Air Force Commander: World’s More ‘Dangerous’ Than It’s Been in Almost Four Decades

On Friday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Air Force Global Strike Command Commander Gen. Thomas Bussiere stated that the world is currently “more complicated, more complex, and dangerous than at any point” in his nearly four-decade career in the Air Force.

Co-host and POLITICO White House Bureau Chief Jonathan Lemire said, “Give us, if you will, in light of these seemingly escalating threats, your sense of the state of play.”

Bussiere responded, “So, I’ve been in the Air Force for 38 1/2 years, and the world, as I see it today is more complicated, more complex, and dangerous than at any point in my career. And that’s only exacerbated by the presence and the — what we would label as saber-rattling of the use of nuclear weapons. That’s why it’s so important, in my mind, to make sure the U.S. Air Force and Navy recapitalize our nuclear triad also.”

Later, USA Today Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page asked, “Is there a place you think we’re not [paying] — an issue that we’re not paying enough attention to that keeps you up at night, something that really deserves attention than it’s getting right now?”

Bussiere answered, “So, I guess I would look at the entire globe as a[n] aspect for what we need to pay attention to. So, whether it’s in the Indo-Pacific region, with the rapid growth of the Chinese nuclear force or it’s the activities in the European theater with [Russia’s] invasion of Ukraine or it’s the activity on the [Korean] Peninsula with North Korea’s activities, if we step back from all of that, in addition to the activities in the Middle East, my job, my position is to make sure we have a sound, credible deterrent for the air leg and the land leg of the nuclear deterrence.”

Bussiere further stated that the recapitalization of the nuclear triad is in progress.

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett