REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE AIR FORCE
INTRODUCTION
On September 18, 1996, the Air Force entered its 50th Anniversary year, celebrating it with the theme "Golden legacy -- boundless future." The Air Force has been engaged around the globe this past year, exploiting the flexibility of air and space power to meet this nation's strategic needs.
CURRENT OPERATIONS
Global Attack. The United States military demonstrated its global reach in Operation Desert Strike, the joint strike against Iraqi air defense facilities. In the first strike, B-52s from Barksdale Air Force Base (AFB), Louisiana, staged out of Guam on a 34-hour mission and fired 13 conventional air-launched cruise missiles (CALCMs) while the U.S. Navy fired an additional 14 Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAMs) from the USS Shiloh and the USS Laboon. During this mission, the B-52 and CALCM weapon systems demonstrated their capability for rapid enroute retargeting, providing the joint force with additional target coverage and strike flexibility that otherwise would have been unavailable.
Sustained Theater Operations. Beyond global reach and responsiveness, the Air Force offers a unique ability to sustain high-tempo air operations over extended periods of time. Over the past year for example, we sustained Operations Southern Watch over southern Iraq, Provide Comfort over northern Iraq, and Joint Endeavor over Bosnia. In each operation, with superb support from the Air Force Reserve component, we worked hand-in-hand with our coalition partners and forces from our sister Services.
The Air Force continued to play a role in Bosnia as NATO deployed its peacekeeping force. The Air Force has now flown more than 5,000 sorties over Bosnia, providing the full range of theater air capabilities. At the peak of operations in 1996, we had over 4,100 people deployed in five nations supporting NATO-led contingency operations.
The coalition air operation over southern Iraq, Operation Southern Watch, continued, with the Air Force having flown over 28,800 sorties in this coalition effort as of the end of 1996 -- 68 percent of the total for the operation. Similarly, the Air Force executed the bulk of the missions over northern Iraq in Operation Provide Comfort, flying over 4,800 sorties in 1996 alone -- about 60 percent of the coalition total.
Force Protection. The June 1996 bombing of the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia accelerated Air Force efforts to protect its forces operating around the globe and gave us new insights into the operating methods of world terrorism. Responding to this tragedy, the Air Force, in conjunction with the United States Army, assisted in the repatriation of over 900 Department of Defense military, civilian personnel, and family members; relocated the majority of our Southern Watch forces to Al Kharj; and instituted an aggressive series of force protection measures throughout the United States Central Command area of responsibility.
Air Expeditionary Force. We look to the Air Expeditionary Force (AEF) to provide a flexible, quick-response force to fill theater needs across the spectrum of conflict. Because it is designed to deploy rapidly when needed, and operate for limited periods in theater, the impact on the host nation is less than with permanently based forces. In addition to their operational capabilities, the AEF has provided powerful opportunities for working with host nations, improving military-to-military relations, and laying the foundation for future coalitions.
The Air Force exercised this concept with AEF deployments to Bahrain, Qatar, and Jordan in 1996. These forces demonstrated the power of the AEF concept in providing rapid, tailored capability to fill theater requirements. These AEFs were tasked with flying their first combat sorties in less than 72 hours of notification to deploy, and they were totally successful in meeting this requirement. Each provided a balanced capability for air superiority, precision attack missions, and suppression of enemy air defenses.
In the near-term, we must anticipate the need to deploy lethal and nonlethal AEFs to areas outside the Middle East, and to exercise them under controlled conditions during some of our upcoming exercises. For the long-term, we expect AEFs to mature into a significant component of our global capability, and to adapt our operational and logistics systems to accommodate their widespread use.
Space Launches and Operations. During 1996, the Air Force conducted 33 successful space launches. The Eastern Range supported 25 space launches, while the Western Range supported another eight. Of particular note, we launched five Titan IV heavy-lift vehicles, all on the first attempt and all achieving successful orbital entry. Two of these launches were done three weeks apart, demonstrating our increased turn-around capacity. The Delta II launch vehicle continued its string of successful launches with another 10 in 1996.
