GEN. WELSH DESCRIBES FUTURE AIR FORCE

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Welsh Describes Air Force of the Future
By Jim Garamone
DoD News, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, April 8, 2015 – In the future, the Air Force’s core missions will probably not change, but the way they are carried out will, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III said today.

Welsh, speaking to the Defense Writers Group, said the Air Force’s missions include air and space superiority, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, rapid global mobility, global strike and command and control.

Those missions “are what the joint force requires to be successful,” the general said.

Hot Jobs

New technologies, new methods and new domains will change the way airmen do their jobs, Welsh said.

“The hot jobs will be probably be in the cyber domain [and] they will be in remotely piloted aircraft,” he said.

The remotely piloted aircraft career field is growing leaps and bounds, the general said. Airmen currently working in this field, he said, are figuring out what the technology can do and how it can be worked into today’s and tomorrow’s service.

“Many of them came in to do this, which is a change from 10 years ago,” Welsh said. “They are really excited about the potential and what it brings.”

These airmen are working to figure how to work remotely piloted aircraft with manned aircraft, he said, and they are the ones figuring how
microminiaturization technology can be used and what it will bring to the table.
Building on Air Force Traditions

But there will be more traditional jobs, too, Welsh said with a smile.

“We’re going to get the same kind of people who we’ve gotten for years,” the general said. “They want to fly the F-22, the F-35, the X-wing fighter. Those people still want to come do this and we’ll have options for them in the future.”
Some of the systems the Air Force has in the current inventory will still be in use in 2035, but what is carried aboard these platforms will bring new capabilities to the service, the joint force and the nation, Welsh said.

“A lot of how the Air Force looks will depend on what the budget looks like and what the economy looks like,” he said. “It could look a lot more robust, it could look a lot more modern, or it could look like it does today. The danger is that we settle for that. That won’t be good for us.”

NATO's FUTURE DISCUSSED AT CHIEFS OF DEFENSE MEETING

FROM:  DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 

Military Chiefs Look to NATO’s Future
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT, Jan. 23, 2014 – The NATO chiefs of defense “talked a little bit about today, a little bit about tomorrow, and a little bit about 10 years from now,” the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said as he returned to Washington today from alliance meetings in Brussels.
Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey took advantage of the 170th Chiefs of Defense Meeting to not only address NATO issues, but to strengthen military-to-military relations with other nations.

The chairman’s first engagement in Brussels was a meeting with his Russian counterpart Gen. Valery V. Gerasimov. Dempsey said the session was very positive and constructive, describing U.S.- Russian relations as important “not just because of the issues that are apparent to us, but the ones that are not yet apparent,” he said. The alliance’s possible future in Afghanistan after its current mission ends this year was also discussed. At the NATO meeting itself, he said, “We reminded ourselves that while the discussions are going on about our 2015 presence, we still have some tasks at hand to accomplish,” he said.

The chiefs looked at ways to increase the pace of development of the Afghan national security forces – focusing on how to improve the institutions that build and manage them. And, they discussed what can be done to help Afghans hold a credible, transparent and fair presidential election in April.

Most of the NATO support will be peripheral, as the Afghans have the lion’s share of conducting the vote. The United States will provide some logistical support and transportation for election observers.

The chiefs also discussed how they can “preserve our options so when the political decision is made on 2015 and beyond, we’ll have a pretty clear understanding of how we will have to shift to accomplish it.”

The other main outcome of the meeting was an increased awareness of the threats and risks building on the alliance’s southern flank. The United States has long spoken about transnational threats emanating from North Africa and the Middle East. Terrorist organizations take advantage of weak governments or ungoverned spaces and use them as safe havens, Dempsey said. Al-Qaida in the Islamic Mahgreb is one of these groups and there are others.

“I am encouraged that the alliance is beginning to understand some of the risks that are building on its southern flank,” the chairman said. “Now we have reached the point of entering into conversations about what as an alliance we might do about it.”

The chiefs spoke about NATO’s nascent cyber defense capability. “It’s mostly all national level,” he said. “We’re trying to find ways to link it together to make ourselves more capable in the cyber dimension.”

The meeting in Brussels will be followed by a NATO defense ministers’ meeting next month, which will help set up a NATO Summit that will be hosted by the United Kingdom later this year.

DOD REPORTS TO CONGRESS ON THE FUTURE OF UNMANNED VEHICLES

Members of the Unmanned Underwater Vehicle detachment, Commander, Task Group 56.1, guide a UUV as it is lowered into the water off the coast of Bahrain, June 5, 2013. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Peter Lewis.  

