Undersecretary of the Air Force Gina Ortiz Jones, Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost, head of U.S. Transportation Command, and Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach, head of Pacific Air Forces, joined together for a panel on “Preparing for Global Competition” at AFA’s Air, Space & Cyber Conference, Sept. 19, 2022. Watch the video or read the transcript below. This transcript is made possible through the sponsorship of JobsOhio.
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Air and Space Forces Association’s Lt. Gen. Bruce Wright, USAF (Ret.)
Boy, do we have a terrific panel to talk to us about the way ahead today, beginning with the Honorable Gina Ortiz Jones, undersecretary of the Air Force.
Gen. Jacqueline “Jackie” Van Ovost, Commander, U.S. Transportation Command.
And Gen. Kenneth S. “Cruiser” Wilsbach, Commander, Pacific Air Forces.
And if I sound like a cheerleader for this group, you’re right, I am. So please, if you all take your seats. Well, we’re going to start with undersecretary Jones’ opening remarks, then Gen. Van Ovost, if you’re ready. And Gen. Wilsbach, to you. And then we’ll continue around with this group. And I think as you watch them lead as a team, you’ll be impressed. They’re exemplary. So please, Under Secretary, Secretary Jones.
Undersecretary Gina Ortiz Jones
Great. Well, Orville, thank you so much. It’s been a wonderful conference thus far. And when I thought about the title of this panel and then I looked at your genius and who you put on the panel, I thought it was actually reflective of exactly what we need to do and I think what’s going to be a great discussion when we look at the different time phases that are actually represented by each of our participations today on this panel. So when we think about global competition, I mean, let’s be clear. Global competition, yes, but we are talking about China, China, China, China. If that was lost on you from Secretary Kendall’s remarks today, it’s all about China and making sure that we’re ready for the high-end fight there.
But I think it’s also reflective here of the challenge that we have as we balance risk across time. So we’ve got certainly what Cruiser is doing at PACAF, what Gen. Van Ovost is doing as we support our combatant commanders, and then certainly, what myself and the vices do every single week when we go and advocate for the resources that our Airmen and our Guardians need. Right now, we’re talking about 24-28. But ultimately, what we’re talking about is how do we buy down risk? How do we ensure that we are balancing risk, again, in the near term across all of the competing demands? But let’s be clear about keeping the main thing, the main thing. The main thing is ensuring that we are addressing the pacing challenge—China’s actions that threaten our security, challenge our security, our interests, and our values frankly, and that rhetoric, those actions are only increasing.
So the ways in which we can buy down that risk is really what the operational imperatives have been about. Many of you heard the Secretary talk about those earlier today. But when we think about global competition, you’ve got to act and invest like you’re in a competition. And that’s exactly what those operational imperatives over the last year that we’ve been working hard on all across the department. And now, as we are looking to shape ’24 and ’28 and that budget to make sure that our investments reflect, again, the capabilities that really we need in that timeframe as we not only ensure that we’re ready, but we are best able to support the joint force, that’s really how we think about global competition, certainly in campaigning. But again, making sure that we’re making the smart investments. So I look forward to the good discussion, but I think that frames exactly where we’re at right now.
Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost
Thanks, Madam Secretary. As we discussed this morning and then Chief talked about, as well as the Secretary, the strategic environment has really changed. And if you think about Ukraine’s heroic defense of their nation, how it demonstrated the importance of unified support, positional advantage, secure lines of communication, and the value of air and space power. And as the Secretary said, this is all about balancing risk. So as we reflect on those operational successes, just recognize, and I think we all do, that that’s not what the future portends for us. So how are we going to get after it? I think about the growing challenge of complexity that the Chief talked about and our ability to continue to deliver. When we think about a wartime scenario, there’ll be significant logistical demands. So how will we adapt into that future? And that will start here in the homeland.
And then, of course, in the Pacific, with China as the forefront, the significant distances we have to cover to maneuver the force and supply the force really make this quite the challenge. And it’s driving an increased reliance on the air component, Air Mobility Command with their rapid global mobility. And an increased reliance on airpower and space power that we talked about this morning. So I think about how we minimize risk, our ability to continue to deploy, maneuver, and sustain the joint force. It’s going to require us through what we call our warfighting framework at TRANSCOM, our global mobility posture, our global mobility capacity, and our ability to command and control, and integrate within the Joint scheme of maneuver will all be pretty critical to the fight.
