The Air Force celebrates its golden era this year, 1997 represents the 50th year of the United States Air Force as an independent service. We have a motto, "A Golden Legacy, A Boundless Future," and there's no better way to celebrate than reflecting on our past accomplishments and setting our sights on another half century and beyond.

The first 50 years of the Air Force produced a "golden legacy." A legacy of the Cold War period, where the Air Force was involved with our national security strategy. We were a vital part of the strategic triad of nuclear deterrence, airlift forces and fighter forces.

Another major role we played during this time was our commitment to humanitarian efforts among the family of nations. For 50 years, we have responded to cries of suffering, and have helped alleviate this suffering by bringing aid -- clothes, food, medicine or rebuilding supplies. We had the inventory of aircraft, although designed to move large contingents of troops and and weapons for battle, could also transport people and supplies for peace.

In fact, within nine months of our existence we were participating in Operation Vittles, the Berlin Airlift. This airlift provided 2.3 million tons of food and medicine to war-ravaged citizens cut off from the free world by a Soviet blockade. It was a relief operation that saved a city, sent a message to opposing forces and supported national policy. It also proved that the Allies could work together at the same time that negotiations were underway to create the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Our "wings of hope" missions showed our nation's determination to ease suffering, usually necessitated by a natural disaster or catastrophe. However, not all of these missions occurred overseas. At the end of the 40s, the Air Force began Operation Hayride, the second largest domestic airlift, after blizzards hit eight western states. More than 4,700 tons of supplies were airlifted to areas hit by the storms.

During the 1950s at the same time of the Korean War, the U. S. carried out a humanitarian airlift mission, not caused by a war or natural catastrophe. In 1952 about 3,700 Islamic pilgrims en route to Mecca became stranded in Beirut. The Air Force flew them to the holy city in time for their religious observances -- creating an atmosphere of goodwill between the United States and the Arabic world.

A large number of humanitarian airlift missions during this time were prompted by natural disasters, mainly floods and earthquakes. Floods

struck Kyushu (key-E-shoe) and southern Honshu (hahn-shoe), Japan, leaving more than a million people homeless. American transport aircraft brought 157 tons of relief cargo. This airlift alleviated the suffering of the flood victims, but it also demonstrated the nation's commitment to the welfare of Japan which for four years provided bases for our Korean War operations. Another flood in East Pakistan and India devastated that region, prompting the transport of 150 tons of medical supplies, food and clothing.

But the Air Force also responded to those in political crises. In the spring of 1953 the French began withdrawing their forces from Southeast Asia after the communist victory at Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam During the following year, the Air Force airlifted 500 wounded French soldiers to France or North Africa.

In the summer of 1956, Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nassar nationalized the British-controlled Universal Suez Canal Company, causing an international crisis. Hundreds of Americans had to be evacuated from the Middle East, and the Air Force responded with 24 aircraft to airlift them back to the United States.

In the 60s, Air Force transporters carried more than 1,000 tons of disaster relief equipment and supplies to Chile during the "Amigos Airlift." A series of earthquakes had struck the country, causing avalanches, tidal waves, volcanic eruptions and landslides. At the State Department's request, four Air Force wings based in the United States, as well as units in the Caribbean Command, participated. They transported relief cargo and passengers, including refugees, medical personnel and communications specialists.

The Air Force flew important domestic missions during this decade, too. Operation Helping Hand aided victims of an earthquake in Anchorage, Alaska. Cargo planes and helicopters delivered 1,850 tons of generators, water purification facilities, food, medicine, bedding and other cargo to the disaster area.

During the next decade the Air Force staged the largest airlift to Asia, in tonnage, for flood victims in Pakistan. Two C-5s and 12 C-141s transported 2,400 tons of relief supplies and equipment in 1973.

Two years later the Saigon regime collapsed when the North Vietnamese overran South Vietnam and the Vietnam War came to an end in the spring of 1975. Airlifters rescued tens of thousands of refugees. This mass evacuation was accomplished by four overlapping operations: Babylift, New Life, Frequent Wind and New Arrivals. Many of these evacuees settled in the United States; however, more than 8,000 tons of supplies went to temporary refugee camps in the Philippines, Guam and Wake Islands.

Throughout this period, Africa became a continent in need. Drought, famine and political strife necessitated missions to various regions. Two of the largest humanitarian airlift operations to Africa were Authentic Assistance in 1973 and King Grain in 1974. The African climate prevented the planes from storing liquid oxygen for high-altitude flights and aircraft maintenance problems were compounded by heat, poor fuel, dust and rocky runways. Despite these problems, cargo planes delivered 18,000 tons of food to famine victims in less than two years.

In the '80s, we participated in an airlift operation that lasted five years, from 1986 to 1991. This operation aided Afghanistan refugees who had fled to Pakistan after the Soviet Union invaded their country. We delivered $10 million in relief supplies, culminating in more than 100 missions and transporting more than 400 injured war victims to other nations for medical treatment.

During this decade, we have responded to the recent wars and atrocities in Somalia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and northern Iraq. Their code names show our compassion: Provide Comfort, Provide Hope, Provide Promise and Restore Hope.

We've also responded to major examples of domestic humanitarian operations in the '90s. After Hurricane Andrew in 1992 Air Force C-5s, C-130s and HH-60 helicopters brought aid to the Miami area. They flew more than 500 missions, and delivered 11,000 tons of cargo. In 1993 the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Forces Command requested assistance from Air Mobility Command after the Mississippi River and its tributaries flooded much of the Midwest. They delivered more than a million empty sandbags and 14 water purification systems to Iowa, Illinois and Missouri.

