Clear, concise communications key to maintaining air power Published Jan. 31, 2007 By Chief Master Sgt. Michael Williams 60th Air Mobility Wing command chief TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- I've attended an enormous amount of lectures, and more times than not, the orator began their speech on how our Air Force is changing. I must admit, I'm no different. It's important for everyone to know and understand why we are transforming and why we are all immersed in this massive wave of change. The aftermath will impact each of us in some shape form or fashion. Clear, concise communication up and down the chain of command is essential to mission success and vital to the morale, good order and discipline of any organization. Therefore, it's imperative we do our very best to ensure communication descends to the lowest level possible. We should keep our Airmen informed about what's happening in their Air Force and more specifically at Travis. I can't begin to tell you how many times I've asked Airmen and NCOs, "explain to me why we are downsizing," or "have you heard of Air Force Smart Operations in the 21st Century?" Overwhelmingly, the majority of the responses are no. So why must we recapitalize the fleet and why are we reducing our forces during a time of war? It's simple, we have to. In my humble opinion, our Air Force stood idle as time raced past us and before we knew it, the wall was down, we were no longer operating in the cold war era and our aircraft were beginning to age. In 1989, the average age of our fleet was approximately 8.45 years. Not too bad. By 2005, the average age of our antiquated fleet had risen to 23.5 years. Yet, nations across the globe still recognize us as the most formidable Air and Space Force ever. However, China, North Korea and a few other nations are steadily improving their technology. Therefore, we must also continue improving if we are to remain the world's greatest Air and Space Force. But how do we recapitalize the force? Congress made it very clear that there's no additional funding for us to recapitalize our fleet and barely enough funding to sustain our current capability. The Global War Against Terror has Congress focused on providing additional resources to the Army. Nevertheless, determined not to leave our fleet in the decaying state as he inherited, Gen. T. Michael Moseley, Air Force Chief of Staff, made what must have been one of his toughest decisions ever, reduce personnel. Thus, Programmed Budget Decision 720. Let's face it, our mission is to fly, fight and win in Air, Space and Cyberspace. Yes, we are reducing personnel to recapitalize the force. Reducing the force by 40 thousand is not a difficult goal to achieve. Think about it. Once you consider the number of multiple Article 15 recipients on active duty and those that are incapable of adapting to our lifestyle, we can eclipse that bogey with ease. Once we reach our new end strength, how do we operate with less people and increase efficiency? Eliminating waste within our processes and ultimately making better use of our resources, which enable us to increase combat capability to the war fighters. That's AFSO 21 in a nut shell, working smarter and not harder. We are executing PBD 720 and implementing AFSO 21 simultaneously, but they are independent of one another and dependent on each and every one of us. But we must communicate down to the lowest level.