The Air Force recently demonstrated an increased global situational awareness in Bosnia when direct satellite feeds were used to transmit live unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) images to theater commanders and supporting forces via the Joint Broadcast Service (JBS). Efforts are currently underway to provide an identical capability, globally, through a program known as Global Broadcast Service (GBS).
In the area of survivable military satellite communications, we increased our on-orbit capability by launching the second Milstar satellite. This satellite is providing commanders in the East Atlantic and European theaters with nuclear survivable, jam-resistant, communications connectivity between subordinate combat forces, key military leaders, and national-level authorities residing in the United States.
Noncombatant Evacuation Operations. Between April 9 and 14, 1996, an Air Force contingent deployed from Royal Air Force Mildenhall, United Kingdom, and executed the evacuation of Americans and third country nationals from Liberia in support of Operation Assured Response. The Air Force led the effort to evacuate approximately 2,400 people from Liberia through Freetown, Sierra Leone, to Dakar, Senegal, under the cover of AC-130 gunships.
Domestic Assistance. While the Air National Guard (ANG), in support of its state mission, provides the primary Air Force response to domestic emergencies across the country, the Air Force has stepped forward in a federal role to assist in disaster relief within the United States as well. For example, we responded with airlift support following Hurricane Fran and assisted in damage assessment of the afflicted areas. As fires raged out of control across the western United States last summer, our Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve flew over 400 sorties, and dropped more than one million gallons of water and an additional 10 million pounds of fire retardant to help control the blazes.
Engagement/Partnership for Peace. The Air Force is intensely engaged around the world in supporting the national security strategy of engagement and enlargement. Thousands of airmen are engaged in military-to-military activities around the globe -- from the Joint Contact Team Program in Central and Eastern Europe to Constructive Engagement with China. In 1996, Air Force units participated in 11 Partnership for Peace exercises with 28 nations.
OPERATING TEMPO/PERSONNEL TEMPO
Since the end of the Cold War, the Air Force has stepped up to an Operating Tempo (OPTEMPO) four times that of the Cold War Air Force -- while reducing its force structure by about 40 percent across the board and with 32 percent fewer people. That increase in taskings has, of course, increased demands on our people, our units, and our weapon systems. Over and above our existing forward presence, on an average day in 1996, about 13,700 Air Force men and women were deployed on missions ranging from combat in Bosnia and Iraq, to humanitarian aid in Africa and the Caribbean. In a very real sense, this is a direct result of our providing the precision and flexibility our nation needs across the diplomatic and political spectrum -- Air Force capabilities are in demand around the world.
The Air Force has therefore taken a series of steps to posture our force to sustain this tempo. We established a goal for limiting the time our people spend deployed to no more than 120 days/year and are developing a system for tracking that metric. We have structured a strategy to meet that goal: first, share the burden of these taskings across the force so that temporary duty (TDY) days are more equitable; second, eliminate or find alternative capabilities where taskings allow; and third, adjust our forces where appropriate to meet the need, using the ANG and Reserves when possible.
The Air Force has been able to reduce the load on some units by relying on our sister Services or our allies to fill mission requirements -- for example, Navy EA-6Bs and E-2Cs. In some cases, we have reduced taskings by the operational commanders where the balance of operational requirements in theater, versus the long-term health of our force, demanded.
Finally, we have taken steps to strengthen some portions of our force which are facing particularly heavy demands. As an example, we established a Reserve associate unit for our Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) wing at Tinker AFB to reduce the Personnel Tempo (PERSTEMPO) in that highly-tasked system; and we have begun the procurement of two additional RC-135 Rivet Joint aircraft to lessen the worldwide TDY mission load on the current fleet of 14 airframes. Using AEFs offers the potential to help relieve the heavy PERSTEMPO load. Through the careful use of AEFs, the Air Force will be able to provide a rapid response capability anywhere in the world, while reducing the need for standing deployments.
This aggressive range of management actions has already begun to have a positive effect. In 1994, personnel operating or supporting more than 13 of our weapon systems exceeded the 120-day goal for deployed time; in 1996, that number was down to four. Low-density, high demand career fields are still a challenge. In particular, Combat Control Teams, as well as RC-135RJ, A/OA-10A, HC-130, and U-2 weapon systems, remain the most highly tasked assets. The Air Force will continue to work this issue to enable us to provide these capabilities while maintaining reasonable PERSTEMPO into the future.
