The Big Tent

Air Force officials are still formulating the plan for improving the service’s nuclear enterprise, but Gen. Norton Schwartz, Chief of Staff, offered some insights earlier this month on the way forward during a visit to Peterson AFB, Colo. “We have lost focus in the nuclear area and we are going to make it right,” he said Sept. 2 during an open forum with about 500 military, civilian, and contractor personnel at the base theater. Accordingly, Schwartz said, the Air Force is going “to restructure, re-organize and re-enterprise top-to-bottom excellence” in the nuclear field. “We are going to have a big tent Air Force, in which everyone is all in,” he said. “This is an important notion.” Although starting with the nuclear enterprise, this approach “will apply to other disciplines” across USAF, he noted. The nuclear deterrent mission is still relevant, he said, adding that the Air Force is working to ensure that the future structure of that mission best reflects its importance. (Peterson report by Ed White)