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 
DOD Looks 25 Years Ahead in Unmanned Vehicle Roadmap
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Dec. 23, 2013 – Strategy and budget realities are two aspects of the Defense Department’s new Unmanned Systems Integrated Roadmap, released today.

The report to Congress is an attempt to chart how unmanned systems fit into the defense of the nation.

“The 2013 Unmanned Systems Integrated Roadmap articulates a vision and strategy for the continued development, production, test, training, operation and sustainment of unmanned systems technology across DOD,” said Dyke Weatherington, the director of the unmanned warfare and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance office at the Pentagon.

“This road map establishes a technological vision for the next 25 years and outlines the actions and technologies for DOD and industry to pursue to intelligently and affordably align with this vision,” he continued.
Unmanned aerial vehicles have received the most press, but unmanned underwater vehicles and ground vehicles are also providing warfighters with incredible capabilities.

Although unmanned vehicles have proved their worth in combat operations throughout the Middle East and Central Asia, current technologies must be expanded and integrated into the sinews of the defense establishment, the report says.

It also calls for unmanned systems to be programs of record in order to achieve “the levels of effectiveness, efficiency, affordability, commonality, interoperability, integration and other key parameters needed to meet future operational requirements.”

Of course, all DOD programs have to face the reality of the budget crunch. “Achieving affordable and cost-effective technical solutions is imperative in this fiscally constrained environment,” the report notes.

Strategy really drives the technology. Unmanned systems will be crucial as the U.S. military shifts its focus to the Asia-Pacific region and puts the air-sea doctrine into effect. In the future, unmanned vehicles will be required to operate in more complex environments involving difficult weather, terrain, distance and airspace. All this will require extensive coordination with allies and host nations, the report says.

“The road map describes the challenges of logistics and sustainment, training and international cooperation while providing insight on the strategic planning and policy, capability needs, technology development and operational environments relevant to the spectrum of unmanned systems,” Weatherington said.

U.S. SPECIAL OPS AND THE FUTURE

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Special Ops Components Adapt for Future Challenges

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service


TAMPA, Fla., May 21, 2013 - Look for big changes in special operations forces as they shape for what's ahead after a dozen years of intensive, high-operational-tempo missions focused predominantly on Afghanistan and Iraq.

Commanders of the special operations components laid out their plans for the future to members of the special operations community and the defense industry last week during the 2013 Special Operations Forces Industry Conference here.

The Navy SEALs will undergo "an amphibious evolution in reverse," returning to their maritime roots, Navy Rear Adm. Sean A. Pybus, commander of Naval Special Warfare Command, told the assembly.

Army Special Forces will concentrate on rebuilding their regional expertise and relationships in parts of the world, Army Lt. Gen. Charles T. Cleveland, commander of U.S. Army Special Operations Command, reported.

Air Force Special Operations Command will strive to to rebalance its portfolio to provide broader support to geographic and theater special operations commanders, said Air Force Lt. Gen. Eric E. Fiel, the AFSOC commander.

And Marine Corps Special Forces Command, the newest of special operations components, will work to institute a cultural shift that maximizes the myriad technologies developed during the past decade-plus of conflict, Marine Corps Col. Mike Sweeney, the deputy MARSOC commander, told the group.

Navy Adm. William H. McRaven, U.S. Special Operations Command commander, opened the conference telling participants to think of a future that extends beyond the high-profile missions heralded in best-sellers and across the big screen.

"The fact of the matter is that [counterterrorism] piece that we do better than anybody in the world ... is a small part of our portfolio," he said. "The broader part of our portfolio is about how we build partner capacity [and] how we link with our allies and partners overseas so that we can help them take care of their problems so that we don't end up having to do [counterterrorism]."

U.S. special operators "will continue to take care of the bad guys and rescue the good guys better than anybody in the world," McRaven emphasized. But by helping partner nations build their own capacity, he said, "they can take care of their own security problems ...[and] do the things that we now don't have to put U.S. forces against.

"That is the value of U.S. special operations forces as we go forth in the future," he added.

That concept, encapsulated in McRaven's "Special Operations Forces 2020" vision, requires transition across the special operations service components.

Those changes are well underway in the SEALs, which Pybus said are expected to reduce the number of theater platoons in Afghanistan by at least half by the year's end.

"Our SEALs have been fighting two land wars for the last decade, and there is plenty of work back in the maritime environment," he said. "That is playing out before our eyes."

The drawdown in Afghanistan will free up forces to better support the U.S. strategic pivot toward Asia or demands in other parts of the world, he said, citing examples of the Mediterranean Sea, the Gulf of Guinea or the Persian Gulf. "There are plenty of things to do in support of our theater [special operations commanders] and all their requirements," he said.

