I Was in the Room and Was Not Ready: The Players, Process, and Struggle of Building the United States Air Force Budget

I Was in the Room and Was Not Ready: The Players, Process, and Struggle of Building the United States Air Force Budget

Speaker: Corey A. Simmons, Research Fellow, International Security Program

From 2013–2016, the speaker experienced national security decision-making from a very unique vantage—within the walls of the Pentagon. As Chief of the United States Air Force's $150 billion Program Objective Memorandum for the FY15 and FY16 budget cycles and later as the Senior Military Assistant to the Under Secretary of the Air Force (USAF #2 civilian)—the speaker can literally say "I was in the room" for all major Air Force budget recommendations developed by the Air Staff later presented to SECAF, CSAF, or OSD for decision over a three-year period. As a new administration assumes their role in 2017, the speaker will advocate a unique "window of opportunity" to re-calibrate the importance of the Air Force Corporate Structure and offer two potentially aggressive internal policy recommendations to the SECAF/CSAF to better posture Air Force leaders at all levels to enter the labyrinth that is DoD budget process.

In this seminar, the speaker will discuss the context of the current Air Force budget position relative to the other military services, historic budget positions, and potential military spending. Furthermore, the speaker will identify the players, process, and struggle within the Air Force and Department of Defense highlighting the complicated nature of creating a consistent budget narrative. Finally the speaker will introduce two specific policy recommendations provided to Air Force Senior Leadership to enable to Air Force to more effectively posture our corporate Air Force to better support our most senior leaders as they ultimately decide resource allocation to align with our strategy.

Please join us! Coffee and tea provided. Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come–first served basis.

Contact

For more information, email the International Security Program Assistant at susan_lynch@harvard.edu.