CSAF shares Air Force vision, way forward with Wolf Pack

http://www.kunsan.af.mil/News/tabid/1925/Article/994845/csaf-shares-air-force-vision-way-forward-with-wolf-pack.aspx
KUNSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea -- Air Force Chief of Staff, Gen. David L. Goldfein, spent time with Kunsan airmen to discuss his focus areas as Air Force Chief of Staff, future expectations and the long-term strategy throughout the Pacific region.

For 66 years the U.S. Air Force has stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the Republic of Korea and its allies, helping sustain not just regional but global peace and stability.

“The nation’s long term strategic goals in Korea begin with assuring our allies here on the peninsula,” said Goldfein. “A big part of assuring them is actually being here and engaging with them every day. The commitment we’ve made to the Pacific is really unrelenting when it comes to the whole of our government’s approach.”

According to Goldfein, the partnership between U.S. and Republic of Korea forces should have no gap as our alliance continues to play a major role in supplementing the regions ability to confront and curb North Korean aggression.

With that said, managing resources has become imperative to help revitalize areas in need of improvement in order to maintain the fight tonight posture and readiness.

“What I don’t have is a big bag of money to throw at this,” said Goldfein. “This is very much going to be an internal dialogue within the current resources, and I believe if we get the squadron piece right, we’ll get a lot of things right in the Air Force.”

Identifying areas for improvement and taking action to fix those areas have become a hallmark in Goldfein’s tenure as Chief of Staff of the Air Force so far.

Since becoming the 21st CSAF, he has adamantly expressed his vision for revitalizing squadrons and has already taken strides to modify the additional duty program, shifting focus back to the core mission.

“This is really the first wave [of changes],” he said. “We’re not declaring victory on this. It’s the first hack at the tree trunk and the SECAF and I are going to continue swinging away at this until we think we have it right. It’s not an insignificant first step, as I think it’s gotten us to a better place but I‘m not satisfied that we’re even close to done.”

Goldfein’s emphasis on revitalizing squadrons has been at the forefront of his agenda and as a result he has begun to utilize all resources to work on the issue.

Establishing a solid foundation at the squadron and unit level will create long-term and lasting effects throughout the Air Force, according to Goldfein.

"If you’re going to achieve lasting change, then you have to move what I call these big rocks in the right direction; you actually have to slow down to speed up,” he said. “From the beginning I wanted to get everyone’s minds thinking of the broader Air Force and why we need to look at these particular areas. The squadron is where airmen thrive, where families thrive, where we build readiness and where innovation occurs. It’s the level of command where you actually set the culture of the unit, at a level that’s lasting.”