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CSAF: Airmen, Air Force integral part of joint fight

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Matthew Bates
  • Defense Media Activity San Antonio
LOS ANGELES (AFNS) --  With his first 100 days in office under his belt, the 19th chief of staff of the Air Force says the Air Force is in good shape.

Gen. Norton Schwartz says that's because of the impressive job America's Airmen -- active-duty, Guard, Reserve and civilian -- are performing.

The service's top military leader said that on a daily basis, Airmen at bases and deployed to locations around the world are not just accomplishing their missions, but are doing so with innovation and enthusiasm.

"The truth of the matter is that the folks who are out there are hustling," the general said. "They're working hard, they have a sense of mission and they have a sense of purpose. And so it's our job, as senior leaders, to make sure the mission and their sense of purpose is properly directed and that we take care of and cultivate their spirit. We intend to do that."

Fighting two wars is not easy, he added, but today's Airmen are helping the defense team succeed with the full range of capabilities the Air Force has to offer.

"Our folks who are downrange are supporting the mission. They're doing it well and they should be proud of that," General Schwartz said. "We should all be proud of that and I know the joint commanders are."

The general heard about this first hand during a recent trip to areas of responsibility for both U.S. Central Command and Africa Command where he talked face-to-face with joint and coalition commanders on the ground. In every case, these commanders spoke highly of their Airmen and the capabilities they bring to the fight.

This is a fact that is important, said the general, because this fight is a team fight.

"We're not lone rangers, not at all," General Schwartz said. "There are some scenarios where our capabilities may be more evident and there are some scenarios where ground forces or naval forces capabilities will be more evident. So the bottom line is, we're a team. This is family business and the truth of it is, no ground force commander I know would ever go downtown without us."

The general added that just because someone is not on the front lines does not mean he or she is not contributing to the fight.

"I think the fundamental thing is that everybody counts," General Schwartz said. "No discipline, no job specialty, no one is more important than another. No one should measure their worth by their proximity to the fight."

Ultimately, the general is impressed with today's Airmen and is excited to meet tomorrow's challenges with them.

"The United States Air Force is all in and whatever is required of us as the nation's air force we will do and we will do it well," the chief of staff said. "Bottomline: We do our jobs, and the people who depend on us value our work, then we'll be in good shape."