Jumper reflects on challenges facing Air Force
by Staff Sgt. C. Todd Lopez
Air Force Print News
9/1/2005 - WASHINGTON -- During his final media availability session here Aug. 29, the departing chief of staff of the Air Force discussed his vision of the future force, Base Realignment and Closure and the challenges he faced as the service's senior military leader.
Gen. John P. Jumper said he believes the F/A-22 Raptor is the future of the Air Force, and that it was his job as chief of staff to make decisions that affect the service's future.
"The decisions we make today will deliver the force that three or four successors of mine will have to live with," he said. "Look at the F/A-22 in particular. I don't really have to look further than the short term to see what is being delivered today out there around the world."
What is being delivered, the general said, are Soviet-designed, high-tech weapons systems such as surface-to-air missiles and aircraft designed to fight the Cold War. Those weapons systems are still in production today and are in the hands of America's enemies. It is that unchecked proliferation of weapons systems that could one day threaten America's air superiority, he said.
"Everybody says the United States can't be challenged, but we see airplanes and SAM that can challenge the best of what we have today," he said. "It has to be paid attention to."
The general said he believes the F/A-22 can face those threats, and he has made great strides during his tenure as chief of staff to secure funding for and to move forward with the Raptor program.
"The F/A-22, I think, we’ve been successful on, and I think we need to keep making a case that in the global environment we are going to face in the next 20 or 30 years, this is a capability that is needed," he said.
Also part of the future may be a change in the air mobility concept of operations, the general said. The numbers of aircraft like the C-5 Galaxy and C-17 Globemaster III may be lessened if replacements for the KC-135 Stratotanker are diverse enough to double up as cargo planes when needed.
"We might be able to adjust the number of C-17s and C-5s in the fleet if we have a tanker force able to absorb the surge in air mobility requirements," he said. "You might be able to do a very good job of that if you adjust this blend of smaller tankers and larger tankers in favor of the larger tanker. I think the analysis of alternatives will support that."
The analysis of alternatives for the KC-135 tanker replacement, soon to be released, come after much controversy on Capitol Hill involving both inappropriate contracting activities and misinterpretation of congressional authorizations. Those issues have been mostly resolved, and the Air Force is on its way to finding replacements for the aging KC-135 tanker fleet, the general said.
"In the tanker business, the person found guilty is now in jail and that is the standard," General Jumper said. "We need to get on with the tanker issue. Now that we have gone through the AOA, and it is about to be released, we will proceed with the appropriate next steps, in the full light of day."
Replacing aircraft like the KC-135 and bringing in new fighter aircraft like the F/A-22 and the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter are part of a recapitalization process for the Air Force's aircraft fleet. General Jumper said recapitalization is his top concern for the Air Force.
"The thing that worries me the most is the recapitalization of our force," he said. "We are now facing problems we have never seen before because of aging aircraft."
Aging aircraft problems include the center wing box on the C-130 Hercules, engine attachment strut problems with the KC-135, and structural fatigue on F-15 Eagles that result in flight restrictions.
"We are having to deal with these aging airplane issues with an increasing amount of the budget, and we need to get on with recapitalizing," General Jumper said.
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