As a service, “we don’t do a good job of communicating,” Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh has repeated at airman’s calls across the Pacific as he tours the region. He wants this to change. While the Air Force will shrink in the coming years and see its fair share of adjustments, Welsh has noted that the service’s core missions have remained essentially the same since the service’s creation in 1947. But for many outside the Air Force, its vital role in the nation’s defense is often unarticulated, or largely unknown, he has said. As a salvo to reverse this trend, the Air Force last week released the document “Global Vigilance, Global Reach, and Global Power for America,” along with a short video by Welsh accompanying it. Building on the service’s vision statement issued in January, the document outlines the Air Force’s five core missions and illustrates airmen’s contributions in those areas. Welsh said the document is a starting point. “We have to think about how we get the word out,” he said. From conversations with airmen during Welsh’s trip, down to the youngest member, they are good at what they do and want to do their jobs better—and explain to others how they help contribute to the service’s mission and goals.
U.S. Northern Command and multiple research organizations just wrapped up a joint, three-year experiment to test new radar technology that could enable the Northern Warning System to detect incoming threats at longer ranges across Alaska and northern Canada.