Chief Wright, Superstar 48 | MiGs Over Vietnam 53 | 4th-Gen Fighter Upgrades 34 WINDS OF CHANGE • Space Command Advances | 20 • Pacific Challenges Grow | 8 • SAM Threats Rise | 43 October 2019 $8 Published by the Air Force Association GTP_10289_AFA_B-52_8.5x11Ad_2019_v03.indd 1 8/23/19 2:59 PM STAFF Publisher Bruce A. Wright October 2019. Vol. 102, No. 9 Editor in Chief Tobias Naegele Managing Editor Juliette Kelsey Chagnon Editorial Director John A. Tirpak News Editor Photo: A1C Branden Rae A1C Branden Photo: Amy McCullough Assistant DEPARTMENTS FEATURES A F-15E and Managing Editor 2 Editorial: an F-35 on the Chequita Wood 8 Q&A: Toward a Seamless Pacific flight line at Matching Up Senior Designer Against the Spangdahlem An exclusive interview with PACAF Commander Gen. Dashton Parham Threat Charles Q. Brown Jr. AB, Germany. By Tobias See “Keep- Pentagon Editor Naegele ing 4th-Gen Brian W. Everstine 34 Keeping 4th-Gen Fighters in the Game Fighters in the Digital Platforms 4 Letters Game,” p. 34. By John A. Tirpak Editor 6 Index to A-10s, F-15s, and F-16s aren’t giving up the fight. Jennifer-Leigh Advertisers Oprihory 7 Verbatim Senior Editor 39 Beyond the Buzzword Rachel S. Cohen 10 Strategy & By Rachel S. Cohen Policy: Meet the Production New SecDef AFWERX aims to make innovation the new normal. Manager Eric Chang Lee 12 Airframes 43 What is a Modern Integrated Air Defense System? Photo Editor 20 World: Space Mike Tsukamoto Command By Maj. Peter W. Mattes, USAF debut; Mold in Modern air defense systems are better than ever. USAF housing; Misunderstanding them could prove deadly. Contributors New mission for Combat Call; John T. Correll, and more ... 48 Chief Wright, Superstar Robert S. Dudney, Maj. Peter W. 31 Faces of the By Brian W. Everstine Mattes Force Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force Kaleth O. Wright may 62 Airman for Life be the most popular enlisted leader ever. Here’s why. The Air Force Association’s 52 CMSAF Reading List Teacher of the Year CMSAF Kaleth O. Wright o ers his choices for publications aimed at developing a common frame of reference among 64 Namesakes: Air Force members—o icers, enlisted, and civilians. Malmstrom ADVERTISING: 53 Against the MiGs in Vietnam Kirk Brown Director, Media By John T. Correll ON THE COVER Solutions US airmen were clearly more capable, but the North Viet- 703.247.5829 namese held several advantages. [email protected] SUBSCRIBE 58 Outstanding Airmen of the Year & SAVE The Air Force Outstanding Airman program annually Subscribe to recognizes 12 enlisted members for superior leadership, Air Force Magazine and save big o job performance, community involvement, and personal NASA/NOAAPhoto: the cover price, achievements. Tropical storms and hurricanes in plus get a free a Sept. 4 NASA membership satellite photo. to the Air Force Association. 1-800-727-3337 Air Force Magazine (ISSN 0730-6784) October 2019 (Vol. 102, No. 9) is published monthly, except for two double issues in January/February and July/August, by the Air Force Association, 1501 Lee Highway, Arlington, VA 22209-1198. Phone (703) 247-5800. Periodical postage paid at Arlington, Va., and additional mailing o ices. Membership Rate: $50 per year; $35 e-Membership; $125 for three-year membership. Subscription Rate: $50 per year; $29 per year additional for postage to foreign addresses (except Canada and Mexico, which are $10 per year additional). Regular issues $8 each. USAF Almanac issue $18 each. Change of address requires four weeks’ notice. Please include mailing label. POSTMASTER: Send changes of address to Air Force Association, 1501 Lee Highway, Arlington, VA 22209-1198. Publisher assumes no responsibility for unsolicited material. Trademark registered by Air Force Association. Copyright 2019 by Air Force Association. OCTOBER AIRFORCEMAG.COM Strength of purpoSe Entrust your most sensitive missions to Gulfstream. With more than five decades of high performance, flexible platforms and proven reliability, there is no other choice for civilian and military operations over land and sea. the Art of excellenceTM EDITORIAL By Tobias Naegele Matching Up Against the Threat his month marks 18 years since the United States launched speech and religion, freedom of movement, intellectual property its first counterstrikes after 9/11. The generation of recruits rights. China wants others to follow its model and hopes to sup- Tnow joining the Air Force was born after that worst-ever plant the US as the world’s greatest economic and military power. terrorist attack on US soil; America has been at war for their “They’re dumping so much money into research,” the NASIC entire lives. analyst said, that China is rapidly closing the gap with the US In that time, our Air Force has developed and fielded new military. Watching what works for the US