We also recognize the imperative to take care of the families of our deployed personnel. For example, the Family Support Center (FSC) Family Readiness Program aided our families impacted by the Khobar Towers bombing and paid for food and lodging for those families living in low-lying areas near Pope AFB -- getting them to a safe shelter before Hurricane Fran hit. Our 84 FSCs are doing an excellent job of supporting the families of our people. The FSC Career Focus Program provides family members with information on career/employment opportunities and strategies for job search as a result of relocation.
LONG-RANGE PLANNING
Global Reach-Global Power, published in 1991, outlined the Air Force's strategic vision for the early post-Cold War period. While it effectively guided the Air Force through this period, it became clear that we needed to extend our vision into the first quarter of the next century. Over the past year, the Air Force did exactly that, with an unprecedented long-range planning effort involving both the headquarters and our field commands. In October 1996, the Air Force leadership, both civilian and military, sketched out its broad vision for our future growth, captured in Global Engagement: A Vision for the 21st Century Air Force.
This vision extends across the range of Air Force activities -- operations, personnel, and infrastructure. It provides a comprehensive map for our future growth, defined by the expertise and experience from all elements of our force. Over the coming year, we will focus on converting this broad vision into a plan, and on implementing a series of initiatives agreed during the October conference.
AIR FORCE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE JOINT TEAM
The Air Force's central responsibility is to develop, train, equip, sustain,
and integrate the elements of air and space power that produce these core
competencies:
AIR AND SPACE SUPERIORITY
Our first order of business is to establish control over the entire vertical dimension -- the domain of air and space power. This control provides us with the freedom to operate, freedom from attack, and freedom to attack -- not just for air forces, but for every member of the joint team. Simply put, air and space superiority is the key to winning wars with the fewest casualties.
We are looking ahead to ensure that we can fill this need far into the future. The key component in this effort is the F-22 -- the successor to the F-15 as our air superiority fighter. This aircraft will bring a revolutionary combination of stealth, supercruise, and integrated avionics to the fight, providing an overwhelming advantage against the sophisticated threats that will increasingly proliferate around the world in the years to come. It remains on course for its first flight in the spring of 1997, and for introduction into service in 2004. The F-22, combined with the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), which will be fielded about 2008, will replace the mix of F-15s, F-16s, and A-10s that has served the nation so well over the past decades. The JSF, like the F-22, is on track toward its Initial Operational Capability (IOC), as we downselected from three competitors to two in November 1996.
Aside from the risk of attack by advanced enemy aircraft, deployed U.S. forces face a dangerous theater missile threat as well -- a threat that has already taken American lives and is proliferating around the world. In 1996, the Airborne Laser (ABL) program transitioned from a technology demonstrator into a key acquisition program, to counter that threat. We demonstrated the required laser power and chemical efficiency while making significant strides in maturing the tracking and beam control portions of the ABL. In November 1996, Boeing was selected as the contractor to bring this revolutionary system into service in the first years of the next century. With the ABL, the Air Force steps across a threshold to a new era of directed-energy weapons. More significantly, we will provide our forces a boost-phase theater missile intercept capability -- a true weapon of deterrence. By attacking Theater Ballistic Missiles (TBMs) early, the enemy faces the potential of having his own weapon fall back upon his homeland.
The Air Force is pursuing the airborne laser not only for its revolutionary combat potential, but as part of an overall system of theater missile defense capabilities. The most effective way to combat missile threats is with a layered capability: offensive counter air and attack operations to find, fix, and destroy launchers and their support equipment as well as enemy command and control; boost-phase interception of missiles in flight; and mid-course and terminal interceptors. The layered systems will all be provided with the best intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance possible, and linked with an effective theater-wide command and control system. The Air Force has extensive experience with just such a system of systems to counter enemy air operations, with the result that in all our past conflicts since 1952, no American troops have suffered an attack from enemy aircraft. The Air Force is working to extend this expertise to shape the architecture for counter-missile operations by supporting emerging technologies in Cruise Missile Defense (CMD) and National Missile Defense (NMD).
