From the U.S. Air Force's inception 75 years ago through today, there has been no shortage of visionaries who have selflessly and honorably served to drive the Air Force into the future. Five of these great leaders shared their wisdom and experiences with Airmen, during the Nellis Air Force Base leg of the Air and Space Forces Association's Air Force 75th Anniversary Legends tour, July 27.
Retired Gen. John Jumper, retired Gen. Lori Robinson, retired Gen. Lloyd Newton, retired Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force Gerald Murray and retired Chief Master Sgt. Harold Hutchison, visited Nellis AFB to connect Airmen and Guardians with their living heritage as well as to provide mentorship, advice and encouragement to those currently serving in uniform.
"With the Airmen and the Guardians that are involved in our force today, we should feel very, very proud that we're in good hands," said Newton, former four-star head of Air Education and Training Command and the first African American pilot to fly with the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds.
The group kicked off the visit observing various aircraft launch for Red Flag night missions, late into the evening. The next morning, the legends met with Nellis AFB senior leaders who were also able to demonstrate the level of change and innovation driven by the U.S. Air Force Warfare Center through mission briefings and installation tours.
Jumper, a former Air Force chief of staff, spoke about how encouraged he was with the strategic level of understanding he heard from the Airmen he encountered at briefings and during panels.
"Their understanding of the digital world, it's complexity and the necessity to deal with complex command and control issues, information processing and the articulation of what we need to understand the enemy better, all these are things I've worried about, especially in the intelligence world but … they know what it's going to take to fix it," Jumper said. "I was very impressed with that."
The legends participated in two panels, where they were able to speak directly to Airmen, civilians and a detachment of cadets from University of Nevada Las Vegas' Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps program.
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