Saturday, February 26, 2011

Mitchell Institute Celebrates 20th Anniversary of Desert Storm

The Mitchell Institute for Airpower Studies hosted a 20th Anniversary of Desert Storm event with General Charles A. Horner, the architect of the air campaign against Iraq in Operation Desert Storm as the Joint Force Air Component Commander! More than 100 people gathered at the Ritz Carlton yesterday to hear Gen Horner speak about his experiences and lessons learned as he commanded the American aerial forces in Iraq.

In picture: (left)Gen Charles Horner, (middle) Dr. Rebecca Grant, (right) Lt Gen David Deptula

With humor and a sense of informality, Gen Horner took attendees back 20 years, as he described some of their mistakes (the absence of an intelligence collection plan and State Department participation), their achievements and their most valuable tools (political leadership, service cooperation, experience, critical thinking).

Gen Horner had many messages to today's young airmen
"You cannot ignore training and organization. They are the key to success."

And he had a message to the commanders of today, calling for the need to "knock the rust off of warriors' spirits."
"We're warriors. We're not pretty people," he said. "Nothing wrong with putting syrup in the commander's boots."

On a more serious note, he outlined the importance of values.
"Once you lose your integrity, it's a slippery slope."

But the piece of advice that he reiterated was the importance of knowledge.
"Know your history of past wars." Horner said one of the most valuable tools he had was the lessons learned through Vietnam.

Read more about Gen Horner here >>>>

Check back with us next week as we post the full audiorecording of this spectacular event!

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