The timing is right for most of the SEALs' return to the water, Pybus said, noting that by the end of the decade, 90 percent of the world's population will live in megacities on or near the coast. "So it is the right time for one of the two maritime components of U.S. Socom to make sure that we are covering down on our obligation as a maritime special operations force."

For the Green Berets, Cleveland emphasized the importance of shoring up gaps in regional expertise due to the command's heavy focus on combat operations in the Middle East. "We have these regionally expert forces, but we surged to Iraq and Afghanistan, and by necessity, we sacrificed over the past 12 years a knowledge and expertise that we need of the rest of the world," he said.

"That's not to say we don't have it," Cleveland added. "But we don't have it in the density that we need. And that is the gap we are going to work to fix."

Meanwhile, Army Special Operations Command, like its sister special operations component commands, is striving to preserve strides made in Iraq and Afghanistan. "We cannot lose what we have developed over the last 12 years," Cleveland said. "I think we are taking steps to not do that."

Sustained combat operations served as a "forcing function" for special operators to work in synchronization with not only conventional forces, but also interagency and non-governmental organization partners, he said.

The challenge, once combat operations are over, is to maintain those bonds for the future, Cleveland said. He shared an observation by a State Department official who suggested forming a "league of extraordinary operators" who maintain a connection, rather than forming one when a crisis erupts.

"We ought not wait until we have to descend on a problem to create this connection, and are starting to work on that," Cleveland said.

Regardless of where on the globe Army Special Forces operate, Cleveland said, "two exquisite capabilities" will remain paramount: surgical strike and special warfare. "The country needs both of these capabilities," he said, emphasizing the need to continually evolve for complex challenges that will test the mettle of the future force.

Fiel, commander of Air Force Special Operations Command, said he expects little letup in the years ahead for the command's highest-demand capabilities: mobility, strike and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.

Tasked by McRaven "to generate and sustain as much combat power as possible," Fiel said, he is working to rebalance the command's portfolio to better serve all theater special operations commanders.

Despite flying tactical missions every day in support of every geographic combatant commander and theater special operations commander, all want "more, more, more" capability, Fiel said.

New hardware entering the inventory is a step in the right direction, he said. Another big advance is the new Air Force Special Operations Warfare Center, stood up in February. Its mission includes executing special operations test, evaluation and lessons learned programs and developing doctrine, tactics, techniques, and procedures for AFSOC.

Fiel shared Cleveland's assessment of progress made in building more cohesive and interconnected teams across the special operations force community.

"Socom and [special operations forces] is a team sport. It really is the only joint force in the Department of Defense. Sometimes you are on offensive, sometimes you are on defense, and sometimes you are on special teams," he said. "But we are the only force in the DOD that grows up together."

Since its activation in 2006, Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command has hit the ground running with no pause in the pace of its operational missions. But looking ahead to a post-Afghanistan future, the command is preparing to transition from landlocked operations to future maritime missions around the world, Sweeney told the audience.

In another change to come, Marsoc plans to make its battalions regionally focused to better support theater requirements.

In posturing for that future, Sweeney said, the Marines hope to find better ways to integrate the kinds of technologies integrated into the battlefield in Afghanistan. If anything, Marine special operators are "too heavy on technology," he said.

"When I see our teams and our Marines out there, and they have to have five or six sets of equipment to access five or six networks, that is problematic," he explained. "We are now increasing the burden on the force from a load perspective."

Ideally, Sweeney said, he would like to see one multitiered network that integrates these capabilities.

Another challenge, he said, is to change the culture to take full advantage of what technologies deliver. Sweeney likened the process of compiling multiple data streams to form one operational picture to the broadcast of a "Monday Night Football" game.

"I, as a consumer, see one picture, and that is the picture I want to see," he said. He recognized, however, that someone behind the scenes has made decisions, selecting views from 40 or more screens to deliver what the viewer sees.

"That type of talent is extremely difficult to build in the military," he said, emphasizing that it's not a job that should be relegated to a junior officer or a mid-level noncommissioned officer.

"That is somebody who is well-educated, understands the warfighting functions, can quickly assimilate information, turn it into knowledge and present it to the commander," he said. "It is very, very challenging to do."

The problem, Sweeney said, is that the military – or at least the Marines – don't put emphasis into developing those capabilities or rewarding those who have them.

