I would also like to name the five treaty nations. They are the countries with which we have a mutual pledge of self defense and they’re important in this picture. They are Australia, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, and Thailand.
I would also like to name the five treaty nations. They are the countries with which we have a mutual pledge of self defense and they’re important in this picture. They are Australia, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, and Thailand.
• Improve combat capability: We need to have the best and newest infrastructure. We have half the F-22 Raptors in the Pacific. We’ll have the first OCONUS [outside the Continental United States] F-35 Lightning IIs. The Global Hawk is in the Pacific. The E-3s are in the Pacific. Our SRO platforms come out to the Pacific all the time. We continue to try to bring the newest weapons and capability to the Pacific.
• Increase warfighter integration: It’s our ability to take advantage of multiple domains. It’s a submarine helping an air fight, being aided by space capability with a surface combatant. So it’s that ability to integrate. And it’s not just integrating with our sister services; it’s integrating with our allies and partners. This is like using Air-Sea Battle to go beyond joint to the next level of integration across domains. Imagine, for example, a submarine and an F-22 working together.
An F-22 Raptor from the Hawaii Air National Guard’s 199th Fighter Squadron returns to a training mission after refueling March 27, 2012, over the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii. Half of the U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor fleet is based in the Pacific. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Michael Holzworth
The asymmetric advantage we have is our incredible airmen. I always question myself, “Am I good enough to lead this quality of airmen?” They are truly the best. Building partnerships between nations starts with our airmen and they certainly impress me every day.
With all the uncertainties in Washington today and with no traditional budget on the horizon, how do you plan?
Those uncertainties cause many issues with regard to our planning. We’d planned a conference of 17 air chiefs from this region who were going to meet in Washington and tour facilities in Colorado and elsewhere. We had to postpone this conference and it had an effect.
These things are cumulative over time. How do you build confidence with partners, friends and allies? We have plans for fiscal years 2014 and 2015. I’d like to tell you there is a golden rule that lays out exactly how and what to budget each year and accounts for all the possibilities. We are fairly confident we won’t get funded at the level of the administration’s FY 2014 budget proposal. What we built a budget for will not execute the way it was planned. I’m going to try not to eliminate everything but to shrink the size of some things.
Gen. Herbert J. “Hawk” Carlisle, commander, Pacific Air Forces, presents certificates of appreciation for outstanding performance to airmen before the closing ceremony for Cope Tiger 13 at Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand, March 22, 2013. More than 300 U.S. service members participated in CT13, which offers an unparalleled opportunity to conduct a wide spectrum of large force employment air operations and strengthen military-to-military ties with two key partner nations, Thailand and Singapore. U.S. Air Force photo by 2nd Lt. Jake Bailey
How do you plan? It’s important to realize the impact of these things, like the government shutdown on October 1. Our civilians have seen no raises for the last three-plus years. They’ve had to take furloughs. We have more than 11,600 civilians in Pacific Air Forces and they are very important to us.
Our airmen are making life decisions and family decisions in an era of uncertainty. It’s a challenge for them to see services being cut and quality-of-life stuff being cut. When we grounded squadrons under sequestration, young men and women said, “Hey, boss, all I want is to do my job.” Many don’t understand the long-term repercussions of not knowing what the budget situation will be. Having a normal budget every year? There’s a novel concept.
The A-10 is being considered for retirement from inventory. There is more going on in Washington, D.C. that’s pre-decisional at this time so we don’t know what will be decided.
What are they telling you about the A-10?
The A-10 is being considered for retirement from inventory. There is more going on in Washington, D.C. that’s pre-decisional at this time so we don’t know what will be decided. The A-10 would give us great capability in any time of difficulty in a Korean campaign. We would not choose to retire the A-10s if we had a choice.