Optimizing for Battle
This transcript is made possible through the sponsorship of Schneider Electric
Lt. Gen. David A. Deptula, USAF (Ret.):
Well, thanks very much, Ken. Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, and thanks very much for joining us
for our session today on optimizing our air and space forces for battle. This crowd knows that air power
and space power stand as indispensable elements necessary to achieve effective national security
options. That's why it's crucial for the Department of Defense and the Congress to empower Airmen and
Guardians for success. It's not a question of when the nation is going to ask you all out there to answer
the call of duty because you do it every day, and the demands on you are simply getting more
challenging. Stack that with our current capacity and capability shortfalls, and it's clear we need to re-
optimize our forces. That's why Secretary Kendall's seven operational imperatives are so important. It's
also the impetus for the new changes announced yesterday to optimize for Great Power Competition.
To provide us with some insights into the rationale that led to these changes, we have some key players
involved in the process. It's a real treat for all of you to get some insight into what happened behind the
scenes. The first I'm glad to welcome, Dr. Tim Grayson, Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Air Force
for Mission Centered Analysis and Operational Imperatives. Next, Major General Steve Purdy, Military
Deputy for the Office of Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space Acquisition and Integration.
Rounding out our panel is Brigadier General Joe Kunkel, Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff for
Operational Imperative Integration. And chief, thanks for being here to put pressure on Solo.
So welcome gentlemen, and let's dive right into the conversation. This first question is for all of you. The
secretary first started talking about optimizing for Great Power Competition several months ago, and
yesterday we heard him and the Department of the Air Force leadership describe some of the necessary
changes. From your perspectives, why did we need to do this, and what do we need to get out of it?
Solo, let's start with you first.
Brig. Gen. Joseph D. Kunkel:
I'm happy to start. And Chief, welcome, great to have you in the front row. I'd also like to extend a
welcome to all the other warfighters out here. I want to extend a welcome to you because this change is
going to be executed by you. I think you may have heard the under say yesterday we had a team of
about 1,500 working on this. I tell you, when we start to go into the implementation phase which is
happening right now, we're going to need all of you. We're going to need the wisdom of all of you and
the inertia of all of you to get this done, so thank you so much for being here and taking an interest in
this.
But when it comes to the why, I think the chief said it best this morning. We're the greatest Air Force in
the world. And one of the things that makes us the greatest Air Force in the world is our ability to adapt
to changes in the strategic environment. And if you go all the way back to the Air Corps tactical school
days when they moved to Maxwell in 1931, they were about adapting to changes in the strategic
environment. They saw those changes.
There's changes in the strategic environment that we're seeing today. Speed, the enemy, China, where
we're going requires a change in what we're doing in our Air Force, and I think that's part of it. The other
part of it is this transition from combat success being defined by platform integration, which we've had
in this era of dominance for the last 30 years, to a transition to combat success being defined by system
integration. And frankly, these changes get us ready for that system integration that's going to be
required.
