USSTRATCOM commander visits Whiteman

by Maj. John Severns
509th Bomb Wing Public Affairs

11/10/2014 - WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo. -- Admiral Cecil D. Haney, commander of U.S. Strategic Command, visited Whiteman Air Force Base Oct. 30-31 to chair the Bomber Stakeholders Conference, one of several stakeholders meetings held by the command this year.

These forums are designed to assess the health and direction of the Nation's strategic forces, including bomber, intercontinental ballistic missile and submarine forces, as well as the communication networks and sensors that tie them all together. The meeting at Whiteman drew several dozen senior leaders from across the Department of Defense to examine the health and requirements of the strategic bomber fleet, which includes the B-2 Spirit Bomber, based at Whiteman Air Force Base, and the B-52 Stratofortress.

During his visit, Admiral Haney met with Airmen from the 509th and 131st Bomb Wings. He also sat down with local reporters to discuss his responsibilities as the USSTRATCOM commander, the role of strategic deterrence in America's defense, and the importance of deterrence in a world filled with increasingly unpredictable and evolving threats.

Bombers make up one-third of America's nuclear triad, with land-based Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles and sea-based ballistic missile submarines comprising the other two elements. Aging equipment and constrained budgets present leadership challenges such as modernization, procurement and sustainment, that are addressed during such forums, the admiral said.

"The newest of the B-52s came off the assembly line in 1962. The B-2s are 20, 21 years old," Haney said. "Quite frankly, we have to have a replacement for [them] in order to carry out both strategic and conventional missions."

The Air Force has started work on the next generation bomber, the Long Range Strike Bomber, but it is not expected to be fielded for many years to come.

Although the triad was developed in response to the Soviet Union during the Cold War, it remains relevant and critical to our nation's defense, Haney said.

"The strategic arsenal we have today is not about the Cold War," he said. "We're not hanging on to Cold War apparatuses. This is about 21st century deterrence."