New commander: Pacific Air Forces
ready, willing to confront challenges
By Wayne Specht, Misawa
bureau chief
Begert |
Gen. William J. Begert expects Pacific Air Forces to continue to
influence stability in the Pacific region.
“The Pacific region is as important as it’s ever been,
maybe more than in the past decade,” said the new Pacific Air Forces commander in a
telephone interview, “and PACAF’s presence drives home how important our
forward-deployed forces are out here.”
Begert, who assumed the PACAF helm in May, manages 45,000 Air Force
people and defense department civilians spread from Alaska to Hawaii.
As the air component commander for the Hawaii-based U.S. Pacific
Command, the 33-year Air Force veteran sells PACAF as “a full-service major
command.”
Begert says the command can not only deploy its F-15 and F-16
squadrons, but also bombers, information system warfare, mobility, precision engagement,
planning and space applications.
PACAF can deliver a full range of weapons systems to the U.S. Pacific
Command commander, Adm. Dennis Blair, he said.
Pacific perspective
Recent events in the Pacific, such as a Navy EP-3 emergency landing
in China, and Washington’s resolve to aid Taiwan should China threaten the island,
show PACAF troops can quickly find themselves thrust into a variety of challenging
positions.
“It can be a low-end [event] caused by a natural disaster like a
volcano or earthquake requiring relief, or a high-end conflict like Korea,” he said.
Here’s how Begert views Pacific regions:
Japan: Begert says Japan remains “a very close
ally,” despite recent incidents involving American GIs on Okinawa.
“Japan remains a friend. … The Japanese Air Self-Defense
Forces leadership remains a linchpin, and [they] believe our relationship is healthy and
strong.
“Our three bases in Japan are important, and I feel no pressure
today that leads us to do anything other than being the good neighbors we’ve always
been,” he said.
South Korea: Airmen in South Korea are “as
ready as ever should something happen there,” he said.
The 50-year relationship with South Korea “remains a strong and
healthy alliance on a peninsula that hasn’t seen a peace, only an armistice.”
Australia: In the South Pacific, the United
States’ history of going to four wars with the Australians has kept the Aussie-U.S.
relationship strong.
“We exercise with them all the time, and look through the same
lenses at the world,” he said.
New Zealand: The United States is limited in what
operations can be performed with New Zealand, Begert said.
U.S. Forces ceased military cooperation with the Kiwis, when the
nation adopted a non-nuclear policy a few years ago. The nation no longer allows U.S.
naval vessels to make port calls.
“Their anti-nuclear posture will continue to be a limiting
factor on what we can formally do with them in the way of exercising,” he said.
Begert also said New Zealand’s recent announcement to phase out
its air force combat units is “troubling.”
“I hate to see that. I hate to see an air force with a wonderful
bunch of courageous airmen take their capability down like that.”
Vietnam: Begert says he doesn’t see relations
with the country improving any time soon.
As a forward air controller, the general flew more than 300 combat
missions as a forward air controller at Da Nang Air Base between 1972 and 1973.
He said he doubts the United States will begin training with the
Vietnamese.
“We have our plates pretty full in terms of exercises …
[but] I don’t rule anything out,” he said. “It depends on where the [Bush]
administration takes us and what [our] priorities are.”
Philippines: The recent Balikatan exercise in the
Philippines, Begert said, was “a good first effort.”
“There’s no bad blood between the U.S. and the Philippines,
and if they asked for help in a natural disaster, we’ll be there in a
heartbeat,” he said. “Our military-to-military relationship will only grow over
the coming years.”
Guam: The island remains strategically important to
the United States, he said.
The U.S. Navy plans to station submarines at Guam, but the Air Force
has no plans to expand the PACAF presence there, Begert said.
“We’ll hold onto that real estate because Guam has always
been important in contingencies,” he said. “We used it as a bomber base (B-52s
launched sorties over Vietnam from Andersen Air Force Base), and as a base for mobility
forces passing through with relief supplies. Infrastructure-wise, it’s
well-positioned if we need to do those kind of things again.”
Mission readiness
The general did express concern over the command’s aging
aircraft.
Hard work is keeping the aircraft flying, he said, but it comes at a
price.
“We’ve leveled off in terms of a decline in mission
readiness, but we’re still doing way too much cannibalization of one airplane to get
another flying.”
The reality is, PACAF is flying old aircraft, Begert said.
Next year, 75 percent of Air Force aircraft will be 20 years old or
older, Department of Defense officials say.
The F-15 Eagle entered the inventory in 1974, while the F-16 Fighting
Falcon was introduced in 1979. Although newer versions have been sent to PACAF fighter
wings, constant use is taking a toll on frontline fighters.
“They are elderly,” Begert noted. “We don’t have
many brand new aircraft in PACAF, and they need replacements.”
He expects aircraft in need of repairs to begin spending more time in
depot maintenance.
“We’ll be replacing more parts than we would like to
because older airframes have higher failure rates,” he said. “But day-to-day
readiness is good because airmen are out there working harder than ever to keep it that
way.”
The availability of spare parts also influences the readiness issue,
a problem Begert said was first identified in the 1990s.
“We poured money against the maintenance problems when we
identified them, but not all the spare parts [needed] have flowed out to the forces
yet.”
As an overseas command, Begert said PACAF receives priority for
critical spare parts.
“We’re in pretty good shape, some bases in the lower 48 are
not quite as lucky,” he said. “Air Force-wide, we’re not where we would
like to be.”
On the issue of the Air Force’s year-old Aerospace Expeditionary
Force concept, Begert said the program already is paying dividends.
Airmen and fighter jets from Kadena’s 44th Fighter Squadron and
Misawa’s 13th Fighter Squadron are now in Turkey supporting Operation Northern Watch.
Before the program began, airmen did not know when they could deploy.
Now Air Force personnel are given a 15-month forecast of upcoming
deployments, giving families more stability.
“We’re almost at the point where we can declare the AEF a
limited success,” Begert said. “I’ve had my first complaint from a single
airman who told me his life is too predictable now.
“When we start getting complaints that we’re too stable, I
think we’re making progress.”
RELATED STORY:
You can never
stop learning, says new PACAF commander
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