Welcome remarks from the 2019 Air Space and Cyber Conference

Transcript

[Announcer] Please rise for the presentation of colors and the playing of our national anthem by the US Air Force Ceremonial Brass. (military march music) (“The Star-Spangled Banner”) (drill commands shouted) (“You’re a Grand Old Flag”) The invocation this morning will be given by AFA’s chaplain former Air Force Chief of Chaplains, Major General Charles Baldwin.

[Chaplain Baldwin] Let us pray. Gracious and Holy God, You are great and greatly to be praised. Thank You for being present at this opening of the air, space, and cyber conference and the awards ceremony. You know, Lord, we AFA types like our planes and aero stuff old and new. We’ve got buffs twice as old as the pilots who fly them. We’ve got a new Pegasus that refuels, a new Lightning that fights, and RPAs that provide ISR around the world. We’ve even got artificial intelligence in multi-domain operations that make the green eyeshade guys on the third floor impressed. Please use these instruments of peace to keep us safe and free. Even more than the planes and the programs, oh God, we love our people. The aviators and missileers, the crew dogs and crew chiefs, cops and cooks, logies and lawyers, cyber-techs and cyber-warriors, docs and preachers, and countless women and men who patrol the mountains of Afghanistan, and serve in the highest echelons of leadership inside and outside the beltway. Thank you Lord for our airmen and for their families, who keep the watch and pray us safely home. With all these planes, people, and power, Lord, keep us on our knees, seeking Your wisdom and guidance in this dangerous world. Use this conference for Your glory and the benefit of all mankind, for Yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

[Announcer] Thank you Chaplain Baldwin. Please be seated. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the stage the 19th Secretary of the United States Air Force, and the Air Force Association’s chairman of the board, the Honorable F. Whitten Peters. (applause) (uplifting orchestral music)

[F. Whitten Peters] Well, it is great to be here on Monday morning at the Gaylord. I guess I should start by saying, ladies and gentlemen, good morning.

[Audience] Good morning.

That’s pretty hearty. Let’s try it one more time and see if we can really wake up. Good morning!

[Audience] Good morning!

That’s good. 72nd birthday of the United States Air Force. 73rd birthday for me, so (audience sounds drown out speaker). It always used to bother me that when I was on a B-52, I was the only person on board older than the airplane. (audience laughter) Good morning and, on behalf of the Air Force Association, welcome to AFA’s Air, Space, & Cyber Conference. Each year, this conference grows, and we are happy that you have chosen to attend. If this is your first time at the conference, I extend to you a very warm welcome on behalf of AFA. If you’re a returning conference attendee, we hope the conference is even better than it was last year. We promise an opportunity to learn, to network, to discover new opportunities, and to explore the latest developments in aerospace technology. At the outset, let me express my profound thanks to our Acting Secretary Matt Donovan, and to our Chief of Staff, Dave Goldfein. They have been tremendously supportive of this conference, and their assistance have made it the success I think it’s going to be. This is really now the premier annual professional development event for airmen. AFA is your professional association, and just as we’ve been doing since 1946, one year before the Air Force was born. We have the great privilege of working for our Air Force, and for you, for the United States Congress, and our local communities through our extensive field network, and with national media. We want all of you to be part of this association. If you’re not an AFA member, we strongly encourage you to join while you’re here with us this week. Let me present now a short video illustrating what we do. (uplifting music)

[Narrator] We are your Air Force Association. We are here for you, during and beyond your time in uniform. We share your stories. We help you transition into new life stages. We keep you connected. We inspire future generations of airmen to come. Our mission is no small task: to promote a dominant United States Air Force, a strong national defense, and to honor airmen and our Air Force heritage. Together, we do this through a commitment to education, advocacy, and support for the men and women of the United States Air Force and their families. We inspire students and teachers to pursue careers in air, space, and cyber disciplines, because, like you, we know the value of empowering the next generation with the skills that are critical to our nation’s future. We advocate for unmatched aerospace power and world class STEM education with unparalleled research and information from Capitol Hill to your communities. We champion the total Air Force family through leadership development, grants, scholarships, and career & wellness services. Every program we create and promote advances our vision to be the premier professional, military, and aerospace education association in the nation. Together, we are airmen for life. Together, we are your Air Force Association.