We talk about our amazing allies and partners, who provide us that access basing and overflight and an ability to use their resources and networks to ensure that we can maneuver and maintain that freedom to maneuver. But I also want to remind everyone, it starts right here in the homeland, with our own homeland defense. Eighty-five percent of the force elements expected to go to the fight will emanate here out of the CONUS. And I think about the non-kinetic and kinetic activities that could occur. We’re working very closely with NORTHCOM and CYBERCOM on ensuring that we can protect the homeland, our ports here, our railways, and our roads to ensure that we’ll be there to be able to mobilize and maneuver the force at a time and place of our choosing. And then on the capacity. So as I said, we’re more reliant on rapid global mobility than ever.
And I think about our strategic airlift capacity. We have to make sure that it is ready and it is credible. And I think about air refueling. It is our most stressed fleet. It is required in every national defense strategy mission set. So we have to think about how do we preserve that capability? And when we talk about credible capacity, credible capacity is what we’re trying to do across the force with respect to JADC2. It’s an ability to be connected, to understand the environment through a battlespace awareness, having secure crypto so that we can communicate and we can leverage that data to ensure that we can get decision advantage at all echelons so that we can execute command intent at all echelons, because we know that we’ll be challenged to maintain that connections throughout. So that credible capacity is absolutely necessary for the joint fight.
And then our ability to command and control, and integrate. Keeping those systems up. I think about logistics can no longer be an afterthought. It’s got to be integrated into all joint warfighting functions, from planning until execution. And that’s the only way we’re going to be able to maneuver at tempo to meet the Joint force requirements. And meet it, we will. And we can’t do it with all airlift. And we’ve got to be thinking about fast sealift ships. What can our allies and partners bring? What about multinational logistics? And we’re very focused right now on fuel, to ensure, number one, we got to get fuel out. How are we going to be able to do that in multiple ways? Because we cannot depend solely on airlift. It’s an amazing airplane, the C-17 and C-5, but they will not be able to manage the capacity that we have.
I think right now in Ukraine, as much as we’re doing great, great work in Ukraine, C-17s and C-5s are just killing it. They’re only moving about 20 percent of the air missions, 80 percent is being moved by our commercial partners. We got to be able to protect that capacity. And then, in the end, it’s all about our Airmen and Guardians. They get after it. They know they’re going to get after it. We’re going to make sure that they’re ready, and that the equipment is ready, and we give them every opportunity to exercise this capability, which is what we’re trying to do out in the Pacific to close those gaps. Because closing those gaps, we’ll do that. We’re committed.
Air and Space Forces Association’s Lt. Gen. Bruce Wright, USAF (Ret.)
Thanks, General. Gen. Wilsbach.
Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach
Thanks, Gen. Wright. I really appreciate the opportunity to be in this panel and it’s such an honor to be able to share the platform with two amazing professionals that are on either side of me. And I totally agree with what both of you said and certainly the Secretary said. It’s all about China. And certainly China’s the pacing threat. But I’d like to step back and just why are we competing? Well, it’s because countries like China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, they don’t believe in the international rules-based order. They want to impose their will. And they’re willing to do just about anything to impose that will on the rest of the world that do value a rules-based international order. And so that’s why we have to compete. And certainly, China is the pacing threat. And so in the area of responsibility that I have, we spend just about every day competing with China.
And one of the ways that we do that is through our allies and partners. And this is an advantage that we have that our competitors don’t have. Because if you think about who’s on their team and who’s on our team, we’ve got a lot more teammates. And we should take advantage of that at every opportunity. And so we in PACAF and in the Indo-Pacific try to do as many exercises and other activities with our allies and partners to work toward interoperability and learn one another’s best practices and implement those tactics, techniques, and procedures. And that is something that China doesn’t really have anybody that they can say they do that with. Even though we’ve seen them exercising recently with Russia, it’s very transactional. And from what we can tell, there’s not a whole lot of sharing going on. It’s very stove-piped. So that’s a significant advantage and one that we should continue to propagate as we go forward.
