Thank you very much John [Shaud, AFA Executive Director].

I would like to extend a welcome to you at this, our 15^th annual Air Warfare Symposium. On behalf of the Air Force Association and our affiliate the Aerospace Education Foundation, I want to thank you for joining us for this important dialog about "Global Engagement and our United States Air Force.

We have a number of special friends and dignitaries that have sent a video greeting to us today -- would you please role the tape (video from Air Force men and women at Incirlik Air Base, Turkey, engaged in operation NORTHERN WATCH).

I don't know if you got that "splash" in the video showing a shot right down the throat. Ladies and gentlemen, we just received this video this week. We can be very proud of the men and women like these who are serving in our United States Air Force -- we have placed a great deal of pressure on them to support missions all over the world. With a much smaller Air Force, they are called upon to do a great deal for our nation -- and that becomes the crux for our discussion here today -- global engagement with Air Force Aerospace Power.

We know that a cornerstone of our strength as a nation is the capability to project combat power rapidly and effectively to any point on the globe. Many times over the several months, Saddam Hussein has personally learned just how well we can project Air Force power with our global reach and global power. The people in the video are on the front line in the confrontation with Saddam.

However, I am concerned that many of us don’t appreciate either the role of these dedicated men and women nor the important role played by aerospace power. In my many visits with DoD and Air Force leaders and with Congressional leaders, a number of key concerns keep cropping up: Although air and space capabilities are deemed critical to the future, aerospace power is consistently undervalued in budgets and planning. Furthermore, joint doctrine still tends to portray aerospace power as principally a supporting element for ground operations. Finally, national security demands that we fund the defense budget to actual requirements, not to wishful thinking or artificial budgetary caps.

As an aerospace nation, the United States needs a strong and healthy Air Force to be its Aerospace Force. Today and tomorrow, we have assembled an array of current aerospace power leaders who can describe the special capabilities and needs of the Air Force and how we can provide the needed forces and capability for tomorrow’s challenges.

With that said, now let’s turn to the business at hand and let me give the lectern back to our moderator for these sessions, the executive director of the Air Force Association and Aerospace Education Foundation, John Shaud.

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