By Amaani Lyle
DoD News, Defense Media Activity
WASHINGTON, July 25, 2015 – The Air Force secretary
yesterday discussed her top national and homeland security issues, as well as
current personnel challenges, during a question and answer session with Fox
News at the sixth annual, three-day Aspen Security Forum in Colorado.
Regarding her perspective of the current top U.S. threats,
Secretary Deborah Lee James said Russia tops the list, followed by Islamic
State of Iraq and the Levant, Al Qaida and general extremism in the Middle East,
China, North Korea and Iran.
“We have had budget cuts and we’re the smallest Air Force
we’ve ever been,” James said. “Whatever we are called upon to do, we will step
up to the plate, we will send our most effective and our best trained personnel
and most modern capabilities, and we will get the job done.”
The secretary also noted the significance of cyber threats
and space investments not only to the Air Force, but the Defense Department.
James also recounted that while the U.S. Air Force once
enjoyed decades-long absolute control of the skies, other countries are
catching up.
“My job is not to pick a fight with anybody … but my job is
to make sure we’re ready,” James said. “We’ve got to have the right people, the
right training, the right capabilities today, and … invest in the future.”
According to James, the 1980s and 1990s were the first
decades in which the world at large saw the fruits of stealth and
precision-technology investments, particularly during the Persian Gulf War.
“Ever since that time, countries have been investing, testing … and replicating
to the greatest extent possible.”
They’ve also been investing in asymmetric capabilities,
James added. “I don’t ever want a fair fight; if I have to fight, I want to be
one or two or three steps ahead of the competition.”
Vulnerabilities Out there
But the secretary acknowledged she remains concerned about
cyber security, and hopes for ongoing collaboration with industry to buffer
against attacks.
“We probably have the best protections in the world, but are
they good enough? Are the vulnerabilities out there?” James asked. “We are
constantly serving [and] looking and when we find issues that concern us, we
try to plug the holes.”
Confidence in Iran Nuke Deal
Regarding the United States’ recent deal with Iran to
potentially lift the arms and intercontinental ballistic missiles embargo in 5
to 8 years, James expressed confidence in the arrangement.
“It’s the best deal that we could hope for under these
circumstances,” James said. “The totality of the deal takes off the table the
various paths that Iran might have to develop this nuclear weapon over the next
decade or so.”
Domestic Issues
Of domestic nuclear issues, James acknowledged the fallout
from the 2011-2013 Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana, debacle in which some 100
missile officers cheated on a nuclear proficiency test via cell phone.
“We never found evidence of cheating beyond that one base,
but we did find evidence of systemic problems across the board,” James said,
adding that the Air Force opted to take a holistic approach in addressing the
problem as a “people” rather than “cheating” issue.
James said the service therefore redirected money and
manpower to bolster training, incentive and development opportunities for the
nuclear force. “I think we’re making good progress … so we just have to keep on
it.”
Sexual Identity and Gender
Following Defense Secretary Ash Carter’s recent order to
implement a six-month study reviewing what he called “outdated” barriers to
military service based on sexual identity and gender, James emphasized that her
concerns focus primarily on a military member’s job capability and adherence to
their service’s core values.
“If you are doing your job capably and if you’re living
those core values, then you’re the type of person I want in my Air Force,”
James said. “Times have changed.”
Similarly, James said her former membership on the Defense
Advisory Committee on Women in the Services, helped her better examine the
issue of gender-neutral opportunities in the military.
“We were tracking on closed specialties and efforts to open
up those specialties,” James said, adding that the standards might be of a
mental nature, physical nature or both. “We need … gender neutral standards for
all of these jobs in military, because that will tell us whether or not an
individual, be it a man or a woman, can do the job.”
Currently, the Air Force offers the greatest number of open
jobs with only six or seven positions closed to women, and those positions,
James said, are “closely aligned to the special operations world.”
James said the Air Force will open remaining currently
closed jobs for women, provided gender neutral standards are in place, and the
service will allow people to compete.
“If there is a request coming up to me for an exemption, the
burden of proof would be heavy to demonstrate to me why that should be if we’re
talking about gender-neutral standards and simply requiring that all sorts of
people be able to meet those standards.”
Each summer, senior government and industry leaders discuss
current key security issues in order to foster leadership at a nonpartisan
venue. The Aspen Institute has campuses in Aspen, Colo., the Wye River on
Maryland’s Eastern Shore, offices in New York City as well international
partnerships.
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