Spacelift is fundamental to our achieving air and space superiority in the future. The Air Force is currently taking the necessary steps to move beyond the current family of intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM)-based vehicles for our launch capabilities, expecting to reduce launch costs by 25-50 percent as we do so. In December 1996, the Air Force downselected the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program competitors from four to two, keeping the program on track for a 2001 first test launch for the medium launch system, and 2003 for the first heavy test launch. This program offers clear advantages not just for the Air Force, but for other national security users and for the commercial sector as well.
Another major continuing effort over the past year was the Space-Based Infrared System, or SBIRS. This system will replace the Defense Support Program (DSP) early warning system in the first part of the next century. This system will provide more rapid detection and warning to theater forces of strategic launches, improved capability to detect and track theater missile launches, and a cueing capability for missile defense systems.
GLOBAL ATTACK
The special quality of the Air Force lies in its ability to project power rapidly, precisely, and globally. We demonstrated this quality, as noted earlier, in the B-52/ CALCM strikes against Iraq in the summer of 1996. The ability to rapidly re-target weapons enroute provided the flexibility Joint Force Commanders needed to conduct that joint strike. While global response is a capability that the Air Force has focused on since its founding days, we are now working to improve flexibility and response time.
In particular, that need is driving upgrades to improve the conventional response capability of our bomber force. Our B-1 force has fielded and is undergoing further upgrades to improve combat capability, and in 1996, fielded the capability to drop cluster bomb munitions. The B-2 has also shown steady progress in a conventional role, with the GATS/GAM (Global Positioning System (GPS) Aided Targeting System/GPS Aided Munition) program providing it a much improved capability at low cost, relatively quickly. During a test mission in Nevada in October 1996, three B-2s destroyed 16 targets with 16 bombs using this system -- a dramatic demonstration of capability. This mission vividly demonstrated the ability for individual aircraft to engage and destroy multiple targets per pass.
Although the risk of worldwide nuclear conflict is substantially lower today than during the Cold War, nuclear deterrence remains an important component of national security. The global attack capability of our ICBMs and nuclear capable bombers continues to provide the nation with an essential capability.
RAPID GLOBAL MOBILITY
Our ability to rapidly respond to the full spectrum of contingencies from humanitarian relief to peacekeeping, to major conflicts, is a prerequisite for winning future conflicts. The speed, range, and flexibility that are unique to air and space forces are essential ingredients for success, and we continue to aggressively pursue systems and processes that increase our capability to respond anywhere, anytime, and with decisive influence.
The C-17 will provide the backbone of our airlift capability far into the future. 1996 was a remarkable year for that aircraft. Its very existence in doubt a few years ago, it has successfully demonstrated its capability in deployments around the world in its first full year in operation. Its most dramatic exploit perhaps, was the insertion of 15 Bradley Fighting Vehicles and floating bridge sections into Tuzla in late December 1995 to bolster ground presence and enable the U.S. Army troop crossing at the Sava River in Bosnia. Recognizing its maturity, the Air Force signed a multiyear procurement contract that will ensure stable funding as we bring on this essential system. It is our highest-priority program in the near term.
PRECISION ENGAGEMENT
When one thinks of precision engagement, it is perhaps too easy to reflect on the vivid pictures of weapons flying down air vents or smashing into hangars. Certainly, that sort of precision delivery is a key part of this Air Force core competency, but precision engagement is much broader and more demanding than merely ensuring that you can hit what you aim at. It entails the ability to bring together the global awareness of objectives and priorities with the ability to apply overwhelming and decisive air and space power.
Historically, the world's air forces have faced technical and operational restrictions in their ability to deliver precision weapons at night or in bad weather. We now own the night, as demonstrated in Operation Desert Storm, and are well along in our efforts to develop an all-weather precision capability with the next generation of conventional weaponry. These weapons, the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM), Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM), and Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW), will provide a complementary mix of capabilities, creating a range of options for our forces.
AGILE COMBAT SUPPORT
The old adage that amateurs talk strategy, professionals talk logistics, remains as true today as it has been for centuries.
Like so much else, our concept for logistics support for our combat forces has evolved since the end of the Cold War. The Air Force is moving away from deploying masses of materiel to support our forces, and instead is using high-velocity, high-reliability transportation and information systems to get the right parts to the right place at the right time. Through this approach, we will increase our operational capability while reducing both our mobility footprint and our costs.