On behalf of all the members of our Air Force Association, it remains an honor to support our airmen and their families in their selfless service to defend our nation. Please join me, and join them, and join the fight. (jet engines roar) (audience applause)

So we’re kind of like National Public Radio, we only have one commercial at the beginning, but let me continue with that a moment. As the video describes, we hope you will consider joining the the fight by becoming a member of AFA. Memberships are available starting at just $20 a year at the AFA booth just outside this ballroom, or you can find one of our AFA ambassadors roaming around throughout the week. Please take advantage of that opportunity. Once you’ve joined, you can participate in many fine programs, events, and service opportunities. You and we will be richer for your involvement and participation. Please also make sure to visit AFA’s hangar store, located just outside the ballroom. AFA merchandise is available there, and you can assist us with our worthy programs by participating in our silent auction. Now some issues you’ve told us are important to you. After 1991’s Operation Desert Storm, the military services have been downsized, capabilities have languished, and equipment has grown antiquated and incapable of some of the assigned missions. The Air Force, in particular, downsized by a third, and has become a force that is too small for what our nation requires of it. The Air Force is the only service that deployed to the gulf in 1990, and has not yet come home, representing nearly straight 29 years of continuous combat operations. The Air Force needs stable and predictable funding at sufficient levels. The national security strategy agrees, stating quote, “This commission recommends that Congress increase the base defense budget at an average rate of three to five percent above inflation in the future year’s defense program and perhaps beyond.” The last two defense budgets have provided the Air Force with a down payment on the necessary resources to arrest its decreasing readiness, and the last budget helped the Air Force begin its long modernization journey. But we are still a long way from the 386 modern, well-equipped squadrons that the Air Force needs to meet the national defense strategy. In the space domain, AFA welcomes General J. Raymond and both of his hats, as the new head of Space Command. As high-level dialogue continues on the future of space development, deployment, operations, and sustainment, what’s important, indeed essential, is that the US be equipped to address the rising threats posed by our adversaries to commercial and military space assets. We can accept nothing less than dominant capabilities in space to deter and, if necessary, neutralize or defeat threats in space, to assure continued access to the high ground. This is a national imperative. In the cyber domain, the Air Force merger of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance of cyber operations makes perfect sense, and I hope will strengthen that capability. All those capabilities. AFA regards this as an important step towards strengthening the Air Force’s ability to more effectively fuse cyber and kinetic capabilities. We strongly support efforts to rapidly implement combat-ready, multi-domain, command and control, and along the same vein, AFA looks forward to the 24th and 25th Air Forces merger, forming a new information warfare numbered Air Force that will provide options to integrate cyber, ISR, electronic warfare, and information operation capabilities. The Air Force strong believes that the heart and… The Air Force Association strongly believes that the heart and soul of the force lies in airmen and their families, so many of whom are here today. We tirelessly advocate to increase pay and benefits to retain the Air Force’s valuable members. We protect healthcare, because we see it as a readiness issue, as well as a benefit long-earned. We are working for better housing, continued shopping benefits, and enhancing and protecting education benefits. We have fought to end the widow’s tax, and we have also been promoting civilian pay increases, because the Air Force’s civilians are key members of the total force, and our nation needs to retain them, and Congress is listening, we think. As we begin this conference, please take advantage of all we have to offer. Let us know how we’re doing. Please complete the conference survey, and get back to us, to tell us what’s good and what’s bad. Our goal is the same as it always has been, to make this the premier, and keep this the premier Air Force professional development conference. Now, without further delay, we are ready to welcome our keynote speaker. Please roll the video.