The other aspect is having excellent activities and capabilities with our Joint partners. And if you’ve seen from my bio, I’ve been in the Pacific a lot of my career. And I can report to you at this juncture that it has never been better from the standpoint of joint integration of operations. And in fact, it’s fairly safe for me to say that as of this very moment, there is something that is integrated amongst the Joint force that is playing out in the Pacific, because it happens every day, 24/7. There’s some kind of Airman, Sailor, Soldier, Marine, and Guardian that is doing something together to compete with China and as well as North Korean and Russia.
And so the joint aspect of what we need to do is getting better and better. And being able to integrate effects faster than our adversaries can respond to them in a meaningful way is what we continue to press forward. As we go forward and we think about what is meaningful to our adversaries and those that we’re competing with in our region in the Pacific or others, we’ve got to determine what is it that gets their attention? What is it that deters them from nefarious activities? And I’ll tell you, one of the areas that we’re working on in the Pacific is Agile Combat Employment. And you heard Gen. Brown talk about this. We’ve seen from the operational imperatives that it’s included in that. And we are working on that very aggressively in the Pacific. And as a matter of fact, I reported to the press earlier that about a year ago we determined that we had reached our initial operating capability with respect to Agile Combat Employment for PACAF.
And so now, since then until now and into the future, we’ll be working on full operational capability for Agile Combat Employment, which will continue to stress our Airmen. But I’ll tell you, they’re up to the task. And I certainly count on Gen. Van Ovost and the other MAJCOMs to be able to accomplish this. And we absolutely count on the Secretary and the work that she’s doing as well as the rest of the HAF to help us modernize to achieve agile combat employment as well as the capabilities that we need to have as we go forward into the future.
Air and Space Forces Association’s Lt. Gen. Bruce Wright, USAF (Ret.)
Thanks, sir. Secretary Jones, back to you for just a moment. You often talk about how the Department of the Air Force is preparing for a high-end fight to meet a high-end threat. But we cannot do that without the right people. Could you please walk us through a bit more what the Department of the Air Force is doing to maximize the national talent pool for the nation’s defense, Airmen, Guardians, and Department of the Air Force civilians?
Undersecretary Gina Ortiz Jones
Absolutely. Secretary Kendall earlier talked about our strategic advantage, which is always our people. Making sure we’ve got the best and brightest. Understanding that when they come to the Department of the Air Force as an Airman, as a Guardian, as a civil servant, that they’re going to be able to serve to their full potential, because we’ve got some really hard problems that we need the best helping us think through. And certainly, again, the operational imperatives are just, we went through kind of the first tranche of those and those will continue. But the ways in which we think about attaining and continuing to maintain air and space superiority, we’re going to need, again, the best and brightest helping us do that.
But I think that only comes about certainly, when we talk about the opportunities in the Department of the Air Force. But I think that also comes about when we are intentional in how we demonstrate that if you do come to the Department of the Air Force, you’re going to be able to serve to your full potential. And ensuring that, again, regardless of where you came from, regardless of what you studied, regardless of your background, there’s a place for you. And certainly, as the Secretary mentioned earlier, it’s a high calling. It’s a high calling to serve your country, certainly. And less than 1 percent, as we all know, will actually wear the nation’s cloth. But to be able to be part of something bigger than yourself, along with all the other benefits certainly that come with being a member of our Department of the Air Force. But really again, it’s really about mission readiness for us. Let me give you one example of that.
We recently had a meeting at the department where we were talking about our competition for strategic talent. And the last time we had looked at our talent pool and our goals, if you will, with regard to some critical languages, was in 2004. That was a long time ago. That was a completely different threat. I mean that was Baghdad times. We’re in Beijing times. And our critical talent pool with respect to these language skills did not reflect essentially what we needed. And part of that goes back to, one, how do we understand what we will need? But also, how we’re being deliberate about bringing in that talent. When you look at, for example, how long it takes to create a Chinese linguist at a 3-3 level, which is increasingly what our warfighters say they need, it takes about six to eight years, if you take somebody right off the street to do that. That’s a long time. That’s time we don’t have.
You know who can probably get to a 3-3, if they’re not already at a 3-3, much quicker? Chinese Americans. First-generation kids, that if they come in, if they can see again the opportunities, they can see that they’re going to have a fruitful one term, several terms in the Department of the Air Force, that might be something that is attractive for them, and something that they may consider, had they not previously. That’s important though, because when we look at what we need, what I just described, that talent, that skillset versus where we already have some challenges in terms of recruiting into the Department of the Air Force, and that’s not actually just the Department of the Air Force, that’s across the entire department, we already start off with a smaller pool of Asian Americans coming into serve.
