The Future of Our Air Force is Theirs

I’ve spent a good portion of my nearly 33-year Air Force career flying the F-15 Strike Eagle, an incredibly versatile and powerful aircraft that in many ways is still at the forefront of aviation technology. It can carry nearly any weapon in the Air Force inventory, and its unrivaled capabilities as a multirole fighter have made it a workhorse in our combat operations since the early 1990s. It’s truly impressive in a number of ways – but it’s not the future. 

Prior to taking over as the Superintendent of the United States Air Force Academy nearly a year ago, I had the opportunity to fly the F-35 extensively, and in comparing the two aircraft I see a metaphor for the passing of the torch between ages and eras of technology. It’s a lesson for the education of the future leaders of our Air Force, but also for anyone building a team of agile leaders and thinkers around the utilization of groundbreaking and evolving technology. That is the era we are very much living and operating in, no matter your field or industry. Call this the age of information if you like, but it’s also an age of high stakes innovation. Whether you’re a business or a military force, it’s an age where you must innovate, or risk being obsolete.

The F-15 is a product of the late industrial age at its zenith – brute strength, speed and firepower. In contrast, the F-35 is an information platform – a tool of warfare for the information age. It takes the technological and aeronautic advancements of the 20th century and pairs them with not only the technology of the information age, but the mindset of the information age. As we continue to grow our capabilities as a force, this aircraft will only increase in its ability to integrate with a multi-domain battle space, and utilize its fusion of an amazing array of flight components.

Just several days ago the Air Force Academy graduated its 60th class, the class of 2018, who are now beginning careers as leaders in an Air Force actively engaged in combat – show time has come. I’ve told these young leaders that our nation does not need them to become better F-15 pilots than I ever was. That realm of training, skill and thinking is a known commodity – we can do it, we’re adept at it, and it looks and feels of a familiar era. And, if they try to use an F-35 like an F-15, they’ve wasted its incredible capabilities.

Instead, these young leaders will operate in the realm of the unknown. They will utilize the innovation, creativity and critical thinking they’ve developed here as intellectually flourishing students, to take our Air Force and make it their own. Yes, they’ll refine our processes, but equally or more important, they will advance them. As cadets they have already conducted cutting edge research unparalleled at other undergraduate institutions, they’ve demonstrated that they are among the best in the world in their military skills, they’ve thrived among the most elite athletes in the nation, and they’ve confirmed that they are prepared to join the best flying, fighting force the world has ever known. Instead of operating within the known, they’ve shown that in their upcoming careers they will continue to rethink what’s within the art of the possible.

No matter the piece of technology or yet to be developed platform they encounter or build themselves, they are prepared for a career in which they are expected to see around corners, which puts them right where we need them to be: a step ahead of our adversaries. The future of our Air Force is theirs. These leaders will take ownership of its unknown direction, and accelerate into its limitless possibilities.

To see more ways our USAFA cadets are preparing to lead the United States Air Force into a future of even greater accomplishments and discovery, please visit www.usafa.edu.