A revolution in military affairs (RMA) is a fundamental change, or discontinuity, in the way military strategy and operations have been planned and conducted. Many specialists believe that we have been in the midst of an integrated RMA since the start of the Gulf War and that it is accelerating. New warfare areas such as dominating maneuver, long-range precision strikes, information warfare, and space warfare are emerging (Schneider and Grinter 43). As the Secretary of the Air Force, I recognize information warfare and space warfare to be the most influential in the future for deciding the outcome of wars. To have information and space superiority will be the overall priority and mission of each battle.

The United States Air Force will never sustain our information and space superiority core competencies without looking towards the future to find what needs improvement today. This VISION 2025 is the beginning step. If we know where we need to be in the future, we know how to get there in the present.

Information Warfare is becoming central to the way nations fight wars, and will be critical to Air Force operations in the 21 st century. Information warfare consists of targeting the

The U.S. military will learn of the terrorists plans before the terrorists have time to execute their attacks. New "ears in space," sometimes officially designated as "weather or mapping" satellites, will continue to eavesdrop on all forms of communication signals transmitted into the ether. The increasing utilization of wireless frequencies for the transmission of telephone and computer data is absorbed into the antenna of these satellites and relayed to ground stations on Earth for analysis. Speech recognition software, new to the consumer market but utilized by intelligence agencies for more than 25 years, will employ artificial intelligence to "filter the unnecessary" and recover secrets being communicated by both friends and foes (Cnn.com).

By the year 2025, I predict that the entire world will fight wars deemed unconventional by today's standards. More wars will be fought with information, either by attacking the opponents vital computer networks with viruses, or by out-right bombing their information functions. The United States Air Force must be ready to be a major contender in the age of information warfare. The country with the most information and means to use that information, wins. Lastly, with the information gathering technology the Air Force will have in space, I envision that many of the future attempts to attack the United State's interests will be intercepted before the plans are executed. The Air Force will be able to end the war before it even began.

Computer viruses have been developed and deployed that will be activated in time of war. Imagine the consequence of embedding a "Trojan horse", or a virus, in the operating system software that runs 90 percent of the computers of both friends and foes. A "Trojan horse," once activated, can selectively disable the computer infrastructure of a hostile opponent and cripple its economy, communications, and defense. The war is over before it has begun. However, the Air Force and the rest of the country must be prepared for the same threat to our nation. The Air Force depends heavily upon military information functions, making us vulnerable to information warfare (Cnn.com).

The United States Air Force is moving from the air force of today, to an air and space force in the future, and eventually to a space and air force (Fas.org). The a

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