And so how do we think about, again, being intentional, our recruiters being intentional, our outreach being intentional, our messaging being intentional and certainly being intentional in how we retain the best talent? I mean, our currently serving Airmen and Guardians are always going to be our number one commercials. And so when they come in and they serve and they go home to their communities and they talk about what they’re able to do at Clear Space Force Base or what they were able to do serving at PACAF, that is always going to be better than any commercial that we can have. And so making sure that we are and if we identify as those disparities, we’re closing them again, in the interest of ensuring that we are keeping the best talent, but also ensuring the pipeline of talent into national security is what it needs to be based on some of these challenges that we have.
And that’s not just on the language skillset piece, but I mean when any of the those with a technical skillset as well. I mean, it’s really hard to compete certainly, when the economy is good. But how we think about ensuring folks understand certainly the opportunities, but the trajectory they could have in the Department of the Air Force is as critical to our operational success as any other.
Air and Space Forces Association’s Lt. Gen. Bruce Wright, USAF (Ret.)
Thank you, ma’am. Gen. Van Ovost, could you elaborate a bit, and you’ve covered this somewhat already, but what do you believe will be a critical attribute today and going forth into the future across our Indo-Pacific INDOPACOM AOR? A critical attribute?
Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost
Orville, when I think about the six future attributes to the Joint force, the one that really rings out and what we have to get after is agility. It begins with those amazing, talented Airmen and Guardians coming into our force and our training exercise to think like warriors and to get after the problem with the resources that they have. But when I think about agility for us, again, we talked a little bit about this. Our ability to C2, to look at all the data and make advanced decisions, starts with connected platforms. I mean, just simply having battlespace awareness and being able to securely C2 and navigate greatly increases our survivability and our ability to execute commander intent. So that’s got to be the baseline for all of our platforms.
All of our platforms should be sensors. And we should try to leverage that data at echelon. But again, agility requires that we are out-thinking the enemy, that we’re out there exercising these opportunities and coming back with new ideas and not being scared to try something new in a new way. And I think that we’ve provided a lot of opportunities to do that. I’m really looking forward to a series of exercises that are occurring over the next year, beginning with Guide and then moving into Mobility Guardian next year. They’re going to help us solve some of those key gaps to be a more agile force.
Air and Space Forces Association’s Lt. Gen. Bruce Wright, USAF (Ret.)
Thanks, ma’am. All three of you can speak very well to Agile Combat Employment, but for Gen. Wilsbach, if you might drill down a little bit, names and places. But more importantly, for the industry audience, requirements to make ACE real. Agile Combat Employment, across the huge AOR within which you’re operating, please.
Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach
You bet. So I think I’ll start with bridging from what Undersecretary Jones said and what Gen. Van Ovost said about the people aspect of this. And the first thing is Airman that are capable of doing multiple tasks, we call them multi-capable Airmen, and we’ve talked about that the last few years. But we’re really starting to see that play out now both in Europe and in the Pacific. And even in the CONUS. And we need Airmen that can do their primary assigned task, but they also have to be able to do other tasks. And generally, we’re not asking, for example, somebody who normally might work in services to now start turning wrenches on an aircraft. But you can imagine that perhaps a crew chief might be able to load weapons. And that’s normally two separate career fields. But we’re trying to group similar career fields so that we can get more accomplished with the same number of people.
Because it really addresses what Gen. Van Ovost said, which is the ability to be agile. And it’s tough to be agile when you need to bring 200 people, say, to an island to support six jets. That’s not agile and certainly not light. To the point that the undersecretary made, which is recruiting and retaining the best people, we also have to have those people. And I have to report to you, I’m very impressed with the force as they’ve taken on this role of multi-capable Airmen. They’re extremely excited. You should see some of the folks that are for the first time marshaling in an F-35 into a parking spot. And they’ve never worked on the flightline before and they’re helping the crew chief turn the airplane. They’re so excited about it. And they’re excited about the challenge of learning something new and being really at the tip of the spear. And so that personnel piece of Agile Combat Employment is so important.