We are extending the concept of reachback to include elements ranging from command, control, communications, computers, and intelligence (C4I), logistics, and personnel, exploiting information technology to reduce our footprint in the deployed location. Time definite resupply will be an important part of improving this capability in the future. This, coupled with a combined logistical architecture of lighter, more reliable equipment designed for support from an agile information based logistics system, will yield a revolution in combat support. Indeed, the success of the Air Expeditionary Force will ultimately rest on our ability to deploy rapidly and to sustain U.S. forces effectively once deployed.
INFORMATION SUPERIORITY
Success in the 21st century will require that we rely more and more on the ability to use and protect our information technology. The pace and volume of the flow of information enabled by modern technology provide advantages to the nation's military forces -- but with these advantages come vulnerabilities as well. On October 1, 1995, we stood up the 609th Information Warfare Squadron (IWS), the Air Force's first IWS, at Shaw AFB, South Carolina. The 609th IWS will help ensure that we can protect our own information systems, both in garrison and when deployed, as we develop the ability to attack those of our adversaries.
The Air Force has long fielded the heavyweights of the information war, systems such as the U-2, AWACS, Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS), and Rivet Joint. These aircraft are among those most in demand around the world today, as our Joint Force Commanders seek to gain the information superiority that they need to execute their missions. The Air Force is exploiting new capabilities in these aircraft. As an example, we recently fielded the Rapid Targeting System, which builds on the capabilities of our Contingency Airborne Reconnaissance System and enables near real-time transmission of U-2 imagery to the cockpit of airborne fighters. In the not-too-distant future, we will standardize our network of linked weapons, Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance, and command and control (C2) platforms -- increasing our commanders' situational awareness and avoiding any blindspots.
The Air Force crossed a historic threshold in 1996, assuming operational control of the Predator UAV. This system moved into operations directly from its Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (ACTD) phase, which generated problems with support and operational flexibility. Despite growing pains, Predator has been a workhorse over Bosnia and has provided a wealth of information to our joint forces there. In July 1995, we established our first UAV squadron, the 11th Reconnaissance Squadron, at the Nellis AFB complex in Nevada, to speed the maturation of our efforts in the employment of UAVs. We learned a great deal about the employment of UAVs, and with the 11th Reconnaissance Squadron reaching IOC in October 1997, the Air Force will be poised to exploit them more effectively in future operations.
AIR FORCE PEOPLE
When people think of the Air Force, they rightly think of high technology -- of supersonic aircraft, satellites orbiting overhead, computers, and communications networks at the leading edge of technology. But it is not our technology that makes us successful. It is the people operating the technology -- their dedication, their skill, their education, and most importantly, the core values by which they live and work.
CORE VALUES
Our core values are essential to our very existence as an institution. These fundamental and timeless values -- integrity first, service before self, and excellence in all we do -- form the bedrock of our force. It is crucial to our capabilities that our members share a common understanding of these values, and live by them.
To strengthen our efforts in this area, the Air Force has decided to institute an Air and Space Basic Course for all newly commissioned officers and selected civilians. This course will provide them with a common, shared foundation in Air Force core values as well as in the doctrine, and operations of employing air and space power. Over time, we will follow up this initial training with a continuing education process in technical training, our professional military education courses, and in periodic refresher training. We will ensure the most solid possible foundation of institutional integrity for the force of the future.
LEADERSHIP INITIATIVES
Leadership has always been an art and has always been at the heart of military effectiveness. Today we find our leaders at all levels challenged by new responsibilities as they operate in an increasingly complex environment. So, over the past two years we have fundamentally restructured our approaches to selecting, training, and supporting our leaders -- and we will continue to refine these processes.
In 1995, for the first time, the Air Force conducted a Command Screening Board to identify eligible colonels and colonel selects to fill wing commander and group commander vacancies. Through this process, we ensure officers most qualified to command are identified so that the future leadership of our Air Force is comprised of the best people.
