Don’t Get Me Started
Social media has a huge impact on information warfare, and the need for digital and social media literacy has never been greater. And that is whether it’s in grade school, and most certainly throughout the military. A generation of American sons and daughters who would enter our Air Force spend nearly, on average, four hours a day on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, YouTube, and don’t get me started on TikTok. The adversaries know this and they are taking full advantage. Information Warfare threatens to disrupt our way of life, and to some degree, our will to fight as a unified nation, and every one of us has a responsibility to ensure that we are ready, alert, and aware of the tactics of the adversaries. They don’t care if you’re at home or at work, the information domain is ever present. The Airmen today and into the future have got to be critical thinkers who are collectively focused so that our Air Force can be what it needs to be when our nation calls on us.Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force JoAnne S. Bass, at AFA’s 2022 Air, Space & Cyber Conference (ASC22), Sept. 21.
Changing Times
Western nations want to preserve the Old World Order, which benefits only them, to make everyone follow the ‘rules’ they invented themselves and which they regularly break or change to their benefit. … The policies adopted by the leaders of the U.S. and its allies run counter to the public’s interests, which they are supposed to protect–this shows the Western elites are ‘detached from their own people.’
Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia [RT.com, Sept. 7].
At the Speed of Yesterday
My aviators need JATM in high quantity numbers yesterday. And so I’ll advocate for the testing to go forward … as fast as the testing enterprise and risk will allow, and I need to get it bolted on their airplanes yesterday. … (I) shot AMRAAMs 25 years ago. I need to get them something different.Gen. Mark D. Kelly, head of Air Combat Command, speaking with reporters Sept. 21 about the classified AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile, which expands on the range and capability of the AIM-120 AMRAAM.
Get Ready
We have combat air patrols in the air, with live weapons, as a deterrent to Russia. But we don’t want to just do that. Because if you just do that, you’re just doing circles in the sky, and you get very inproficient. … As we move forward, the new normal is going to be a lot of practicing with other nations … on missions that we’re going to have to do should Russia decide to attack a neighbor.Gen. James B. Hecker, commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa, speaking to reporters at ASC22, Sept. 19.
Madness
There will never be any declaration of giving up our nukes or denuclearization, nor any kind of negotiations or bargaining to meet the other side’s conditions.North Korean leader Kim Jong Un speech on nuclear weapons as the Parliament passed a new law allowing preemptive nuclear strikes [Wall Street Journal, Sept. 9].
Money Matters
The DAF leadership knows we can’t expect Airmen and Guardians to give their all to the mission when they are worried about paying for gas to get to work, finding child care, and providing their family a safe place to live. That starts with compensation.Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, speaking at ASC22, Sept. 19.
The Future Is Now
Nobody is going to care what our plans are for five to 10 years if we lose tomorrow.Gen. Mike Minihan, commander of Air Mobility Command, speaking at ASC22.