The next part that we need to work on and we are working on is the command and control aspect of Agile Combat Employment. So as you might imagine, if you disperse your force across numerous airfields, say you had a hundred airfields and you’ve got six to 12 jets at all those airfields, you have to make sure that everybody at those airfields knows what the plan is for the day. And what’s expected of them, what we need them to get airborne, where to go and then what to do when you get there. Certainly, you need to keep parts, and fuel, and food, and water. And maybe even experts that will do specific maintenance actions at those places. And in order to make sure that all that happens, you have to have a command and control system that enables that.
In addition to that, you also need to have a supply system that will get the right part to the right person at the right time. And you have to have the assets to be able to do that. One of the ways that we’re reducing the risk on that is by prepositioning. And the undersecretary, among others, worked on getting us some funding last year and there’s more funding this year for prepositioning equipment all across the Pacific. And the same as true in Europe. And that will reduce some of the risk, especially in the short term on resupply. But as you go forward, you’re still going to have to be able to do logistics in a contested environment. And so those are probably the things that come to mind first. Thanks.
Air and Space Forces Association’s Lt. Gen. Bruce Wright, USAF (Ret.)
Thanks, sir. Secretary Jones, back to you, please. Can you talk to us a bit more about a relatively new phrase, integrated deterrence? You talk about it every day. And certainly for me and this audience, both with us and the live streamed audience, talk a bit more from your own experience about integrated deterrence, and especially, how allies and partners across the INDOPACOM AOR are such an important part of integrated deterrence.
Undersecretary Gina Ortiz Jones
Absolutely. So integrated deterrence fundamentally is about how do we marshal all of our resources as a country? But how do we also engage with our partners and allies, bring the full bear of our capabilities to ensure that we are deterring those that would threaten our security, our interests, and our values? So that’s the definition. But I think we’re seeing every single day what it actually looks like. And that’s with Ukraine. Our response before the attack, frankly, where we used exquisite intelligence to help explain, certainly to our partners and allies, to the American people and to others interested, in what exactly we were seeing. And frankly, how well we were seeing it and what we thought that could portend for the future, as well as the way in which we’ve responded since the attack, since the invasion rather, which is again, frankly, working quite hard to ensure that the Ukrainians have the resources, the information that they need.
Marshaling international support to ensure that’s sustained. Frankly, the way in which everyone has seen the continued indispensability of our NATO alliance, which will grow shortly by two, all of that, I think, speaks to what is possible with integrated deterrence. And certainly, it’s doing the things, but really it’s a mindset. How do we ensure that we are doing everything possible within our grasp to deter those that would again, threaten our security, our interests and our values? I think it’s been really though, I just want to pick up a little bit on what Cruiser just mentioned though, when we think about integrated deterrence, integrated deterrence is the way in which we can best buy ourselves back some time.
Certainly, when you think about prepositioning, what that does, not only does it frankly, support our divestment strategy, which is important, but it also makes it a much more complicated targeting problem for our adversaries, which is important when we think about, again, buying ourselves time as they frankly, potentially waste resources, waste time in trying to figure out what is that and how to potentially mitigate it. So integrated deterrence is how do we work together? But at the end of the day, it’s really about how do we reduce the risk in the near term as we are again, every single week, myself and the vices, going into these Demags and advocating for the resources that we know are needed in a high-end fight? So there are things that we can do in the near term as we get to the capabilities that we know are most necessary.
When I think of partners and allies, it’s interesting, sometimes folks will say, “Well, how are you integrating partners and allies into this?” And I take a step back from that question, to be frank, because I think there’s a little bit of a humility that’s much more needed, I think, in the Indo-Pacific AOR than we might have, for example, with our NATO allies, just because that alliance is so mature. Everyone knows what NATO Article 2 is. Everyone knows what Article 5 is. We don’t have that same construct in the Indo-Pacific. And so absent that, we have to, I think, have a little bit more humility in terms of understanding what exactly is the why for our partners and allies in the region. And having a clearer understanding of that will help us understand where truly our mutual challenges and opportunities to help us understand how far we can go and how quickly, because these folks have to live in the neighborhood.