The next essential element in effective leadership is preparation for command -- and here again, we have refined our approach. Once selected for command, all wing, group, and squadron commanders now receive formal resident training prior to assuming command. These courses emphasize command responsibility, accountability, and discipline. In addition to these fundamentals, the courses include case studies and time-sensitive topics for effective command in this very complex environment -- with a focus on issues ranging from violence in the workplace, to equal opportunity and diversity in the workplace, to outsourcing and privatization.
QUALITY OF LIFE
The Air Force traditionally works at the leading edge of technology and relies on highly trained and disciplined people throughout the ranks to sustain that approach. That strategy depends on our ability to recruit, train, and retain quality people -- and ultimately, to provide a reasonable quality of life for our people serving this nation. People are at the top of our priority list, and the Air Force has benefited enormously from Secretary of Defense and congressional support for enhanced quality of life (QOL) for our people.
The Air Force Quality of Life strategy is to pursue a balanced approach supporting our seven priorities: fair and equitable compensation; safe, affordable housing; quality health care; OPTEMPO/PERSTEMPO considerations (the demands our operational tempo places on our people); increased community programs; improved retirement systems and benefits; and continued support to educational programs.
Air Force Quality of Life initiatives rank compensation and benefits as our first priority in ensuring the right quality of life for our people. Congress has already taken steps necessary to embed pay adjustments for inflation in our program, so that in future years, there will be no surprises and these adjustments can be made within a planned framework. The 3 percent pay raise authorized in FY 1997 will close the private sector pay gap, but clearly we have some distance yet to travel in this area.
The report by the Marsh Commission framed Secretary of Defense Perry's priorities, and with congressional support, the Air Force made gains in many of these areas. For example, the Air Force continues to place great emphasis on upgrading housing throughout the force. Over 1996, the Air Force began a long-term effort to improve the quality of our housing for unaccompanied enlisted members. Initiatives range from the approval of new construction and assignment standards, to renovation of old dormitories. We also began construction of our first-ever Dormitory Master Plan to establish a common yardstick for our installations and improve our management oversight in this crucial area. We expect to complete this effort by the summer of 1997.
Already these initiatives are bearing fruit. The Air Force began implementing the new DoD one-plus-one dormitory standard, with 28 such dormitories approved for construction in FY 1996. We will follow these with another 20 projects in FY 1997. And we established an institutional goal of eliminating all gang latrines in permanent party dorms by the year 1999. All of these initiatives, and this considerable capital investment, represent our commitment to meet our single and unaccompanied members' highest priority concern in quality of life -- privacy.
For Air Force families, we need to revitalize over 58,000 housing units. With the average age of our housing units now over 34 years, this is a major requirement as we seek to improve living conditions for our people.
It appears that as we move ahead to improve our family housing, privatization offers a real opportunity for improved quality with limited investment of Air Force resources. The Air Force's first project in this area will be at Lackland AFB, Texas, where we identified a deficit of 580 units and another 521 units as substandard. To address this problem, the Air Force has funded a 420 unit project including construction of new units, demolition of existing substandard units, and ownership and operation of the new housing by the developer. We expect this innovative approach to provide a pattern for others to follow.
Finally, the Air Force is continuing to focus attention and resources on providing our people the child care they need to enable them to perform their duties. The increased requirement of high PERSTEMPO and the demands of changing society where more of our families have both parents employed have expanded the demand for child care. We need about 86,000 child care spaces to meet these demands. Over the past year, we added 325 trained personnel and will increase our child care capabilities to 65 percent over the next five years, while keeping parent fees stable.
REVOLUTION IN BUSINESS PRACTICES
If the Air Force is to succeed in its modernization and QOL initiatives, we must free up resources through a revolution in business practices. The Air Force cannot afford to continue traditional means of doing business in acquiring and supporting our forces. We have therefore instituted an aggressive series of reforms that extend across the range of our infrastructure and acquisition practices.
ACQUISISTION REFORM
In 1995, I reported on the Lightning Bolt initiatives, designed to jump-start our acquisition reform. In 1996, I can report that these have succeeded beyond our expectations -- and that they are generating the cultural change across the force that is essential for their long-term effect. Already, the Air Force has identified about $17 billion in savings and cost avoidance through these measures, and we are still exploring this terrain. Our focus will be to continue to press these reforms aggressively and to broaden our focus into two new areas. First, the Air Force will sharpen our processes for defining operational requirements by improving the dialogue between our acquisition experts and our operators. The intent is to prevent the shifting requirements that in the past have led to program instability. The second major thrust line will be to work toward closer cooperation among the financial, program evaluation, and acquisition communities -- again, with the intent to improve financial stability.