"From the Marine Corps perspective, if you are an innovator, if you are a visionary, if you are a science-and-technology guy, you are probably not going to do well at the promotion board," he said. "I think what we owe you [in industry] and we owe ourselves is a culture and a mindset shift about how we go after capitalizing on the technology you provide and using that to our advantage to bring power to bear where it counts most."

FRENCH AIR FORCE GENERAL SPEAKS ABOUT TRANSFORMATION AT NATO CONFERENCE

Map:  France.  Credit:  CIA World Factbook.

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Commander Describes NATO Transformation Efforts
By Amaani Lyle
American Forces Press Service

NORFOLK, Va., Dec. 12, 2012 – Partnerships, education and training are indispensable for NATO, the organization’s supreme allied commander for transformation said here today.

French Air Force Gen. Jean-Paul Paloméros spoke at a media roundtable during the 2012 Chiefs of Transformation conference hosted by his command. The event brings together hundreds of NATO, partner, industry and government agency professionals who strive to leverage work across the alliance by sharing best practices and expanding collaboration among the nations.

Paloméros described Allied Command Transformation efforts as an evolving endeavor rooted in collaboration and coherence with a focus on efficiencies and innovation.

"We are deeply involved in the heart of the U.S. military forces, which is good because we get a great opportunity for common connections, engagement and training," Paloméros said. "We know that what we build today will be indispensable for the future, and what we don’t build today [we’ll need] for the future."

The hub of transformation across the alliance, partner nations, military, government, non-government agencies and academia, Allied Command Transformation gleans and interprets information to identify opportunities to not only keep pace, but stay proactive in an ever-changing security environment, Palomeros said.

"We are here to share our experience and our vision," he said. "[The command] works to supply the forces with the support they need [in] their respective challenges and tackle that in a wide and open way, not only from the military perspective, but with a comprehensive vision, approach and solutions."

The general touted strategies such as Smart Defense and the Connected Forces Initiatives as avenues to increase collaboration and buffer against the inevitability of increasing financial austerity throughout the world.

Funded by participating nations, Smart Defense, he said, is an initiative encompassing 24 multi-national projects across logistics, munitions, aviation training and maritime capabilities and more to deliver improved operational effectiveness.

The Connected Forces Initiative helps develop the framework and interoperability by bringing a human-centered approach to the table, Paloméros said.

"Partnerships are the focus of these initiatives and we need to ensure we have consensus and share ideas from the very highest levels down," he added.

The successes of major joint and coalition training exercises, such as one currently in progress at the Joint Warfare Center in Stavanger, Norway, may be the most visible solutions in establishing a collective vision of NATO’s future operating environment, Paloméros said.

"We are able to fulfill the task in this very important exercise preparing the staff and the forces for their Afghanistan engagement," he said. "We take the best out of every nation committed within NATO, including the partners, [and] the best is possible."

Paloméros characterized the challenge of maintaining relevance in a post-Cold War and post-Afghanistan environment as a "difficult but sensible question" in terms of NATO’s future, particularly after 2014 when many troops are projected to return from deployments.

"The perception of this world could be different from one country to the other in NATO and this is … the reality," Paloméros said. "We are here to give coherence to these different visions and propose a common perspective for the alliance, as far as the military answer to those challenges."

The general said recent summits in Chicago and Lisbonyielded useful discussion and solution-driven brainstorming for effectively steering NATO’s endeavors to maintain peace -- all while balancing political and military aspects with the consensus of 28 countries.

"This is the role of NATO: preparing itself for future challenges, being there, being relevant and making sure we coordinate that with the partners and coordinating that with partners.Presence is part of prevention," the general said.

Paloméros added that despite NATO’s successes, the need to continually pursue balance remains.

"We [need to] keep focusing on the priority shortfall areas and the minimum capability requirements of NATO," Paloméros said. "We are working on a day-to-day basis to ensure that every country can participate in NATO according to its own national priorities, perspectives, sensibilities and qualities.

The general did not dismiss the importance of cyber defense, intelligence, surveillance and response and information technology, particularly through distance learning, a critical component of training throughout the alliance.

"I see that as very promising in how we tackle the issue of cyber defense in NATO," Paloméros said. "We are going in the right direction in keeping the overall deterrence policy of NATO clearly set up in the Chicago defense package."

In the long run, the alliance, as with many government organizations, can only plan based on the projections and assumptions of resources, so fostering fruitful discussions between politicians and military leaders to better understand crucial requirements is key.

"That’s why we are here … for the countries; they are the stakeholders that provide us with the human resources and the budget," Paloméros said. "Every country adopts its own vision with their economic and financial perspectives, [and] we will try to find any opportunity for connection between the different forces."