U.S. Air Forces in Europe in the 21st century

Air Force Speeches, July 24, 2007

Thank you very much for that very humbling introduction and I'm always reminded of how we have to be humble in this profession. Congressman Peterson (John Peterson, R-Pa.), Congressman Perlmutter (Ed Perlmutter, D-Colo.), and Congressman Wilson (Joe Wilson, R-S.C.), fellow officers, members of the senior executive service, retired general officers, congressional staff members, the media, industry, government, ladies, and gentlemen, good morning and thank you for coming today, and let me say thank you also for your service to the nation and what you do for us.

I'm pleased to be here this morning to talk to you about this outstanding coalition team that I'm proud to be a member of and to lead, the team that I'm referring to as the U.S. Air Forces in Europe, and our NATO partners. Our team is really transforming to meet the challenges of the 21st century. Almost everyone's familiar with the old adage that those who ignore history are bound to repeat it, and I'd like to believe that U.S. Air Forces in Europe exemplifies a more upbeat assessment of that historical saying. We embrace the command's proud history that has repeatedly helped shape events since the command's inception during World War II, and we continue that legacy of transformation in our key role in the Global War on Terror today. The Air Force is engaged every single day in worldwide operations. Nearly 36,000 Air Force Airmen, including 2,500-plus from the U.S. Air Forces in Europe, are fighting the Global War on Terror, defending our homeland nearly 48,000 sorties this year, providing strategic deterrence, giving our nation unparalleled global vigilance, reach, and power. The Air Force is the second highest contributor of forces to the Global War on Terror after the Army. In support, an Air Force mobility aircraft takes off every 90 seconds, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

We operate out of 10 major bases in 61 locations in the Central Command area of responsibility. We're engaged now in Southwest Asia, as we have been, and we'll likely be there for a long time. We are posturing ourselves to influence, deter, dissuade the next set of adversaries anywhere in the world. Air, space, and cyber power give America global tools to reach any part of the unstable strategic landscape we have today. With either kinetic actions or with non-kinetic actions, around the world the Air Force flies over 250 airlift missions and moves 1,000 tons of cargo and 2,500 passengers every single day. That's your Air Force.

Today, U.S. Air Forces in Europe, also known as USAFE, the Air Force's oldest major command, is at the forefront of ensuring freedom's future. I feel the same as many of my historic predecessors did. It's really a distinct honor and reward to lead the great Airmen that make up this command. In my current position, I have the unique privilege of having four roles. First, I'm the commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe; in this role I have a responsibility to organize, train, and equip our assigned forces under the direction of the Secretary of the Air Force and the Chief of Staff of the Air Force. We provide Airmen to support ongoing operations such as Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. USAFE Airmen provide a unique form of presence that supports these and other operations worldwide. Our Airmen are deployed today in location such as Guinea Bissau, where they're doing de-mining operations, in Kandahar, in Baghram, and other locations supporting Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. Our bases have become more expeditionary.

Now, for as many years as our Air Force has been at war, plus one more, 17 years total, U.S. Air Forces in Europe has been transforming itself into a more expeditionary Air Force, and as a result, I'm commanding a USAFE that looks surprisingly different from about a decade ago. You know, after the Cold War the command transformed. At that time we had 750 aircraft, 66,000 people; we had 25 main operating bases. This is about 1990 time-frame. In its current state today, we have 250 aircraft, 28,000 people, and 15 installations, but only five main operating bases.

Now, although we've transformed, we still maintain support for enduring missions with our coalition partners that provide intelligence, communications, and mobility. U.S. Air Forces in Europe Airmen provide intelligence assessments; operate unmanned aerial and launch vehicles, everyday, in support of the Global War on Terror. We can be found providing intelligence and communications operations in the U.S. European Command Joint Analysis Center and NATO's Intelligence Fusion Center. In addition to maintaining Europe's largest military switchboard, USAFE Airmen are also operating the airlift gateway to Europe and beyond. As part of our post-Cold War transformation, we moved the traditional USAFE gateway to Europe from Rhein Main in Frankfurt to Ramstein and Spangdahlem. This consolidated mission set includes supporting mobility missions for Afghanistan and Iraq deployments and providing humanitarian assistance on a moment's notice, just like USAFE did during the Berlin blockade.