Celebrating a century of aviation achievement: a salute to the pioneers - Dr James G. Roche, secretary of the U.S. Air Force - Transcript

Secretary Eugene Zuckert served as Secretary for four years with General Curtis Lemay as his partner. Together, they strengthened the role of Strategic Air Command as the custodian of the most powerful weaponry in the world, and supported an expanded Air Force presence in space. In the late 1960s, Secretary Harold Brown continued the march forward, applying the new technology not only to weapons systems, but to automating and improving missions such as target acquisition and intelligence processing, and developing new types of weapons like air-to-air missiles, and electronic countermeasures.

The tenure of Secretary Robert Seamans' in the 1970s featured modernization and scientific research, and the development of new and vastly improved weapons systems such as the C-5, F-15, B-1 bomber, and AWACS, an exponential increase in aerial battle management.

During the two-year term of Secretary John McLucas--who also served four years as Undersecretary of the Air Force--the Air Force produced an array of new aircraft, dramatically expanding the capabilities of our burgeoning force. In the 1980s, Verne Orr, our longest-serving Secretary, presided over a period of modernization and investment unlike any in the history of the Air Force. When he left office after five years, the Air Force had 650 more fighter aircraft and 30 more tankers than it had when his tenure began, laying the groundwork for our successes in Gulf War I and in the war on terrorism.

In the last decade, Secretary Donald Rice concentrated on developing a strategic framework for the Air Force. He and Chief of Staff Merrill McPeak consolidated the combat power of the Air Force in a single major command--Air Combat Command--a historic reorganization of bomber and fighter aircraft.

Finally, I'll mention one more Secretary of the Air Force, my predecessor, F. Whitten Peters. He and General Mike Ryan--our Chief of Staff and my first partner when I assumed this office--created the expeditionary force that we have today. Most notable of the Air Force achievements of their era, our airmen played a decisive role in the victory over Serbia in 1999; the first conflict in our nation's history where the application of air and space power almost exclusively delivered victory in combat.

Let me briefly point out that there was one influential airman who played a significant role in the conduct of that operation who cannot go unmentioned--the Commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe, General John Jumper. You will hear from him later this week. Let me just set the stage for my partner's remarks by saying that he continues the tradition of great aviation leaders, and, in one guy's opinion, many years from now, his vision and leadership will be the subject of speeches at gatherings such as these. When you hear him speak, I think you'll know why.

We have come a long way from the days of Smuts, Mitchell, Douhet, and Trenchard. But it is clear that these prophets of aviation have found vindication in the wars of the 20th century and in our recent operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.