Understanding the Aerospace Expeditionary Force concept
By Capt. Michael S. Braibish
374th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
Editor's note: This is part one of a two-part commentary regarding the Aerospace Expeditionary Force concept and how it affects everyone.
If there's one thing that stays the same, it's change. Ever since the end of the Cold War the Air Force has had to adjust to a new set of rules. The nature of the threat we face changed. We conquered the "Evil Empire" as former President Ronald Reagan labeled the former Soviet Union, and found ourselves looking into a fragmented world picture.
In the immediate aftermath of the Cold War, our nation sought to capitalize on the changes. It made sense to our national leaders at the time to draw down the forces that defeated the Soviet threat.
What we didn't expect was that this fragmented world would be so divisive. Like shards from a broken mirror, some of the nations once kept in check by the superpowers threatened to cut international stability to shreds.
In response to these emerging threats, we started sending airmen on more deployments than at any time in our history.
There we were: drawing down forces while increasing our commitments.
The way we've been keeping pace is by becoming an expeditionary force: flexible, powerful, and responsive to the national security needs of the U.S. Our mandate is clear: control the skies, space, and information anytime and anywhere we're asked to. We've got a superb team of hundreds of thousands of experts who enable us to do just that.
But while we may know what we do, it's not always easy to explain how we do it. For a few years now, we've talked about EAF, AEFs, cycles, rotations, UTCs, ULNs; the list of confusing acronyms and phrases goes on and on.
I've been looking for a simple way to explain AEF, but I've just about given up. Instead of going on about AEF, I'd like to talk about car racing.
There's a certain thrill to auto racing: the thunder of the engines and pursuit of victory.
It's like walking out onto our flightline and hearing the props hum or the engines whine as we rev up for another mission. There's an inescapable excitement.
In a nutshell, here's how racing works: you've got a group of people that make up a team. Each group has a distinct task, but the team shares the common goal of grabbing the checkered flag.
The folks who back the team are the sponsors. They want to make sure they've got the best organized, trained, and equipped team on the track. They look for the best chassis, the best engine, and the best mechanics and pit crew to put on that car.
The folks who take responsibility for preparing the car and maintaining it on race day will spend countless hours twisting, tweaking, and finessing the car to get the best possible performance.
What's the end result? A finely tuned machine that's ready to tear up the track.
Finally, we've got the driver who takes control of the car and applies years of experience, training, and know-how in pursuit of victory.
And there you have it. The winning team comes together: you've got sponsors making sure you've got the resources, mechanics and pit crew fine tuning the vehicle, and a driver who's ready to go full throttle.
Come to think of it, that's not too far off from the way we do business in the Air Force. Our sponsors are the Secretary of the Air Force and the Chief of Staff of the Air Force.
They make sure we've got the people, equipment and funding we need, much like the race sponsors make sure their team has the best crew and car. Our major commands and wings are like the mechanics and pit crews; they make sure the vehicle is in top shape. The joint forces commander is like the driver: he takes the vehicle the Air Force has perfected around the track for the win.
So where do you fit in? You're the vehicle - that superb piece of machinery that's been prepared for victory. Senior Air Force leaders make sure we've got the resources, commander's fine tune you with training and equipment, and joint forces commanders put us on the track to get the win.
Next time, I'll cover the race schedule and when you can expect to be in the race. (PACAFNS)
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