Perfection: AFSPC commander’s standard rises to meet US expectations Published June 23, 2008 By Airman 1st Class Daryl Knee 90th Space Wing Public Affairs F.E. Warren AFB, Wyo. -- Gen. C. Robert Kehler, Air Force Space Command commander, visited Warren Monday to share his priorities with the Airmen here. His speech highlighted the importance of the Air Force's stewardship of critical assets and listed some changes that missile wings will see shortly. The number one priority still remains win today's fight, win the Global War on Terrorism and also to deter any future war, General Kehler said. To ensure the United States' strategic deterrent force is a capable force, the missile wings undergo rigorous inspections throughout every year. General Kehler plans to adjust the way in which inspections are conducted and put the command chain back into the inspection process. Now, the missile inspectors provide a goal checklist to the base, he said. The base then trains to adhere to the checklists. When the inspectors arrive, sometimes a base selects only the top people who will be inspected. With this method, he said, it is possible to overlook some pieces. To fix this problem, the Air Force Inspector General is proposing a single Nuclear Surety Inspection team for all qualifying bases, said Col. John Stocker, AFSPC IG. "That will give us standardized inspections across the Air Force," he said. The scenarios in the new no-notice inspections would also increase in intensity. "What inspections are all about, is telling unit leaders the difference between whether the unit is combat capable or just enthusiastic," he said. "Every unit is enthusiastic. Not every unit is combat ready." General Kehler wants perfection to be the standard. Some of the other discussed topics involved the speech made by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to Air Force Airmen June 10. "This command is not happy with what it heard [during Secretary Gates' speech,]" General Kehler said. "We are better than this, and we know it. If there's a leadership failure in this command, it's mine, not anybody else's. "We know what to do," the general continued. "We know how to address the issues, and we're determined to address them. And that's why I'm here." General Kehler went on to speak about how the intercontinental ballistic missile force is the underlying security upon which all of the nation's security rests. From his experience within the missile community, the general knew the significance of the job and the discipline it takes to perform with excellence. "I knew that we could do our jobs," General Kehler said. "We could do it all the time, and we could do it at the drop of a hat. And because of that, I knew ... we were never going to have to." With regard to the resignations of the senior Air Force leadership, General Kehler said, "Anytime an event like that happens in the history of our Air Force, that is an extraordinarily significant event. And when the reasons for that involve nuclear weapons and ICBMs, it's important for all of us." Airmen need to understand the importance of the ICBM force and what the inspections are showing, General Kehler said. Many other changes are coming, he said. Further steps beyond these are likely. "It doesn't much matter what we did yesterday, what matters is what we do today so we can influence tomorrow," he said. To view General Kehler's speech, visit O:\Base_Information\Visual_Information\video.