Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said seven operational imperatives he has outlined are immediate goals and not theoretical approaches to future challenges.

Today’s landscape “is a major change from the last 30-odd years,” Kendall said Wednesday at a Center for a New American Security event. “We cannot go forward with a presumption of superiority that our military dominance demonstrated in the first Gulf War.… A lot of things can change in 30 years, and they have.”

Kendall said he is making it clear within the department that modernizing operations is an urgent need.

“We just have a lot more to do, and we need to get on with it as quickly as possible.”

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