Goldfein to meet with MAJCOM leaders today to identify mission-essential tasks

By Courtney Albon / April 1, 2020 at 11:07 AM

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein will meet today with the service's major command leadership to identify mission-essential tasks and determine what resources might be needed to support MAJCOMs and their readiness requirements in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Goldfein told reporters during a Mitchell Institute briefing the service has started to feel readiness impacts as it adjusts to a "new normal" as a result of the coronavirus crisis, which is why he's convening MAJCOM commanders today to better understand their assessment of mission-essential tasks and what is required to maintain those tasks. The service will use that information to assure the commands have the funding and personnel they need to successfully "reset" to a new, and continually evolving, way of operating.

"As I look at this virus and the way it's projected to go forward, I don't see us getting much better for the next couple months," Goldfein said. "So, if April and May are going to continue to get worse, as is projected, before we start leveling off the virus, how do I keep operating on those mission-essential tasks during that timeline, especially if I've got to start doubling up on people because I’m having to split shifts and keep people separated?"

Decisions like that don't happen "at the flip of a switch," but require a "broader reset across the Air Force" to make sure the work the service is doing is supporting its essential missions, he said.

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