Gen. Hawk Carlisle, the Air Combat Command commander, released ACC’s 2015 command strategy “Securing the High Ground” on Aug. 10.
The principles the document outlines are designed to chart a deliberate course for ACC that will transform today’s combat Air Force into the CAF of tomorrow.
“This strategy outlines my priorities for ACC and provides a road map to ensure the combat Air Force can provide unmatched air dominance for our nation now and into the foreseeable future,” Carlisle said.
The strategy is based around Carlisle’s three priorities:
• Provide for today: Deliver the greatest amount of combat capability to meet our national security objectives and win our nation’s wars
• Prepare for the future: Balanced capabilities and capacity to meet the demands of a complex and uncertain world
• The foundation of airpower: Airmen and their families
“Our job is to provide the maximum amount of capability we can to the combatant commanders,” Carlisle said. “As the lead for five of the Air Force’s 12 core functions, we have to build the best Air Force we can now and in the future given the resources the American people provide us.”
Carlisle noted that ensuring the Air Force’s capacity and capability to successfully meet those five functions — air superiority; global integrated intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; global precision attack; personnel recovery; and command and control — would be a challenging undertaking in what has become an increasingly complex and uncertain environment. However, he added he is confident that the command’s Airmen are up to the task.
“Our Airmen are our asymmetric advantage over any adversary that we may face,” he said. “We must make sure they’re resilient and have everything they need to face the unique challenges of military life, and set conditions that support joint force objectives and the national military strategy.”
Within the strategy, Carlisle noted that despite having “more mission than we have people, time or money,” he was confident in the command’s future and its enduring commitment to “protecting the foundation of airpower and securing the high ground for America.”
“ACC has a proud heritage of meeting difficult challenges with success,” he wrote. “That will not change as we go forward.”
