Pacific Air Forces has shifted into a warfighting command, with airmen across the region ready to fight at a moment’s notice due to the changing security landscape, the command’s leader said Wednesday. PACAF Commander Gen. Terrence O’Shaughnessy said that, historically, US forces on the Korean penin?sula have been the ones ready to “fight tonight” because of the North Korean threat. Now, with an assertive Russia and China on top of the threat on the peninsula, PACAF has become more “operationally focused” with its forward forces ready for contingencies across the entire region, O’Shaughnessy said at ASC16. “Airmen all the way across the Pacific are ready at a moment’s notice to respond,” he said. The US military needs to show its force in a credible manner to effectively deter threats in the region. O’Shaughnessy’s comments came as news broke about two B-1B bombers, deployed to Andersen AFB, Guam, flew to South Korea as a show of force near the demilitarized zone.
In the wake of a major Chinese military shakeup, the head of U.S. Space Command warned of China’s “breathtakingly fast” advances in space during visits to Japan and South Korea. Gen. Stephen N. Whiting’s trip to the Indo-Pacific is his first overseas visit since taking command of SPACECOM in January.