military, it is incorporating weapons, such as the MQ-9 Reaper and F-35 fighter, and found computers, networking, and other advanced technologies. One new ways to employ old ones, such as using B-1 and B-52 bomb- example: Integrated air defenses that used to rely on point-to-point ers for close air support. Improved intelligence, surveillance, data links, making them vulnerable to disruption, now employ and reconnaissance systems and better computer analysis robust, automated, and more survivable networks. tools have likewise enhanced commanders’ ability to gather China and Russia have used these past 18 years to study the and unify intelligence and to operate effectively with joint force American way of war, emulating what they see as useful and and coalition partners. identifying weaknesses they can seek to exploit in the future. Like Yet the US military has honed its 21st century warfighting a football coach with access to his rival’s playbook, China now skills not against peer competitors, but rather insurgent targets knows how to read America’s offense and defense and to anticipate in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and Libya. Rivals are eating away at what plays will be called and when. its advantages in both low- and high-end fights. Today, forces In a new report produced for the Defense Advanced Research are vulnerable in multiple areas: Projects Agency, the Air Force Association’s Mitchell Institute for ■ Iran and its Houthi rebel proxies in Yemen have each demon- Aerospace Studies starts from the premise that America is losing strated an ability to knock down slow-moving American drones. its competitive edge and that the greatest Air Force ever built is ■ Russia has enhanced its ability to identify and strike incom- now so dependent on a small number of sophisticated weapons ing targets with its next-generation S-400 mobile anti-aircraft that it can no longer afford to take operational risk. system, the most advanced of its kind, with a “China is developing their own theory of system range of 400 km, 30 percent greater than the For today’s young conflict,” says Heather Penney, a senior resident S-300. It is already working on an S-500, “and airmen, this is not fellow at Mitchell and a co-author of the study. that range is just going to get longer and longer,” your father’s Air That system targets “our data links and information says a senior analyst and integrated air defense networks to disrupt our information flows” and systems expert with the Air Force’s National Air Force. Oh, no. This aims to dismantle “key nodes of our operational and Space Intelligence Center (NASIC). is your grandfather’s system, specifically our command and control … to ■ China is developing counter-stealth stealth Air Force. get inside of our decision cycles and induce even technology by integrating multiple types of radars, further confusion.” operating in different frequency bands and modes, along with The study offers a vision for how to turn things around. Its report, infrared, electro-optical, and acoustic sensors, making America’s “Restoring America’s Military Competitiveness: Mosaic Warfare,” low-observable aircraft easier to spot and track. introduces a game-changing, force design concept that could Age and wear, meanwhile, are catching up with US forces, help rewrite the US playbook to create a perpetually changing, especially the US Air Force: F-16s average over 28 years old; unpredictable puzzle to adversaries. F-15Cs average 35; and even F-22s, new by comparative stan- To seize back the initiative, DARPA’s Mosaic concept would dards, are already averaging 12 years of age. Given a year to gradually trade today’s platform-centric force design and its small raise mission capable rates above 80 percent for its top-line number of highly integrated and extremely expensive systems in fighters, USAF couldn’t deliver. favor of a highly disaggregated web of lower-cost, more special- The bomber force is even older. The Air Force has just 20 B-2 ized assets, none of which can be deemed a critical point of risk. bombers, aircraft that are already in their third decade, and their Like an artist’s colored tiles or a child’s Lego bricks, these pieces planned successor, the B-21, is still more than a year away from could be assembled, disassembled, and reassembled in an infinite its first flight. Meanwhile, the venerable B-52, the workhorse number of ways, creating a widely dispersed web of weapons and of the bomber fleet, is about 58—uncharted territory. The plan sensors to confound adversaries with a constantly changing and is to keep them around for decades more. For today’s young overwhelming set of threats. airmen, this is not your father’s Air Force. Oh, no. This is your It’s not all new. The concept builds on ideas already being grandfather’s Air Force.