Accelerate Change
When I was a captain, I did an interview for Air Force Times, and it talked about the percentage of African Americans that were pilots. It was 2 percent. That was 30 years ago. You know what it is right now? It’s still 2 percent.Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., Dec. 22, 2020, speaking at a Facebook town hall.
Risky Business
It’s not a good thing when our aircraft break down in a Russian airfield, and you’ve got to stay there for three to five days waiting for a part. That’s unacceptable, and it’s what’s happening all too often
Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) discussing the OC-135B fleet during a Dec. 10, 2020, press call.
Alarmed
They [maintainers] don’t have experience and are tired. They are tired and are crying for help. The response is shut up and color.A USAF maintainer told the National Commission on Aviation Safety, according to a report released Dec. 3, 2020.
I Play a Doctor on TV
Official Washington has long disrespected cybersecurity expertise in a way that would be unthinkable in other complex professions. The Senate would never confirm a malpractice attorney to be a surgeon general.Alex Stamos, director of the Stanford Internet Observatory, op-ed, Washington Post, [Dec. 15, 2020].
Building a Space Force
I need you to be bold. You will help us build this service from the ground up. You will help us define our warfighting culture. You will build the Space Force as the first digital service. You will lay the foundation of a service that is innovative and can go fast in order to stay ahead of a significant and growing threat, and you, if deterrence fails, will fight and win the battle for space superiority which is so vital to our nation, our allies and our joint and coalition forces. The nation expects you to deliver dominant space power.Chief of Space Operations Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond speaking to the first seven [five men, two women] BMT graduates to directly enlist into the U.S. Space Force before administering the Oath of Enlistment [Dec. 10, 2020].
Winners Never Quit
We believe that now after 20 years, two decades of consistent effort there, we’ve achieved a modicum of success.Gen. Mark A. Milley on Afghanistan during a virtual Brookings Institution discussion
[Dec. 2, 2020].
Getting Back on the Horse
Team members need to know that they can recover, right? We’re not a one mistake Air Force. We may be a one crime [service], but not one mistake.From a September interview on diversity and inclusion efforts within the NAF with 8th Air Force Command Chief, Chief Master Sgt. Melvina A. Smith.
Moonlighting
I had a day job in these other companies so that I could support my DOD habit.Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Director Victoria Coleman, in a Nov. 18, 2020, Air Force Magazine interview.