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AIR FORCE REVIEW
Vol1,No3
 
COMMANDER'S CORNER
ChoosingtobeChampions
Nothing will top the feeling of an Air Force, finally turned fully modern and fully capable and empowered to bring the war to the enemy, day or night.
---LT GENERAL BENJAMIN P DEFENSOR, JR AFPAs far as military arts is concern, the international dateline separating the past centuryand the new millennium mayhave been the eleventh of September, or more precisely inthat words of U.S President Bush, "the tick of the clock at the 46th minute of the eighthour of the eleventh day" of September 2001.Since that fateful moment, the world has never been the same. Business and commerce,international relations, government policies and programs, social consciousness, securitysystems and military strategy - have all turned as one to face a common enemy: terror.The great American resolve to strike back and smoke out the terrorists and "all thosewho harbor them" has inexorably reshaped how today's and tomorrow's fighting will bedone. And one thing has become evidently clear: there is no substitute for airpower andfor modern equipment. A little over three months after the twin towers of the World TradeCenter and the Pentagon were brought down by hijacked planes, the last stronghold of theTalibans succumbed, mainly to precise air assaults, and Afghanistan was liberatedthrough a definitive bomb-and-bread strategy.Even as the hunt for terrorist leader Osama Bin Laden continues, the United States hasalready invested heavily in the development of new technologies and cyber warfaresystems that would ride on the capabilities of the Air Force. These include low-observabletechnologies, nanotechnologies, parallel processing, quantum computing and biometricsthat can track all adversaries and destroy their remotest facilities.In our case, the way to fight has not drastically changed. Doctrine and Strategy have notbeen adjusted yet to the demands of the new battlespace. And real appreciation forairpower has remained on a footmarch.Fortunately, the Philippine Air Force has always risen to the challenge. Last year,, in ashow of dominant precision, the planes of the Air Force smashed the majority of thecamps of the MILF and scattered the Abu Sayyafs. And this year, our story just got better.Driven hard by maintenance problems, we still increased our operational readinessrates by reconfiguring former training planes into combat assault aircraft. PAF researchand innovation turned the traditional side firing helicopters into forward-firing gunships.And result once validated our faith.Our trainer-turned-combat planes blasted Nur Misuari's house in Silangka, Jolo andother camps and quickly decided the outcome of the latest misadventure of the MNLF.
 
And the accuracy and courage of our pilots had been evident all over Mindanao, fromCotabato to Cabatangan.Away from the battlefield, limitations notwithstanding, our C-130s flew to the aid of ourOFWs in the Pacific islands and demonstrated commitment to peacekeeping East Timor.Our workaholic Hueys proved age does not really matter. Our search and rescuecapabilities heroically matched many life-and-death situations.The point is: we haven't had the best of everything. But we have been making the bestof everything we have. This has made the huge difference. The key has been our desire todeliver no matter what. The key has been our commitment to excel and create a culture ofchampions.Our strategic vision for the Air Force, really, is to define victory in peace and in war. Nomatter where you look nowadays, there aren't many successes in battle not connected tothe capabilities of the Air Force, to the advantages of stealth, radar or satellite technology.This is the reason I have been preaching the gospel of the first force. This is also thereason I have painted the vision of champions in service, for champions defy the odds andtriumph. Champions exert their best and triumph. Champions innovate and triumph.In the recent AFP-PNP Olympic Games, the Air Force emerged champions once more,but champions in record-breaking fashion, winning 17 golds, 9 silvers, and 4 bronzes, andregistering no fourth-place finishes in any events. Army, the closest rival came with 6golds. The gold medals of the army, Navy, and PNP combined, in fact, still fell four goldmedals short of our golden haul. In short, the Air Force, the Air Force dominated.The record back-to-back championship in the 29-year old Games is a rousing yearender.Still nothing feels quite like the role of a real champion in battle, for our country andpeople. Nothing will top the feeling of an Air Force, finally turned fully modern and fullycapable and empowered to bring the war to the enemy, day or night.Time and again, we have proven we have the best airmen warriors and athletes. But thebest cannot rely on skill and guts alone. The best always act with the times, with newpower-enhancing capabilities.We know our choice.
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