WEBVTT

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China has been re optimizing its forces

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for great power and to prevail against

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the US and the Western Pacific for over

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20 years , we must do the same . China

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has been building a military capability

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specifically designed to achieve ,

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achieve their national goals and to do

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so even if opposed by the United States

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over the past several months ,

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Department of the Air Force , senior

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leaders have outlined a compelling case

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for why we need to accelerate change to

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meet the needs of great power

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competition during the Air and Space

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Forces Association's warfare symposium

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in February 2024 Secretary Kendall and

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Air Force Chief of Staff General Alman

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announced 24 sweeping changes to re

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optimize our processes . This re

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optimization aims to meet the

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challenges of a changing threat

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environment , keep the force

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competitive and enact urgent change .

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Hello , I'm Lieutenant General Donna

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Shipton , commander of the Air Force

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Life Cycle Management Center . And I

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want to walk you through the impacts of

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re optimization on our center . Those

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of us contributing to the Air Force

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Life cycle Management Center's mission

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and our industry partners are about to

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face a very exciting and challenging

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time . We get to make our part of this

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re optimization happen and to make it

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work , we all need to understand our

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individual roles and the overall

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purpose of this major change within the

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center at the Air Force level .

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There are four cornerstones to this re

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optimization effort , including how we

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develop our people , how we generate

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readiness , how we project power and

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how we develop capabilities . Most of

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the work impacting us as a center will

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revolve around developing capabilities .

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We will continue our mission to

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organize train and equip but some of

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our directorates will change , allowing

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us to eliminate silos and collaborate

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more effectively . We will continue to

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deliver combat effective agile and

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adaptive air power at scale . Secretary

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Kindle described why we need to adapt

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to the pacing challenges now and into

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the future , the Air Force and Space

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Force are incredibly capable but we

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need to re optimize the department for

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greater power projection and for great

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power competition . The war we need to

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be most ready for . If we want to

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optimize our readiness to deter or

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respond to the patient challenge is not

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the type of conflict we have been

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focused on for many years . There are

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many changes that will occur across our

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air force . But over the next few years ,

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I want to focus on the changes we will

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make across our center of the four

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major G PC decisions that will affect

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Air Force Material Command . Three will

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directly impact our center , the

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creation of two new system centers and

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the stand up of the integrated

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development office or ID O . The new

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system centers will integrate cross

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portfolio capabilities that benefit the

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whole of our air force and are no

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longer program or center centric . This

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supports the command's new structure ,

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enabling us to provide a cost effective

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pipeline of competitive war fighting

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capabilities in partnership with the

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operational community . Next year , the

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life cycle management center will

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become the Air Force Air Dominance

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System center or Air Force A DS C A DS

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C will remain part of Air Force

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Material Command . And Wright Patterson

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Air Force Base will remain our center's

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headquarters location . We will still

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be in charge of the acquisition and

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product support of our aircraft and

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conventional weapon systems . But the

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current directorates that focus on C

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two and Cyber will become the Air Force

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Information Dominance System Center or

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Air Force DC . Our success in today's

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environment will depend on our ability

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to integrate and that is the number one

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reason we are doing this re

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optimization , interoperability and

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alignment can only further enhance our

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mission . The near term part on the

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readiness , it's about making sure the

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way that we have our forces aligned .

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The way that we have our wings

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structured , the way that we have our

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training done makes us more ready for

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the type of combat we may have to face

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with a great power competitor versus

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what we've been doing in countering

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violent extremism for the last 20 years ,

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the other part , but developing the

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people and developing the capabilities

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won't necessarily help us in the next

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month or two months . But is setting

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the stage for how we develop the

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capabilities , the tools of the trade

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and the airmen who will use those to

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make sure we can maintain that

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competitive advantage . But we have to

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get it started . Now , if we're going

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to have this enduring competitive edge ,

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maintaining a competitive edge isn't

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just about staying ahead . It's about

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doing so with agility , speed and

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intelligence . As adversaries evolve

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their military powers at an

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unprecedented pace , we will have to

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integrate horizontally across all

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weapon systems and match . Coms .

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General Alvin spoke about the

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importance of aligning our forces in

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new ways . We will continue to seek

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ways to partner with the operational

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community . Audible Hunter , evaluated

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and approved new alignments of some of

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our programs , directorates and program

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executive officers . There will be some

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name changes within the organizations

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that become A DS C A listing of these

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nine Pe Os is on the screen . One of

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the biggest changes within the new

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system centers is the creation of

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integrating Pe Os as integrating Pe Os

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the system center commanders will be

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responsible for a set of standards and

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architectures to allow for increased

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horizontal integration . Each system

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center commander will also be a pe O

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for me that will be leading the newly

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formed combat readiness directorate , a

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merger of some aspects of the agile

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combat support divisions plus the rapid

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sustainment office , I will

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simultaneously serve as the integrating

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pe O for enterprise product support ,

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kinetic fires and combat logistics .

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Some other directorate changes of note

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are the separation of mobility and

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training into two individual

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directorates and refocusing propulsion

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on increasing systems integration while

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not losing sight of individual

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platforms . The digital PE OS that are

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currently part of the Air Force life

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cycle Management Center will become

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part of the Information Dominance

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system center . The placement of the I

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DS C headquarters will be determined

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through the formal air Force basing

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process focusing on information

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dominance . The command control ,

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communications , intelligence and

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networks directorate will become cyber

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and networks , digital will become

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electronic systems , business and

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enterprise systems will remain the same

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but move to this organization . The I

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Ds C commander will also serve as the

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DAF pe OC three BM and as the

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integrating Pe O for C two and non

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kinetic fires . The stand up of the two

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system centers , A DS C and I DS C

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covers the first two G PC decisions

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affecting the center . Their integrated

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development office or ID O is the third .

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The ID O will support early capability

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development . While balancing

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technological opportunities and risk ,

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the ID O will work with the system

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centers to ensure continuous pipelines

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of competitive technology development

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and architecture integration that the

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Pe Os and the integrating Pe Os

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respectively will manage . Finally , a

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note for our industry partners . We

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expect our current partnerships to

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remain strong and to continue to grow .

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We look forward to working with

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business leaders to develop strategies

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to maintain American air and

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information dominance , supply chain ,

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security , human capital , talent

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management , integrated weapon systems ,

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and so much more . Our refocus of

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programs and people isn't indicative of

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scaled back business opportunities . If

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anything , there are the potential

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opportunities for growth across the

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entire air force to the uniformed and

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civilian airmen of the air force life

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cycle management center , our

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contractors and the defense industrial

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base . Thank you for being here and

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thank you for all that you do to

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support our great nation during this

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time of consequence .