19th AF commander visits Vance Published Nov. 20, 2006 By Staff Sgt. Amanda Savannah Public Affairs Vance Air Force Base, Okla. -- The Air Force is changing to better prepare Airmen to fight a war expected to last two generations, and the service needs quality people to do it, the 19th Air Force commander said Aug. 10. Maj. Gen. Marc Rogers visited Vance Air Force Base Aug. 9 to 11 to meet Team Vance members, tour the base and speak at officer and enlisted calls and Class 06-13 graduation. During his visit, General Rogers spoke to enlisted Airmen and officers about how the decrease in force size, the Air Force Core Values and the War on Terrorism are related. "Our Air Force is smaller than it's ever been in its history, and it's going to get smaller," he said. "But I think when we're done (with force shaping) we're going to be more powerful than we were before and better." This drawdown is smaller compared to the 40-percent cut in the early 1990s, the general said. "Back then we had to completely reorganize the force ... but this 12 percent is not going to cause that. We're simply going to shift work between major commands and eliminate unnecessary processes to be able to downsize our force some," said General Rogers. "The most expensive thing we do is train and maintain the human weapons system. So every position we can take down means big dollars to shift missions and bases and buy new airplanes. Instead of driving around 30-year old F-15s, let's drive around new F-22s that take two-thirds of the people to maintain and each one is worth four F-15s. We've got to recapitalize this force so the Air Force can meet the mission in the future. We're going to be fighting this war on terror for a long time -- decades." Fighting the war takes more than just a leaner force, however. It takes Airmen who continue to uphold the service's Core Values. "How many of you when you signed up for the Air Force said 'I want to join a losing team?'" General Rogers asked. "You had this image of this Air Force that is professional, and ... that vision ... is at risk if you don't personally live to the Core Values every day. (We're on) a winning team ... no matter at what level you are, you're in the pros, so you have to live and act like you're in the pros. Walk the talk, because the minute you don't, it doesn't exist for you -- and it doesn't exist for your teammates. "These values are important because ... we deploy. When you deployed, you were put with people from all over the Air Force, and when you came together to do the mission, it all worked because you didn't have to look at those other people and ask, 'Can I count on you to do your part?' 'If you say you're going to do something, will you do it?' You don't have to ask that about each other ... you expect it ... because you're Airmen." Airmen need to be able to depend on each other during this "long war," the general said. "Other generals are telling the story of this long war because ... we want to make sure our force understands what we're up against," he said. "What happened on Sept. 11, 2001, was not a fluke and not just a single incident. Haim Hariri told us in 2004 it wasn't just an organized crime event, it was part of a plan. Their intent is to re-establish the old caliphate of the Middle Ages (a Muslim empire) from Morocco, down the Horn of Africa, across the Middle East ... to Indonesia, eventually threatening democracy in Europe and in the United States. They want to dominate this globe with their kind of thinking. (These people) might be thugs and terrorists, but they are brilliant. They have a plan, they are well organized, they are outstanding at strategic planning and operational execution and they have lots of money. Our government, our democracy and ultimately our freedoms are the long-range target behind the terrorists' actions, General Rogers said. "They want to take us down because democracy is the antithesis of what they are about," he said. "The kind of things they want to do and control cannot happen in a democracy. Sept. 11, 2001, was a powerful act to weaken us, keep us off balance and cost us lots of money. They want to keep doing things like that to bring us to our knees so we're too weak to interfere with what they want to do in the Middle East. What they didn't count on after Sept. 11 is that a month later we would have special ops and special tactics teams behind the lines, organizing and connecting the Northern Alliance and moving the force to take down the Taliban, and we did that. They did not anticipate we would go into Iraq. The exact opposite of what they saw in their strategy has happened. Instead of their kind of oppressive Taliban-style governments being imposed in the Middle East, they see they've lost Afghanistan, and democracy is replacing it and also being inserted in Iraq." Another part of the reason this war is expected to last is because of the age and mindset of the terrorists, the general said. "More than 50 percent of their population is under the age of 20," said General Rogers. "They've been educated since they were 5 years old by authority figures and others that we're evil and infidels and must die and their duty is to become martyrs in heaven. By the time they're older, you don't just change their thinking. Because of the age of their population, Hariri says we should expect this war to last a minimum of two more generations." Before closing, General Rogers thanked the Airmen for their service. "I was glad to finally get to Vance and meet the team that constantly sets an example for the rest of AETC and our Air Force. Thank you for what you do every day. I'm proud of you and I'm proud to serve," he said. The general also addressed Vance Air Force Base concerns including changes to the inspector general visit cycle, the future of deployments, pilot training changes, Force Shaping, education and Air Force Smart Operations 21. General Rogers' wife Deb and Chief Master Sgt. Robert Tappana, 19th AF command chief, also visited the base.