This short historical capsule of a "golden legacy" of humanitarian operations shows how these operations were valuable to the United States, the nations receiving the aid and to the military -- ironically, preparations for war were necessary resources to save lives.

As we now look to our "boundless future," the nation will continue to need a strong military. Our military will be called upon to protect U.S. interests, whenever and wherever they are threatened. We must respond to advances in science and technology. We must adapt to new challenges and missions. We must protect against surprise. With fewer bases overseas, more military operations will be launched from the United States. And with global communications, we must dominate the information battlefield.

We must employ the national strategy of engagement and enlargement, meaning that our nation's goal is to be engaged around the world with the objective of enlarging the family of democratic nations.

This strategy depends on maintaining a strong defense and ensuring our military forces can selectively engage foreign militaries to help resolve problems, reduce tensions and defuse conflicts. It uses the example of the U.S. military as a way to help other nations understand the place of a military force in a democratic society.

The foundation of the Air Force's vision for the 21st century -- Global Engagement -- is Joint Vision 2010. It provides overall direction for the military services into the next century. And, it points out basic trends the military has to consider in planning for future challenges:

• Technologies in the military arsenal are widely available and affordable
• Contingencies are more complex and more numerous than previous times
• Continued deficit budget reduction efforts will result in reduced operating budgets

Secretary of the Air Force Dr. Sheila E. Widnall said the Air Force's vision of "air and space power covers all aspects of the Air Force -- people, capabilities and support structures."

She also said, "It charts a path into the next century as an Air Force team within a joint team. It's our continuing commitment to provide America the air and space capabilities required to deter, fight and win."

Our vision of global engagement involves four central themes and six core competencies. Each is essential.

At the center is commitment of Air Force senior leaders to integrate air and space into all Air Force operations. We recognize the importance of space, as a whole, not as separate realms of air and space. We also recognize that the our emphasis will shift to space-based platforms.

Stewardship of space is more than providing capabilities and information to the joint force. Future uses of space will be driven by national policy, international events and threats to U.S. space assets.

The Air Force will establish centers of innovation, called battle labs, to experiment, test, exercise and evaluate new operational concepts and systems. These centers will concentrate on unmanned aerial vehicles, air expeditionary, forces, space, battle management, force protection, and information warfare.

Fifty years ago, the Air Force was created with the newest in technology for manned, powered flight. Today, the battle labs will ensure the vision stays on track by taking advantage of technological advances into the next century.

To ensure resources are available to meet ongoing and anticipated need, we will continue to reduce infrastructure costs though aggressive outsourcing and privatization.

We must change the way we do business. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Ronald R. Fogleman says we have to ensure we have enough resources to acquire the air and space capabilities the nation needs.

A variety of approaches is being explored. We'll incorporate "best value" practices used by industry into all support activities. We'll improve the modernization process by exploiting emerging information technologies and by accelerating ongoing acquisition reform activities. Finally we'll investigate reducing costs through consolidating centers, eliminating redundancy and teaming with other military services.

Without a doubt, people are the heart and soul of our military capability. When we speak about all the high technology aspects of Global Engagement, especially in the areas of strategy and tactics, you cannot forget people. General Fogleman said people are "the only asset that actually grows in value with the passage of time."

For these central themes to mesh into our vision of Global Engagement, our core competencies must set the stage. They represent the combination of professional knowledge, air and space power expertise and technological know-how that, when applied, produces superior military capabilities.

These competencies enable joint force commanders to consider all options available and to tailor campaign plans that best meet mission objectives. Each core competency highlights part of the strategic vision that will guide decisions and set the course for the next century. Taken together, they represent a force that can meet the myriad of challenges we face today and anticipate tomorrow.

The first core competency, air and space superiority, is critical in providing joint force commanders both freedom from attack as well as freedom to attack. With it, joint forces can dominate enemy operations in all dimensions -- land, sea, air and space. In the 21st century, technology will make it possible to find, fix or track, and target anything that moves on the surface of the Earth.

Next is global attack, the capability of our forward-deployed and rapidly deployable forces. Combined with long-range assets, these forces can see and strike wherever needed.

The third core competency is rapid global mobility. Being able to respond quickly and decisively anywhere we're needed is key to maintaining rapid global mobility. Future contingencies won't be any easier to anticipate than those we've experienced in the last decade.

Precision engagement -- the fourth core competency -- applies selective force against specific targets because the nature of future contingencies demand both precise and reliable use of military power.

The fifth core competency is information superiority. The ability to keep pace with information and incorporate it into a campaign is crucial. We'll provide military leaders an integrated and interactive picture of the entire battle space, including global and theater representation of air, space and surface battle spaces.

And our final core competency, agile combat support, recognizes that air and space power relies on a myriad of combat support activities on the ground. These include functions like force protection, engineering, other combat support functions and military medicine.

During the past 50 years, we knew what role and function we performed for the nation -- in war and in peace. The Air Force's "golden legacy" sets a framework for the nation.

We supported national policy and strategy for 50 years, including forging bonds with undeveloped and neutral countries in their time of need and by contributing to regional stability.

Today we face a diverse set of national security challenges. These challenges demand a strong, flexible military force that's ready to deter aggression at a moment's notice. We have that force.

For the next 50 years -- our "boundless future" -- our sights are set to be the best air and space force -- there are no limits.