During a keynote address at the Air and Space Forces Association's Air, Space and Cyber Conference at National Harbor, Maryland, today, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin spoke of the service's recent successes — both real-world and exercise-based — while also underscoring the importance of keeping a winning pace when facing our nation's adversaries.
Allvin led off his remarks discussing the complexity of the Air Force's successful execution of Operation Midnight Hammer, the June 21 mission during which numerous Air Force assets inflicted significant damage on Iran's nuclear program at three separate sites.
Regarding that mission, Allvin said it wasn't just the precision of the weapons and capabilities that stood out, but it was also the airmen who handled the complexity of the operation with great skill and professionalism.
"It was a complex and imaginative mission that was designed, but with that complexity came unforeseen issues that came up in front of our airmen — over and over and over again," Allvin said.
"And, in a story that will never really, truly be told in public, our airmen were unbelievable," he continued, adding that Air Force personnel properly assessed risk, understood what their roles were and knew what it would take to execute the mission successfully.
Allvin also spoke highly of Exercise Resolute Force Pacific, a large-scale event conducted July 10-Aug. 8, which he described as the largest Air Force-led exercise in the Indo-Pacific region since the Cold War.
"What set this exercise apart was the scope and the scale and the complexity [involving] transitioning from the types of fights we've done to the types of fights we don't want to have to do, but need to prevail [in] if we do," Allvin said.
While discussing the Air Force's current state of readiness, Allvin said it's essential to constantly be asking whether the service is going fast enough and reaching deep enough to meet the challenges of the day.
"In this environment, with the consequences on the other side of it, we have to beware of the familiar [and] be cautious about the warm blanket of the comfortable," Allvin said, adding that it's necessary to keep up a quick pace of readiness because U.S. adversaries aren't slowing down.
To illustrate his point, Allvin circled back to Operation Midnight Hammer, stating that, in the aftermath of the operation, Iran likely went straight to work on fortifying its nuclear program and making it less vulnerable to attack.
"You can believe they probably got after it immediately … and we've got to respond to that," Allvin said.
Returning to the topic of pacing, Allvin said merely moving at the "speed of relevance" is not adequate enough to meet present-day challenges.
"Last time I checked, our mission says 'fly, fight and win.' … So, if you want to know what the pace is, that's the pace. We have to move out at the pace to win, and if we're not getting there, then we need to find another gear," he said.
Allvin ended his remarks by calling himself an optimist, saying he believes the Air Force will continue to keep the pace to win because of the constant influx of talented, skilled, innovative and ready airmen who are consistently joining the ranks on a regular basis.
He also praised industry partners and entrepreneurs who are working to deliver the materiel the Air Force needs.
"And what the nation needs is one Air Force, integrated, aligned, focused [and] ready to fight; the nation needs more Air Force [with] more capability, more capacity [and] more options for the president; and the nation needs your Air Force moving out at a pace to win," Allvin concluded.