The Air Force has a problem within the nation’s intelligence community, Gen. Michael V. Hayden today told AFA’s Air Warfare Symposium. Hayden, deputy director of national intelligence and the nation’s highest-ranking uniformed intelligence official, said that there are currently no Air Force officers serving as J-2s—intelligence directors—in any of the Defense Department’s nine unified commands. This is not just a career opportunity problem, he suggested, but a roles and missions issue, because the absence of Air Force officers colors the way combatant commands look at the problems they face. This lack of an Air Force intelligence viewpoint “tends to have an influence” on the way America fights its wars, he cautioned. If DOD’s intelligence views don’t mesh with Air Force views, whose fault is that?, Hayden asked.
China thinks it will be able to invade Taiwan by 2027 and has developed a technology edge in many key areas—but it is artificial intelligence that may be the decisive factor should conflict erupt, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said.