Wichita Chamber Represented at 2022 National Security Forum

Thanks to the Wichita Chamber’s close relationship with McConnell Air Force Base, I was thrilled to be nominated by McConnell leadership to attend the 68^th National Security Forum (NSF) at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Ala., in early May. We are fortunate to have such a close relationship with the base, fostered by the recently-retired Pat Gallagher and others.  

“Since 1954, the Secretary of the Air Force’s National Security Forum has coupled our nation’s most influential, valued civic leaders with the military’s developing senior leaders to enable open discussions on historic and contemporary national security strategic realities and challenges.”

I can certainly attest to the fact that the 2022 NSF welcomed a slate of truly impressive civilians from around the country. However, I was even more impressed by the senior officers of our country’s armed forces. I walked away from the NSF more confident than ever in the leaders of our nation’s military and their intelligence, talent and strategy acumen. If these women and men are indeed the up-and-coming leaders of the United States military, we are in good hands.

Just who are these military leaders? The NSF is hosted in conjunction with the Air War College (AWC) program, made up of officers from each US military service, civilian employees of federal government agencies, and officers from the international community (allied and partner nations). The AWC prepares senior officers to lead at the strategic level across the range of military operations, successfully master the cross-domains of air, space and cyberspace, and advance innovative thought on national security issues.

The NSF topic this year was “Great Power Competition,” with many conversations focused on our country’s military, political and economic competition with Russia and China. The discussions included lecture-style presentations from military and academic leaders on this topic, as well as smaller group dialogue in a seminar format with roughly 15 AWC students, civic leaders, and AWC faculty.

Some of the Air Force’s most decorated leaders delivered the lecture-style briefings, including the following (in order of appearance):

• Tod D. Wolters, Commander, U.S. European Command and NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR)
• Frank Kendall, 26^th Secretary of the Air Force
• Charles Q. Brown, Jr., Chief of Staff of the Air Force
• John W. “Jay” Raymond, Chief of Space Operations, United States Space Force

If you think you are busy and stressed out, just imagine the adaptive challenges faced by these leaders in today’s world, from Ukraine to Taiwan to outer space to cyberspace. We also heard from our distinguished hosts at Maxwell and several leaders in national security strategy and military and airpower theory:

• Gen. James B. Hecker, Commander and President, Air University, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama
• Gen. Michael T. Rawls, Commandant, Air War College, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama
• Gen. (retired) David R. Stilwell, Deputy Director for Politico-Military Affairs for Asia, Joint Staff, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
• Mark J. Conversino, Chief Academic Officer, Air University (AU)

The week also featured a static aircraft tour out on the Maxwell flight line with an F-16 Fighting Falcon, C-130 Hercules military transport, and a B-1 Lancer, among other aircraft. An F-22 Raptor and A-10 Thunderbolt II “Warthog” treated attendees to an amazing aerial demonstration (complete with a simulated close air support attack run by the Warthog, loud fiery explosions included). We also participated in an F-35 Cockpit Demonstrator experience hosted by Lockheed Martin. By the time the F-35 Demonstrator experience was done, the Air Force was ramping up their recruitment effort to bring me on as a pilot. (Okay fine, my landing was actually a little too bumpy for their tastes.)  

Each civic guest at the NSF is assigned to a host student, one of the aforementioned senior leaders attending the AWC. I was fortunate enough to be paired up with Lt. Col. William “MOSR” Johnson, an F-15E / T-38C Pilot in the United States Air Force. “MOSR” is an Air Force Academy graduate who also has his Masters in Aeronautical/Astronautical Engineering and Math from the University of Washington in Seattle.

After spending three days alongside him and his colleagues in seminar discussions and lecture presentations and asking questions about all the aircraft parked on the flight line at Maxwell AFB, I think MOSR may be one of the smartest dudes I’ve ever met. It’s a comforting thought to know that these are the type of folks responsible for patrolling the skies to protect the land of the free and the home of the brave. 

Thanks for reading this far, but you might be asking yourself how all of this impacts you? I mean… aside from the joy of reading a truly inspirational travel blog. Well, I’m glad you asked!

• For starters, you should reach out to our new Military Affairs Liaison, Mike Heldstab. Mike has the unenviable task of trying to fill Pat Gallagher’s shoes at the Chamber. While that’s a pretty lofty goal, I’m confident Mike is the perfect person to attempt it. He recently submitted a blog post of his own about opportunities to celebrate our local military that you should definitely check out. Mike also is the Director of the Friends of McConnell (FOM), a Chamber affiliate program. If your company isn’t already a member of FOM, give some serious thought to joining the effort to support our local military members with the goal of making McConnell AFB the most desirable assignment of an airman’s career.
• Everyone loves attending Riverfest, yours truly included. How about making a special effort to come out on the evening of Tuesday, June 7, to attend “A Salute to Military” presented by Spirit AeroSystems? The festivities begin with live music at 5:30 p.m., with some additional recognitions and presentations starting around 6:30 p.m., including an enlistment ceremony and remarks from military leadership. Plan to come downtown to show support for our military.
• Mark your calendars now for the upcoming Frontiers in Flight 2022 Air Show at McConnell AFB, scheduled for September 24-25 this year. This free event is McConnell’s first air show in four years, and it will be headlined by the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, along with a wide variety of civilian and military static aircraft, including our very own KC-135 Stratotanker and KC-46A Pegasus.

There are many other ways to support our local military as well, including by hiring veterans and military spouses at your companies. I’m sure you’ll find that these talented and well-trained individuals end up supporting you more than the other way around.

That’s really the story of our military in a nutshell, isn’t it? We civilians certainly want to support our military, but service is inherent in what they do for us each and every day. Our families and communities benefit more from their efforts than we could ever hope to repay.

Thanks to all our military leaders, especially to our friends at McConnell Air Force Base. We will continue to do our best to help you all “Aim High … Fly-Fight-Win.” We’ll also continue to remind everyone that “no one kicks a** without tanker gas.”

Thanks for reading!

Andrew Wiens

Vice President of Government Relations

Wichita Regional Chamber of Commerce