The Air Force We Need
Agility is the counterweight to the uncertainty of the future and its associated rapid rate of change. We learned
from sequestration that our brittle system often leads to suboptimal decisions that are difficult to reverse. Huge, long-term
programs limit our options; we are too often left with “all or nothing” outcomes and “double or nothing” budget decisions.
We must transform into a more agile enterprise to maintain our edge in the emerging environment and leverage the full
innovative potential resident in all our Airmen. This characteristic must permeate every level of our Air Force, but the
requirement is particularly acute in the following areas:
Development and Education
Innovative Airmen power the Air Force, and their development starts the day they enter the service. Though we are
often viewed as the service most associated with technology, we know that our ability to recruit and retain exceptional
Airmen is the cornerstone of our business. Historically, we have enjoyed great success in recruiting high quality people
into our force, but we can ill afford to assume that the methods of the past will be sufficient in the future. As we look
to the dynamic environment ahead, we must identify and recruit those who possess the character, skills, education, and
aptitude to thrive in this setting. These are not only technical skills, but also critical thinking, adaptive behavior, and
diversity of thought. Identifying those traits will require a more nuanced approach, but if we are to develop Airmen to
effectively lead the Air Force into the future, we must start with the right “raw material.”
Developing the Airmen of the future will also entail maturing
them along career paths that may not follow the well-trodden
ones of old. Our model of twenty years of continual service
in the same “company” is a 20th-century construct that is
not widely replicated in the private sector. Without a more
creative concept for continuum of service, we may find
ourselves out of step and face more difficulty retaining the
creativity and innovation in leadership we will require at
all levels. For example, breaks in service – or transitions
between full-time and part-time – need not be punitive in the
advancement of our future Airmen. Rather, the experience
they gain during their time out of uniform should be
recognized for the broader perspective it delivers. Similarly,
we must commit to a career development model that provides those in specialized career fields with incentives and
promotion opportunities on par with those in more mainstream disciplines. This will require a more sophisticated,
tailored approach – one more complex to be sure. However, the reward will be a new breed of Airmen and leaders
who exhibit diverse ways of thinking and collectively provide the foundation of a more innovative Air Force culture.
To maintain superior agility in the future, the education and training of our Airmen must be relevant and responsive. The
Air Force must embrace the concept of life-long learning, which draws meaningful connections between the discrete
educational experiences throughout a career. The science of education is changing before our eyes, and we can expect
that our children will receive a fundamentally different experience in primary education than we did. For example,
information technology is producing new delivery methods that can tailor the pace of study in different subjects to the
students’ strengths and weaknesses, ensuring more effective learning through their continuum of education. The Air
Force must mirror the new content and delivery methods that are becoming available to our youth. Failure to do so can
yield “negative learning” and slow the development of our Airmen.