dChan - Q Origins Project Archive

WASHINGTON (AFPN) –

The Air Force’s top-ranking leaders met recently for a two-day forum at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., continuing a tradition that has shaped the service’s leadership since 1944.

The Corona meetings happen three times per year and they allow Air Force senior leaders to come together for frank, open discussions and decision-making about the future of the Air Force, said Lt. Gen. Arthur J. Lichte, assistant vice chief of staff of the Air Force.

“The fact that all the four-stars arrange to come together and discuss important issues is actually historical in nature,” General Lichte said. “This event had not been held at Maxwell for over 40 years. The chief of staff really wanted to get back to this cradle of Air Force education for this Corona.”

Gen. Hap Arnold hosted a meeting for three- and four-star generals Feb. 18, 1944, at Maxwell. According to Air Force historians, documents describe this as the first Corona meeting, although that name was not used.

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley wanted the forum to return to its roots highlighting his focus on the heritage to horizon Air Force vision.

At this recent Corona, the results of the Quadrennial Defense Review were used as a basis to talk about the Air Force future in terms of process improvements, force shaping and restructuring, all the while maintaining a focus on fighting the global war on terrorism, taking care of the people and recapitalizing the force, General Lichte said.

“The decisions that come out of Corona lead to programs that will impact the Air Force and Airmen for many years to come,” he said.

After receiving input and feedback from several pre-Corona meetings such as the senior leadership forum, which is for one-, two- and three-star generals, and the senior statesmen conference, which is for retired general officers, the current four-stars tackled several issues during this Corona.

The following are a few examples:

– The air staff realigned into an A-staff organization structure, with the major commands to follow suit over the next 90 days. The goal is to improve communication flow within the Air Force and with our sister services and joint community. The Air Force is also implementing its new warfighting headquarters construct which will provide scalable headquarters to enable command and control of air, space and information forces throughout the full range of military operations as well as meet unified combatant commander taskings. The warfighting headquarters are designed to easily assume responsibilities as a combined/joint air and space component headquarters. After 180 days, there will be a look at the best practices from each major command before final implementation.

– Basic military training will now last an additional two and a half weeks in order to train Airmen on more ground warfighting skills, emergency medical skills and better prepare them to assume duties in an expeditionary Air Force.

– Senior noncommissioned officers and field grade officers will be required to participate in language and cultural studies as part of their professional military development at the Senior NCO Academy, Air Command and Staff College and the Air War College.

– A cyberspace task force has been stood up in the Pentagon under Dr. Lani Kass to provide guidance and policies for the Air Force’s emerging “fly and fight” cyberspace mission.

– The overall design of the new Airman battle uniform was approved with a set of additional improvements proposed to the chief of staff of the Air Force from Airmen engaged in combat operations within the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. The proposed boot designs were also approved for both men and women. The remaining item is the utility hat, which is still under test and review.

– The "Director of the Air Force Staff" duty title was added to the assistant vice chief of staff position. The assistant vice chief of staff still serves as the official representative for the chief and vice chief of staff when their duties preclude them from being present for any meeting or event as well as serving as the accreditation authority for foreign air attaché corps in Washington and principle Air Force representative to attaché corps functions. In addition, the director of staff duties include the supervising of the organization and administration of the air staff and providing administrative services for the offices of the secretary of the Air Force. The director of staff ensures the smooth flow of taskings, including assisting in developing, implementing, and reviewing plans, programs, and policies in the overall direction of the Air Force.

“The beauty about Corona is that it provides an open and honest atmosphere for Air Force leaders to address their concerns and share ideas,” General Lichte said. “You cannot get that type of frank discussion over the telephone or in a staff summary sheet.”