 Throughout history, airmen have learned to master their air as technology and develop tactics, techniques, and procedures to successfully lead in air, space, and cyberspace. Four major elements, capacity, capability, credibility, and culture, underwrite airpower effectiveness. Capacity is the measured amount of our existing force structure and the availability of aircraft and systems we sustain and operate for training and deployment. Capacity is more than quantity and mass, but quantity can be its own quality. Capability is the range of our resource abilities to undertake required military action. It's the collective output of all of our human resources, hardware, support, and training. Capability includes our high-end technical abilities, qualitative military advantage, and range of military operations. Credibility in military operations is the level of combat skills and professional competence required to generate confidence in teammates, the American public, and adversaries that units and service members will effectively execute their mission. Culture includes our Air Force customs, heritage, values, history, and achievements. It's the recognition that we are respected warriors and trusted with our nation's security. We can't win with capacity that's not sustainable, and we can't win with capability that's unaffordable. As we work to field an effective capacity and capable service mix, our combat credibility and work fighting culture is maintained through our actions and character of our service. The one element we exclusively control and must personally own is our warrior culture. As professional airmen, valued members of the Air Combat Command team, we embrace being professional followers and effective leaders. We leverage the lessons learned from our expeditionary routes, which provide the foundation of our rich legacy of valor. Our experience and expertise are valued as critical members of a broader joint and combined team. Regardless of rank, title, or position, we are all first and foremost followers, and in the profession of arms, followership comes with clear responsibilities. As we work to solve challenges, our unique skills, experiences, expertise, and diversity of thought must help in identifying the best courses of action to effectively meet requirements. When perspectives differ, we must all use critical thinking to provide decision makers with thoughtful and rational reason descent. This requires personal initiative, and we all must take ownership of the challenges, make the tough decisions when necessary. Airmen at all ranks must feel they can clearly and confidently give their input, recognizing we must then be fully prepared to run the play the coach sends in. As a follower, working for a chain of command we like and supporting guidance and decisions that we agree with is easy. However, that's not the litmus test for professional followership. It's important we master professional followership skills, because being a capable follower is the first requirement to becoming an effective leader. We deserve courageous leaders who set high expectations, who are neither toxic nor coddling. We need leaders who bring out the very best of the airmen they lead. Leaders must be honest and transparent, not afraid to make the tough or unpopular calls. We value and appreciate our airmen, and as such hold all to the highest standards of performance, military bearing, and team membership. We do not confuse being well-liked with being effective. Airmen will do what's right and what is required for the greater good of an elite team. Leading is not just about guiding airmen where they want to go, it's about taking the team where they need to be. A unit becomes elite because the standards of performance require individuals to choose on their own to modify their behaviors. They choose to follow their established unit standards and norms when unwavering expectations drive the warrior culture and unit pride. There are many inherent risks to leading well. Risk is also what we must manage to achieve greatness. Our air force did not build its proud legacy of valor by deliberately avoiding risk, but rather by embracing challenges. Our legacy of valor is earned through the courageous actions of airmen and decades of global operations. When conditions weren't optimal, our airmen proved that flexibility is the key to air power. Our heritage recalls iconic figures and their actions. Our legacy airmen took on brave challenges in times where the outcome wasn't certain, some weren't even sure they would return. This legacy of valor inspires us to embody their spirit in how we tackle tasks today. Their true values include courage, bravery, challenging conventional thoughts, and taking calculated risks to accomplish the mission. Recalling history, we haven't always been prepared for the tasks we were expected to execute, but our airmen found a way to adapt and overcome the challenges to execute the mission. Readiness is having the right equipment, training, and maintenance to succeed in current and future battles. Given our peer adversaries, we must focus our energies on future capability and warfighting advantages. Today, we owe our airmen the realistic training and experiences to prepare them for the challenge of fighting foes that could have higher capacity or better capability. The roots of our contemporary concepts for force presentation are found in the aeronautical division of the Army Signal Corps. Shortly before the formation of our separate branch, we showcased our medal in World War II. Airmen generated air power from muddy fields, half-built shelters, and balmy jungles. They rose to the task and endured hardship after hardship to execute the mission in every conflict since. Airmen have continued to adapt to operate from less than ideal locations. Recently though, we've grown accustomed to having more established bases with modern comforts. The next fight, the one we must prepare for, as laid out in the National Defense Strategy, may not have these fixed bases, infrastructure, and uncontested command and control. As such, we must embrace our expeditionary routes, adapting to support multi-domain operations, and be ready to forward deploy within days as one warfighting team. Modern combat will require units to forward deploy, quickly construct an operational base, and establish C2. We must defend the base, receive integrated follow-on forces, and set up agile combat employment. In this rugged environment, we must take on all adversaries who may possess the capacity and capability equal to or greater than our own. Our legacy of Valor and expeditionary routes were built as key components of the broader joint and combined team. We do not fight alone and welcome the broader team's diverse capabilities. Airmen are proud to work alongside soldiers, sailors, marines, guardians, and coast guardsmen, as well as our allies and coalition partners. It's essential we continue to develop as airmen who are not only steeped in the business of airpower, but also able to advocate for the Air Force contributions to the larger joint force. Airmen, leveraging the same leadership used to blend joint and combined partners into a collaborative air campaign, must be ready to lead and work in a joint task force headquarters designed to bring together all components. Reflecting on our rich heritage, we must embrace the warfighting culture of the ACC team and the bonds that bind airmen together as warriors going confidently into combat when our nation calls. Combat is the ultimate team competition. In the past, we've faced off against greater capacity and fought better capability. Now and in the future, we will always navigate these four structured challenges with an unwavering commitment to credibility, combat skill, and the warfighting culture. As airmen, we stand tall and stand ready. We will not waver from the high standards of our combat skills training nor from the excellence inherent in our warrior culture. We will not falter and we will not fail.