutely. So, that hope, we’ll go on to that because the challenges, I don’t know.
Jennifer Saltzman:
But the hope, I mean, because you see it, you see it, I see so much, the habit, the tradition of kindness and empathy. That’s all you need.
Gina Allvin:
Okay, good.
Gen. B. Chance Saltzman:
Hey, you’re not going to be able to top that, Bert.
Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.):
I’m not.
Gen. B. Chance Saltzman:
So, can I ask you a question?
Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.):
Yes.
Gen. B. Chance Saltzman:
I’ve been coming to this thing for a long time now. In fact, I was trying to figure out how many AFAs I’ve been to. The first one I came to, I was a cadet in 1990. There’s been a lot of them. And there’s always this very professional, smooth-sounding voice that talks over the screens and the videos and asks us to come to the stage. Is that AI generated now? Where did that come from? I mean, who’s behind that?
Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.):
Funny you should ask that question, CSO. That’s a guy named Ken Goss. And Ken Goss has been doing this since 1983. As a matter of fact, why don’t we bring Ken up on stage right now? You’ll notice that we didn’t have anybody around to announce him to come up on stage, really. So, that was a problem. But let me tell you a little bit about Ken here. So, Ken answered the call to join AFA when General Russ Dougherty called him up and said, “Hey, I need you to come in. I need some help, and I need you to help me.” And he has held roles as the Executive Vice President. And after that, for several years, he went on to be the Director of Government Relations where he worked up with folks on the Hill. So, he is the voice of conferences, but for many years, he was also the voice of hundreds and thousands of Airmen up on Capitol Hill. So, Ken has been a friend, a colleague, a confidant, a mentor, an advisor, unfortunately, a eulogist, and a historian. He’s played a pivotal role in getting Congress to authorize and pass bills, legislation that enabled AFA to construct the Air Force Memorial. When past Air Force greats shared the message of air power across the nation, Ken was there with them, flying in the same plane, next in the same seat with Jimmy Stewart in Jimmy Stewart’s Cessna 310. Ken was never expected to be the voice of AFA, but when somebody fell out, he stepped in, and the rest is history. This is his last AFA conference, so we wanted to just make sure that you all had a face to go with the voice. And this is the face of AFA.
Ken Goss:
Thank you, Burt. That’s very kind. Oh, my word.
Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.):
Thank you, Ken. I want to thank everybody up here on the stage, but I have another good, sad announcement, and that’s John Tirpak. This is John Tirpak’s 38th Air, Space, and Cyber Conference. It hasn’t always been called the Air, Space & Cyber Conference, and he’s been with AFA for 31 of those. This is his last one as an AFA member or as an AFA employee, but he promises, both Tobias and me, that he’s still going to occasionally help us out when we need it. So let’s give John Tirpak, a great reporter, a great round of applause. Thank you for helping us honor some of our own. I hope you all enjoyed the conference. CSO, Jennifer, Chief, Gina, thank you so much for being part of this. We really appreciate it.