STRATCOM leader charts nuclear path for American military

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Ben Gonzales
  • Air Force News Agency
OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. (AFPN) --  The U.S. Strategic Command commander here recently laid out his vision for the future of America's strategic deterrence mission and the importance of nuclear stewardship.

Gen. Kevin P. Chilton also outlined the necessary measures to correct the accountability and day-to-day management issues with nuclear weapons following the Defense secretary's scrutiny of the Air Force's mismanagement of nuclear assets.

"We have three main lines of operations here," the general said. "The first being strategic deterrence, the second being space operations and the third being cyberspace operations. In each one of these areas, we have forces assigned from the management level at the headquarters, and forces at the operational level of war executing every day, whether it is the mission of being ready and deterring, or actually conducting operations in space and cyberspace. On top of that, we have some key enablers that perform in the areas of missile defense, information operations, synchronized planning for combating weapons of mass destruction, and we make recommendations to the secretary of Defense on how to use our intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets. We also provide the warfighter input into the process in getting new equipment and capabilities."

The Airmen, Sailors, Soldiers and Marines of STRATCOM are ready to perform the strategic mission today and every day as they protect America from a full range of threats while supporting the war on terrorism.

"STRATCOM is in the fight today," said the command astronaut pilot with more than 5,000 flight hours. "We are in the business of saving American lives and we do that every day. Consider how much the joint force around the world depends on space capabilities delivered by this combatant command, or how much the joint force requires our cyber connectivity capabilities by moving intelligence data between (MQ-1) Predators (flying in Iraq or Afghanistan) to analysts (in the United States) to be able to hunt down our adversaries anywhere on the planet. STRATCOM is the backbone of those capabilities. And when it comes to strategic deterrence, we keep peace through our readiness."

The general is responsible for the global command and control of U.S. strategic forces to meet decisive national security objectives. He has led the joint command since October 2007 and sets the tone for its members on how to focus America's strategic capabilities.

"What I have tried to do is focus us in the way we look at our missions," General Chilton said. "I ask myself the question, 'On a bad day, when is the phone on my desk going to ring, and the president or secretary of Defense is on the other end of the line and would say, You need to fix this problem.' In those three main lines of operations that we operate in every day, I want to make sure we increase the operational focus day in and day out. The other missions we have are vitally important as well, and we don't want to lose sight of their importance. Bringing that headquarters and command-level focus down has refocused the entire command on the importance of our missions."

Having to refocus on the nuclear stewardship is something Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates takes very seriously. He made that clear when he asked for the resignations of both the secretary of the Air Force and chief of staff of the Air Force on the basis of leadership failures associated with control of nuclear weapons and equipment.

The secretary said the Air Force had lost focus on the sensitive mission of the protection and safety of its nuclear arsenal. He noted a "serious decline over at least a decade in the Air Force's nuclear mission focus and performance, resulting in a degradation of the authority, standards of excellence and technical competency of the Air Force's nuclear mission."

To counter this trend, the STRACOM commander recently established a Nuclear Enterprise Council and Board with general officer-level oversight to improve integration and coordination of U.S. nuclear operations. The 1976 distinguished graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy and former astronaut who flew on three space shuttle missions said the American nuclear enterprise remains safe and secure.

"The services are currently taking all necessary measures to correct the accountability and day-to-day management issues with our strategic weapons," General Chilton said. "The nation demands the highest standards from all who are charged with the deterrent mission. I am confident in the services' ability to carry out the mission, and we will only get better as we continue to hone our processes and make organizational improvements. The nation can be assured our men and women continue to possess the professionalism and commitment to protect our country."

To oversee the command's nuclear operations and strategic deterrence, the general established a new one-star billet at STRATCOM, the deputy director for nuclear operations. The responsibilities of this position include managing and overseeing the nuclear enterprise to assure safety, security, reliability and positive control of nuclear weapons.

In addition to maintaining a safe and secure nuclear arsenal, the general noted that what should not be overlooked are warheads for the nuclear weapon systems.

"What we're not talking about enough is warheads," General Chilton said. "We have a Cold War inventory of nuclear warheads that we need to modernize if we're going to sustain our nuclear deterrent in the 21st century, and that is a major focus area for this command.

"The Air Force has done a great job of taking care of the (intercontinental ballistic missile) force," he said. "They are making the investments required to ensure we can sustain that force for another 15 to 20 years. The real question is will we have the warheads to put on top of them to make them effective as part of our deterrent? We need to move out on modernizing our warheads. Our current inventory is a Cold War design. We need a design for the 21st century that ensures reliability and increases safety and security of the weapon system. Now is the time to start looking hard at this weapons inventory that was designed to last 15 to 20 years and every single one of the weapons is older than 20 years old. It is time to move forward in this particular area.

"As long as the U.S. maintains a nuclear capability, we owe it to future generations to achieve the safest, most secure and reliable stockpile technology will allow," he said.

Of all STRATCOM's responsibilities, the No. 1 priority is nuclear deterrence and the general said perfection is the standard for America's nuclear forces.

"We have to be perfect in (the nuclear) mission," he said. "To have a credible deterrent to our adversaries and to ensure our allies know we have the capability to deliver this weapon if required, that takes precision and excellence. I think, perhaps, in the past 15 years we have lost track of the fact that readiness is a mission. Deterrence is a mission. And the highest calling anyone wearing a military uniform has is not to fight our country's wars, but to prevent those wars from starting. That nuclear mission, that strategic deterrence mission we have at STRATCOM, I believe is every bit as important today as it ever was, and the men and women who execute it are every bit as important today as they ever were. U.S. Strategic Command is ready."

The general, who is a Guggenheim Fellow and holds a master of science degree in mechanical engineering from Columbia University, understands the value of the Air Force on the joint team.

"Two-thirds of our nuclear deterrence force is provided by the Air Force," General Chilton said. "A large percentage of our space force is provided by our Air Force, and I've been very proud of the Air Force and how they have raised awareness of cyberspace. In our three key lines of operation, the Air Force is absolutely critical to the joint team here in providing the talent and tools we need to conduct our operations."