The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies is proud to present The Aerospace Advantage, with former Air Force weapons school instructor and Thunderbird Lt Col (ret) John “Slick” Baum as the host. Every week, Slick will take listeners into the world of aerospace power and help the audience understand what it takes to fly and fight in the sky, while also protecting America’s interests in space. Whether talking to top generals, standing on a flight line full of combat aircraft, looking at a rocket being prepared for launch, or hearing from those who have laid it all on the line in defense of the nation—this podcast will afford unprecedented access and insight into where the combat aerospace community is going and why.
Episodes
Saturday Oct 08, 2022
Saturday Oct 08, 2022
Episode 97 – The Oldest, Smallest U.S. Air Force in History: What Happened?
Episode Summary:
In episode 97 of the Aerospace Advantage podcast, The Oldest, Smallest U.S. Air Force in its 75 Year History: What Happened?, John Baum chats with Mitchell team members Lt Gen Dave Deptula, USAF (Ret.), Lt Gen Joseph Guastella, USAF (Ret.), and Mark Gunzinger to understand why America’s Air Force is stretched to the brink. This is particularly problematic given the scale of threats that define the current national security environment. Without the right mix of modern airpower competencies, core U.S. security strategies simply will not work. Funding is at the heart of the issue. The Air Force’s budget has been less than the Navy and Army’s for the last 30 years in a row. These sorts of realities repeatedly prompted service officials to pursue “divest to invest” modernization strategies that introduced significant risk and failed to effectively balance modernization, force size, and readiness. Resetting the Air Force to meet the national security demands of today and tomorrow is possible, but it will take forceful leadership at the highest levels of the Department of Defense. Without modernizing our geriatric Air Force and building it to the capacity required by our national defense strategy, the U.S. is a great risk of losing its next major conflict.
Credits:
Host: Lt Col (Ret.) John “Slick” Baum, Senior Fellow, The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies
Producer: Shane Thin
Executive Producer: Douglas Birkey
Guest: Lt Gen (Ret.) David Deptula, Dean, The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies
Guest: Lt Gen (Ret.) Joseph Guastella, Senior Fellow, The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies
Guest: Mark Gunzinger, Director Future Concepts and Capability Assessments, The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies
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