And it’s important that I think we recognize that. But also frankly, through our investments, through our presence, through our exercise, through the ways in which we make ACE real, are demonstrating our commitment to security and peace in the region. Certainly, through our actions as well that are not just frankly, limited to the Department of Defense, but through all of the other engagements that we have across the USG. I think though, it’s really important that we recognize kind of where some of our partners and allies are now as they are leaning forward based on their own renewed understandings of the security environment. Certainly, it’s exciting what is happening in Japan as we look at their willingness to engage in a way that we haven’t seen in quite a while. Certainly, Australia as they’re going through their own defense review individually, but also, as we think about the opportunities there in concert with AUKUS.
These are all things that we need to be encouraging and frankly, thinking about in the context of maybe our more mature security alliances. So I was very encouraged when we had for the first time four Asia-Pacific partners show up to a NATO summit, the Madrid Summit. That was the first time that happened. And so since then, there have been some agreements to work in some other places. But I think that is really, again, when we think about integrated deterrence, what are our resources, what are our alliances right now and how do we expand upon those based on a mutual understanding of our challenges and opportunities, that’s where we need to go when it comes to, I think, not only integrated deterrence, but how we engage in the region.
Air and Space Forces Association’s Lt. Gen. Bruce Wright, USAF (Ret.)
Thank you, ma’am. In shifting back to Gen. Van Ovost, you’re really a proven expert in so many ways to prevailing in the joint deployment distribution enterprise construct involving COVID-19. You’ve prevailed certainly evacuation from Afghanistan and everything that’s going on in Ukraine. So I know the audience would like to hear from you. And not to preclude Gen. Minihan’s pitch later this week, you can brag about your Kabul C-17 air crews a bit as a very experienced C-141, C-17 pilot. So please, ma’am.
Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost
Thanks. Well, I say again as we look at the strategic environment and all the great things our Airman did with respect to not just the quick roll-up of Afghanistan FOBs, but the retrograde and the NEO and now what we’re doing in Ukraine, just amazing, amazing work. But we have a lot of lessons that we’re learning. We’re learning them every day. And they’re all directly applicable to what we’re doing in the Pacific. And really, this is where we need your help and your creativity. We recognized that what we had to do, we had to do quickly, at a higher tempo than we expected and at a higher velocity and higher scale numbers-wise. So we faulted a little bit in our ability to scale quickly. And that is something we are working on, an exercise in the Pacific. It’s absolutely necessary.
We had to abandon some of our processes and some of our AT systems, because they were not supportive of what we were trying to do. So we have some major changes in the line when it comes to that. And that absolutely has to do with gathering all of the data as well, and our ability to connect and make decisions real-time on what is happening. Linking into what the Secretary said, we could not have done it without our allies and partners. Nine nations with us, and temporary safe havens, and allowing us that overflight, allowing us to get this done. We’re going to need that in spades in the Pacific, because we used to only have a few nodes in the Pacific. Really, less than 10 or so that we use every day on normal stuff. Nowadays, we’re branching out with Agile Combat Employment, expeditionary air base ops, all the Joint service maneuver concepts that are using more ports, more beaches, more airports than ever.
And so our ability to scale not only in capacity, but working with our allies and partners to know what the playing field is going to look like, should we have to have a conflict in the Pacific. And so deepening those relationships with them is really, really critical, because had we not had them, the entire Afghan operation would’ve been a different story. So we’re still learning a lot. We’re applying those lessons. And we really want your cards and letters. I know Air Mobility Command is happy to have them. I’m happy to have them. But we got to work together in the joint scheme maneuver. Imagine if we could anticipate the branches of the joint scheme maneuver, understand the consumption race of fuel, munitions, and spare parts, and glass one, and everything that we need, and be able to push those logistics forward during periods of domain superiority, that’s what we need to be about. And that’s where we need your help.
Air and Space Forces Association’s Lt. Gen. Bruce Wright, USAF (Ret.)
Thanks, ma’am. Well, this is the fun part of my job. A bit of a speed round. Unexpected, but I know you all are prepared. We’re going to talk about leadership, Gen. Wilsbach, and then Gen. Van Ovost and, of course, Secretary Jones to wrap up. You all lead at levels beyond the earth really you’re working with, Airmen and Guardians, both every day. So if you would, a couple of leadership principles that you apply, that you use. And I’m listening to every word, because even at 50 years in our Air Force, I’m still learning. So Gen. Wilsbach, Gen. Van Ovost and Secretary Jones to wrap up. Leadership.
Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach
Thanks. So I had an opportunity to go to weapon school when I was a youngster. And I took away some lessons during that course that I’ve used as I’ve progressed in my career and had the opportunity to lead larger organizations. And so humble, credible, approachable, so the motto of the weapons officer. And so leading as a humble leader, but still with credibility and the ability to do your job very, very well and approachable. And the approachable part, I think, is, especially as you get into larger organizations, is being able to have your staff, your colleagues and also, certainly, your boss to ask you tough questions. And not being afraid to ask you tough questions. Or, even to give you a solid critique, “Hey, boss, you’re just wrong on this and here’s why.” And so that has been one aspect that I’ve tried to employ in the organizations that I’ve had the opportunity to lead.
The other aspect of leadership that I took away from weapons school is, plan, brief, execute, debrief. I mean, for those that have been in the flying business, that’s what you do every day in the flying business. But as you expand your responsibilities beyond one mission, beyond a flight, beyond maybe a Red Flag sortie, it works for large organizations, too. So the plan part is decide what the objective is. Come up with a plan that is executable and resourced, et cetera, et cetera. And then communicate with the rest of your organization what the plan is and what their role as you go forward. Obviously, execute, expecting that there’s going to be tertiary branches and sequels that you’re going to have to perform. And then the debrief part of it, which is where we really make our improvements, which is what went well? What didn’t go well? And how can we get better for next time?
And again, in that debrief, just like we learn in everyday flying ops, everybody that’s in the mission is subject to the debrief. And that usually starts with the flight lead. And so in the debrief of my organization, it starts with me. And so my folks can debrief me on how I could be a better PACAF commander or a better boss. And then we share the lessons learned and get better for next time. And then the cycle repeats.
Air and Space Forces Association’s Lt. Gen. Bruce Wright, USAF (Ret.)
Thanks, sir. Gen. Van Ovost and then just Secretary Jones to wrap up, please.
Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost
Thanks. Just real quickly, diverse, empowered teams. Different experience. When you’re making those teams out there that help solve these wicked problems, you need folks from all the career fields, all the services, all the best that you can bring to the problem and empower them. The first time you say no right away and you haven’t even listened to their pitch is the last time they’re going to pitch something to you. So if you really mean empowerment, then mean empowerment. Listen to what they have to say. And executing, if we fail, it’s a calculated risk and we move on. But they need to know that you’re supporting them and that their voices matter.
Air and Space Forces Association’s Lt. Gen. Bruce Wright, USAF (Ret.)
Thanks, ma’am. Secretary Jones.
Undersecretary Gina Ortiz Jones
Absolutely. So when I think of leadership, I think of leading by example. And I think that it certainly has a role also as we think about integrated deterrence. So a couple of months ago, we identified that one of our partners in the Indo-Pacific did not allow female students at their equivalent of ACSC. Certainly, that raised some questions for me. One, why? And two, who signed off on that? And so thankfully, we were able to engage with OSD. And they helped carry the water with this one country. And folks wanted to see if we might be able to do that in two or three years down the road. And I said, “No. You need to do this as soon as possible.” Because when we think about integrated deterrence, fundamentally, again, this is about our values and integrated deterrence, one of those key values has to be that 50 percent of the population is as worthy as the other 50 percent.
So thankfully, OSD carried the water. And now we will have a female officer at that school. And that other country will have two female officers for the first time at that school. And so again, I think again, integrated deterrence is most powerful when we are leading by example. And there’s no shortage of opportunities to demonstrate again, the type of country that we are and the type of partnerships that are our values are, that are, excuse me, the type of values that our partnerships should be based on and will only be stronger for it. Lastly, I think leaders always remind those that they are working with, and for, and alongside that they remind them of the main thing. And y’all, given that the moment in time that we’re in, if you don’t wake up thinking about the pacing challenge, you’re doing it wrong. That’s where we’re at.
Air and Space Forces Association’s Lt. Gen. Bruce Wright, USAF (Ret.)
Well, thank you to our panel. Our nation is blessed. Really, in many ways our world is blessed by such proven, capable leaders with the heart for serving our nation and for taking care of our Airmen, and Guardians, and civilian workforce across and around the world. So for all three of you, it’s an honor to be on your wing. And please join me in a round of applause for Secretary Jones, Gen. Wilsbach and Gen. Van Ovost.