The JDAM program provides a vivid example of the benefits we are reaping from acquisition reform. We will acquire that system at $14,000 per unit instead of our projected $40,000; we will buy out the program in 10 years instead of the projected 15; and we will receive a warranty increase from five years to 20.
OUTSOURCING AND PRIVITIZATION
Outsourcing and privatization provide an essential means of freeing resources to apply toward modernization. More than that, these steps enable the Air Force to harness the expertise of the commercial sector for our needs and to enable us to focus more consistently on our core responsibilities.
Over 1996, the Air Force has made considerable progress in this very complex arena. We successfully transitioned the depot work at Newark Air Force Station to private contractors. We are in the early stages of depot maintenance competition for a large portion of the Sacramento Air Logistics Center workload and the C-5 business area at Kelly AFB. We have progressed toward completing a strategic plan covering the range of our outsourcing and privatization initiatives and expect to finish that this coming year, and we have identified those areas where we expect to find the most near-term payoffs: support functions, depot maintenance, and military family housing.
The key to our success in the support area is competition between the public and private sector. Our most notable example, and also our largest competition to date, is a recent cost comparison of Aircraft Maintenance at Altus AFB, Oklahoma. The competition, completed in only 16 months, was won by a streamlined in-house organization which reduced its manpower by 49 percent, and resulted in a $95 million savings over five years.
COMMERCIAL OFF-THE-SHELF TECHNOLOGY
The distinction between military technology and commercial systems has become increasingly blurred over recent years. The line that once divided the commercial sector from defense industry, too, has faded. It has become increasingly attractive to employ off-the-shelf commercial technologies in our systems. The Air Force is aggressively pursuing those technologies -- and we are abolishing old prohibitions that limited our ability to take advantage of them.
One vivid example is what is now called the GBS, which we are now using to provide upgraded flow of data to our deployed forces. By using an existing commercial satellite constellation to provide an interim operational capability, we saved an estimated $800 million.
The Air Force has used this same approach to structure our acquisition of the VC-32A, our next-generation long-range executive transport, to procure four Boeing 757 aircraft. By using commercially available off-the-shelf technologies, we have saved almost $40 million per aircraft, and reduced acquisition time by about one-third.
FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
Ultimately, the success of all these measures relies on sound financial management practices and good business sense. The Air Force financial management community has worked hard to improve business practices, quality of management accounting data, and financial reports required by the Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Act of 1990. These financial reports not only provide meaningful information to senior Air Force managers, but also assurances to the public that the Air Force is a good steward of its financial resources.
The Air Force has made fast moving progress in shaping reform and bringing about change. Problem disbursements have been reduced up to 90 percent since 1993. Antideficiency violations are down nearly 80 percent since 1994. Nearly 70 percent of the CFO audit recommendations have been corrected, and generally the remaining corrective actions represent the critical long-range financial system improvements required for CFO Act compliance. Corrective actions required for existing financial and other systems are being prioritized and implemented. In instances where systems are being replaced, the Operational Requirements Document now stipulates that the new system be compliant with Federal Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.
The Air Force also developed an Automated Battlefield System (ABS) to improve our ability to accomplish those financial transactions that must be done during overseas operations. The ABS, which consists of a simple piece of software that works with ground-based communication equipment or a portable satellite transmission device, permits the user to access all financial information resident in stateside computers. The ABS avoided the need to develop costly new software for use during contingency operations.
CONCLUSION
Air Force people have built a force that is engaged around the globe, and we are building the capabilities our nation will need from its air and space force in the future. The Air Force is proud of its golden legacy of service over the past 50 years and of our current role in support of our national strategy of engagement and enlargement. We stand ready to work along side of the rest of the joint team to secure our country's security for the next 50 years and beyond.
| /signed/ Sheila E. Widnall Secretary of the Air Force |
