Air Force, Space Force chiefs make forceful cases for ‘warrior ethos’
The intense speeches were delivered to a less-than-full ballroom due to Trump-administration travel restrictions.
Audrey Decker | March 4, 2025
Air Force Space Force Pentagon
AURORA, Colo.—The leaders of the Air Force and Space Force were fired up Monday during their keynote speeches at the service’s spring conference, loudly emphasizing the necessity of a “warrior ethos,” as military leaders adjust their priorities and rhetoric to those of new Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
The tone of the two speeches at the AFA Warfare Symposium was markedly more aggressive than in recent years, with Air Force Chief Gen. David Allvin describing his service’s job as putting “warheads on foreheads,” and Space Force Chief Gen. Chance Saltzman talking more openly about offensive operations and using “military force to control the space domain.”
During Allvin’s keynote speech, large side screens played a clip from Hegseth’s January confirmation hearing in which the defense secretary lists his priorities: restore the warrior ethos, rebuild the U.S. military, and re-establish deterrence.
Both service officials took the opportunity to point out how their efforts align with the new administration’s priorities. Allvin said that the service’s current overhaul, started last year to prepare for a fight against China, is fully in line with the administration’s goals.
https://www.defenseone.com/policy/2025/03/air-force-space-force-chiefs-make-forceful-cases-warrior-ethos/403451/?oref=d1-skybox-hp
