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Four-star panel discusses people, command and control, info technology

  • Published
DALLAS --  Three Air Force senior leaders discussed the importance of people, strong command and control, and information technology innovations during a four-star panel here Oct. 30.

Gen. John W. Handy, commander of U.S. Transportation Command and Air Mobility Command; Gen. Charles Wald, U.S. European Command deputy commander; and Gen. Lance Lord, commander of Air Force Space Command, took part in the panel during the 36th annual Airlift/Tanker Association convention. The discussion was moderated by retired Gen. Ron Fogleman, former Air Force chief of staff.

General Handy noted that while modernization of the mobility fleet has been in many headlines this past year, Air Force leaders should also continue to pay close attention to the services top asset, its people.

If you all play back in your minds what the national debate has been in the last year in our command, it has been focused around a weapons system; specifically, tankers, General Handy said. I worry that quite often, that takes precedence over our critical people issues.

The tendency ought to be to focus more on people and quality of life and the welfare of our people, he added. If you ever take your eye off the people issues, thats whats going to consume you. So within our command, as stretched as we are around the world, continuing that focus is a priority.

In providing the top lessons learned within AFSPC in the past year, General Lord cited the vital importance of space superiority and space situational awareness as capabilities his command should continue to offer the warfighter, but also cited command and control as critical at all levels of operations.

You must have a good command and control structure to string everything together, said General Lord, adding that AFSPC is patterning its command and control operations after AMCs, because mobility does global ops, and we do global ops. Were looking at the Tanker Airlift Control Center as a potential kind of way to do space business.

Part of command and control is knowing where your people and supplies are and when youll get them. General Wald said that in-transit visibility of equipment and people moving through his command will improve in the next few months with the stand-up of a European Distributions Operations Center.

Ninety-five percent of all the equipment, people and goods that went to Iraq traveled through the European Command and today in Iraq that continues, General Wald said. [Standing up the EDOC] will be important to all of us from the standpoint of moving equipment and goods.

When asked how information technology affects warfighting, General Handy cited strides made within AMC to leverage IT for success in managing 350 to 450 missions a day, every day, around the world.

You can go in the TACC and see every single thing that is happening in this command, said General Handy about AMCs central mobility air operations center. Its a powerful application of technology.