Air Force News Briefing
10 Apr 13. Air Force News Briefing on the FY 2014 Defense Budget Proposal from the Pentagon
Go to http://www.defense.gov/news/Air Force FY14 PB Brief–FINAL.ppt to view briefing slides associated with this transcript.
MAJOR MATT HASSON: Good afternoon. I’m Major Matt Hasson, Air Force Public Affairs. It’s my pleasure today to introduce the Air Force’s deputy assistant secretary for budget, Major General Ed Bolton. General Bolton has a briefing for you, and followed by his briefing, he’ll entertain your questions.
So with that, Sir, the floor is yours.
MAJOR GENERAL EDWARD BOLTON: Thank you, Matt. Good afternoon. How are you all doing? Thank you for joining me today. Welcome to the Air Force budget rollout presentation. Next slide, please. OK. This slide shows the topics that we’ll cover in today’s presentation. We’ll first take a few minutes to reflect on our heritage. It’s important during times of uncertainty and challenge to really think about who you are and why you do what you’re doing. Then we’ll talk about PB [President’s Budget] ’13, what exactly happened in PB ’13 with respect to sequestration, and then try to share our understanding as best we know it today how that impacts ’14. Then I’ll do a review of PB ’14 and then close with some closing comments, and then we’ll take any questions after that point. Next slide.
We are the world’s greatest air force. Our model, powered by airmen, fueled by innovation, speaks to our greatest asset, our people, and the spirit of innovation has been a key characteristic of our culture since our inception in 1947. The Air Force provides the capability to rapidly respond and to fly, fight and win in aerospace and cyber.
Now, on the chart, you’ll see a picture of Hap Arnold overlooking three historical examples of the application of our core missions. And they’re also shown on the slide. During the Berlin airlift, from 1948 to 1948, the Air Force supplied 441 of the 689 military and civil aircraft that flew nearly 400,000 tons of foodstuff, coal, and supplies into Berlin. That’s global mobility.
Starting in 1950 in Korea, Air Force pilots successfully flew the F-86 Sabre against Soviet-built MiGs in the first air-to-air jet combat sorties. And these pilots achieved a greater than five-to-one kill ratio. That’s a great example of air control.
Later in Desert Storm in 1991, the role of airpower and warfare was dramatically demonstrated. Air attacks was made on — on Iraqi command-and-control centers, communications facilities, supply depots, and reinforcement troops. Air superiority over Iraq was gained before major ground operations were started. I guess you could call that all of the above.
Next slide, please.
So those contributions, those core missions, the things the Air Force brings have continued into the 21st century. And today, each and every day, we provide those critical capabilities to the joint fight. This slides shows three examples of that great work with the Army and Navy and Marine Corps, starting with the first, the CV-22 Osprey from the 8th Special Ops Squadron from Hurlburt, Florida, flies a water operation exercise with Navy SEALs. In the middle, an MQ-9 Reaper, and that’s assigned to the 451st Air Expeditionary Wing, providing close air support and ISR support to soldiers in Afghanistan near Kandahar Airfield.
And then finally, see Marines from Heavy Helicopter Squadron 464 stationed in Djibouti, and they’re unloading CH-53 Super Stallion helicopter, and that’s from a C-5 that’s assigned to the 439th Airlift Wing from Westover Air Reserve Base in Massachusetts. This is in support of the Combined Joint Task Force for the Horn of Africa.
But these are just snapshots. In total, over 35,000 airmen are deployed to contingencies around the globe. More than another additional 57,000 airmen are stationed overseas, and another 130,000, 132,000-plus are providing support to combatant commanders from right here