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'Field Trip' Gives Wolfowitz First-Hand Look at Forces in Action
Saturday, August 3, 2002
By Linda D. Kozaryn
American Forces Press Service

... the Millennium Challenge experiment involves "a lot of fancy technology in the communications area and networking people and giving a very large and dispersed organization a common operational picture. We're just beginning to get an idea how that transforms the way in which we can fight and the speed with which we can make decisions.” The experiment has already demonstrated a dramatic increase in the speed a plan can be put together and a situation assessed. "Decision-making speed is a key to victory in war."

WASHINGTON -- AFIS
"Remember, sir," an Air Force weapons specialist told Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz, "without weapons, an F-15 is a single-seat airline." Another airman added, "If you ever need air supremacy, sir, give us a call."

Wolfowitz got a feel for the esprit de corps of the service members who fly and maintain the nation's war birds Aug. 2 when he visited Langley Air Force Base, Va. He also toured what he called a "truly transformational" intelligence center there, the 30th Intelligence Squadron's Distributed Common Ground System.

At a nearby Joint Forces Command facility in Suffolk, Va., the deputy got a glimpse of the future when he toured the Millennium Challenge 2002 exercise, the largest joint experiment in U.S. history. More than 13,500 troops from all services are taking part in the experiment, which features the largest computer simulation "federation" ever put together.

Troop visits such as these are important in more ways than one, Wolfowitz said about his daylong field trip. "It's encouraging for me to hear people say that it's important to the troops," he said. "I don't know if that's true or not. I hope it is because I know it also puts an extra burden on them.

"If it's a way of letting people know how much we appreciate their work," the deputy added, "then that's the most important thing we can do. But it's also very valuable to me to get a first-hand feel of what they're doing out there."

At the 1st Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, Wolfowitz met with some of the inspection and maintenance specialists who work on the F-15s based at Langley, headquarters for the Air Combat Command.
(More: DoD News Source)
2002 © The United States Department of Defense.

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