While confronting volatile adversaries abroad but with new leadership at home, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin described his strategy for defending the homeland and giving the Trump Administration potent options to meet the nation's security priorities March 3.
Accomplishing both requires "more Air Force:" an agile, ready service that offers dilemmas for adversaries, such as Communist China, and options for leaders at home, Allvin said during a closely watched speech at the AFA Warfighter Symposium.
"More Air Force" means honing readiness and training, matching "capabilities to threats," and most of all, being more "lethal" no matter the mission or request.
"I think we need more options for the President. And that's what more Air Force provides…It means everything from rapid response all the way to decisive victory," Allvin said during his 30-minute speech before thousands of Airmen, Guardians and industry officials attending in-person and virtually.
"That is what airpower, anytime, anywhere means. It's not just an aspiration. It's a promise we have to uphold for America. We have to sustain and maintain the ability to go anytime, anywhere in the densest threat environment and put 'warheads on foreheads' anywhere the President might want," he said.
Allvin's remarks were built around a theme he has been aggressively voicing in recent months. The nation's security is directly tied to "more Air Force" that is reshaped and refocused to meet emerging threats.
But how that goal is achieved, he said, is still an open question.
Troy Meink has been nominated to be the new Secretary of the Air Force but he is awaiting Senate confirmation. The gap in this position has temporarily paused efforts to realign to the threat environment.
Allvin said he agrees Meink and other senior leaders should "be able to look over all the things that we've done.
"As we look to future planning … we should be able to show them how what we're doing works for the future," Allvin said. "I believe when they come in and they look at it, the evaluation criteria should be this: If they look at what's going on and how it's moving forward, if it doesn't align with the Secretary of Defense's priorities, then we ought to ask ourselves why we're doing it."
At the same time, Allvin expressed optimism that some of the changes, especially those that increase lethality and more precisely link capabilities to threats, will be embraced.
"I have a hunch when they see some of the things we're doing, we're going to be told to go faster," he said.
Allvin also explained in his remarks how the Air Force is taking new approaches to readiness and projecting power.
"We're looking at different ways to execute the same mission," he said. "We're going beyond 'single platforms equal single capabilities'; maybe there are different ways to provide combat effects. We are embracing and leaning into human-machine teaming and understanding what autonomy can actually do for us.
"And now, we have two prototypes of collaborative combat aircraft that were on paper less than a couple years ago that will be ready to fly this summer," he said. "It is telling the world that we are leaning into a new chapter of aerial warfare. It means CCA. It means human-machine teaming. We're developing those capabilities thinking mission first."
At the same time, Allvin noted the Air Force's fleet is aging and under constant pressure to fly and perform. As he has in the past, Allvin bemoaned the service must continue underwriting the cost of excess infrastructure that he said is 20 to 30 percent more than is needed.
"All of that is not adding to combat capability," he said. "We have to make sure the infrastructure we have to maintain, that our Airmen have to support and protect, will contribute to our lethality and combat effectiveness."
Despite the pressure and limitations, Allvin emphasized that the United States Air Force remains the most lethal and capable in the world. The reason is clear, he said.
"Your Air Force continues to kick butt. Our Airmen are doing amazing things every day and they make it look normal."
Change is coming, however, in what Allvin hopes is the realization for "more Air Force."
"What does that look like? More Air Force doesn't just mean more of the same. More Air Force means more Airmen are focused on the threat. More of the infrastructure is focused on combat, not just excess infrastructure. It means a more agile force design that allows you to leverage more of industry and be able to work across the spectrum in a way you can sustain" he said.
He specifically advocated for the creation of a "Golden Dome" missile defense shield for the United States, a priority for President Trump.
Allvin also called for modernizing the nuclear Triad, two-thirds of which the Air Force is responsible for operating and maintaining.
"We have two-thirds of the Triad and three-fourths of the nuclear command, control and communications. We own nuclear deterrence," he said. "So, more Air Force means more nuclear deterrence. We have to have the most reliable, the most safe, the most effective nuclear deterrent. That means Sentinel, B-21... that means munitions."
Allvin closed with a clear rational that drives his focus and plans and, as a byproduct, provides an answer for why an Air Force is needed.
"In this dangerous and dynamic time, I want to give the President as many options as I can," Allvin said. "So that means modernization. Yes, NGAD! Yes, CCA! Yes, survivable bases! And, of course, yes to taking care of our Airmen!"
