NEWBURGH, N.Y. — U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. CQ Brown, Jr., along with his wife, Mrs. Sharene Brown, visited Stewart Air National Guard Base for a C-17 dedication, medal decoration ceremony and an all-call with Airmen, April 1, 2023.

During Brown’s all call with the Airmen of the 105th, he took this time to provide thoughts on the future of the Air Force and the vital role its members, allies and partners play.

“Change is hard, but if we don’t start today and just say it’s too hard, we’ll never get there,” Brown stated. “The goal is not to go to war. The goal is to have a combat credible force that is so bad they don’t want to mess with it.”

Brown also shared some of his concepts to drive change within the Air Force including integration by design, mission command, agile combat employment and building multi-capable Airmen.

“Mission command is about trust, empowerment, and intent.” Brown said. “Those of us in leadership have a responsibility to provide intent to our Airmen, trust them to do the job and empower them with the capabilities to do what we asked them to do. Our responsibility is to be ready today, tomorrow, next week, next year, next decade. That’s what my focus is.”

The Browns’ visit also highlighted family support services. Mrs. Brown met with the Key Spouse team to discuss the importance of wing communication with military spouses and families. The group discussed her Five & Thrive initiative, which focuses on the five challenges that often impact military families – childcare, education, healthcare, housing and spouse employment.

Mrs. Brown emphasized the necessity for timely distribution of information and resources to wing families as they navigate military life.

The chief of staff wrapped up his visit by emphasizing the importance of Airmen and the need to adapt to whatever challenge may come the Air Force’s way.

“I really believe we need to get comfortable being uncomfortable to drive change. I would rather be uncomfortable driving change than to lose,” Brown expressed. “Whenever the Nation calls, we provide Airpower anytime, anywhere and we do it to win.”