DAF leaders, their spouses highlight families’ role in mission success

Top Air Force and Space Force leaders, joined by their spouses, offered observations during a panel at the Air, Space and Cyber Conference into the lives of military families and how that dynamic contributes to readiness and defense of the nation.

The discussion included Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. Ken Wilsbach and his wife, Cindy; Chief of Space Operations Gen. Douglas Schiess and his wife, Debbie; Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force David Wolfe and his wife, Dr. Doniel Wolfe; and Chief Master Sergeant of the Space Force John Bentivegna and his wife, Cathy. Retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Burt Field, president and CEO of the Air and Space Forces Association, moderated the panel at the association’s conference on Sept. 16.

The panelists underscored a central theme: “Readiness begins at home.” They agreed that strong families build strong units and a stronger national defense.

Evolving Perspectives on Leadership

Wilsbach explained how his view of leadership has changed over his 41-year career and 26 moves with his spouse. “When you start out earlier in your career, you’re very focused on the mission,” he said. “As I’ve gained rank and responsibility the people piece really expands.”

Mrs. Wilsbach shared a memorable example from their time at Kadena Air Base in 2009. While meeting with deployed spouses, she noticed one woman who answered she was “fine” when asked by her husband but clearly was not.

“After watching the interaction, I knew she wasn’t fine, so I stepped back and said, ‘Is everything okay?’, and it wasn’t okay. She had a child with a health problem and was far away from family,” she recounted. “That shows me the value of what I bring to this table. I sometimes see things, and I’m told things that he’s not.”

“All our family members are part of a team. When John gets deployed, that's his away game and he's busy taking care of his away-game family,” Mrs. Bentivegna said. “But the other teammates are still at home with roles to play. We still have our own goals, and in order to keep a successful team, we have to have good communication. We have to understand the mission, what's going on, and keep everyone, especially our kids, involved to feel part of the team."

Dr. Wolfe highlighted the power of simple kindness, quoting a lesson she learned: “If you treat everybody you meet as if they are going through some big trouble in their life, more than half the time you’ll be right.” She encouraged everyone to make saying “hello” a regular practice.

Family Stability Equals Warfighter Readiness

The panelists stressed that families directly impact the ability of Airmen and Guardians to focus on the mission. Gen. Schiess noted the unique challenges for a large portion of Space Force personnel who are employed in place.

"I learned early on that if I understand 'the why,' then I can invest more and I can support better as a spouse,” Mrs. Schiess said. “And so, taking the time to fill me in, even if he can't give me the details, to say, 'there's something big going on at work and stress levels are high.' Those kind of pieces of information help me to better support him, and I encourage other military members to do the same."

The spouses and their counterparts in the other services are members of the Military Spouse Commission, which President Donald Trump established to advise and assist the president on policies that affect military spouses and families.

Panelists discussed multiple programs aimed at supporting military families, notably the Global Military Spouse Connection, STARBASE, and the AFPASS Card Initiative.

The Global Military Spouse Connection is a pilot initiative designed to strengthen connections between qualified Department of the Air Force spouses and federal employment opportunities. It is being tested at the following installations across the world:

The program is designed to target military spouse unemployment, which currently has rates around 20%, largely due to frequent permanent change of station moves. GMSC aims to improve career continuity by connecting qualified spouses with DAF civilian employment opportunities before they arrive at their new duty station.

“It is a good start,” said CMSAF Wolfe. “With the four spouses here being involved in the [Presidential] Military Spouse Commission, we have an opportunity to make some real change to laws that currently prevent us from hiring people fast enough and putting people in positions and jobs.”

STARBASE and STEM Support for Military Children

Another family-oriented program mentioned during the panel was STARBASE, a Department of War STEM education program that delivers hands-on, immersive experiences primarily to fifth grade students from military-connected, at-risk and underserved communities. The program seeks to spark interest and inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers and future defense professionals.

“Our kids have to live with the decisions of their parents, and I think we owe them the best we possibly can provide,” said CMSAF Wolfe. He stressed the importance of the Air Force investing in educational opportunities for military children, using Starbase as a positive example. The program exposes military youth to the technological environments and positive civilian and military roles found on active, Guard, and Reserve military bases and installations.

Each spouse discussed the challenge in spouse outreach, especially during times when connecting with family is most essential such as deployments and crises.

One solution mentioned was an Air Force Personnel Accountability and Assessment System Card, which provides unit leaders with instructional pocket cards and guidance for accessing current personnel and family contact information through the AFPAAS, maintaining accurate recall rosters and securely sharing appropriate roster data with key support liaisons.

Improving access to timely contact information, the initiative supports faster outreach to newly arriving spouses and families of deployed Airmen and Guardians, strengthens assistance during permanent change of station moves, deployments, exercises and emergencies and closes gaps in family-support communication. Participation respects privacy, as spouses may opt out of routine contact, while enabling stronger grassroots support networks and unit resilience.

Panelists were asked what advice they would give to young Airmen, Guardians, and their spouses who are just beginning their military journey:

"You have to really embrace the preciousness of time because you can't get it back,” said CMSSF Bentivegna. “We're always focusing on that next assignment, next rotation, or the next deployment. You think, 'I've got plenty of time to focus on my finances, education, family, relationships … but you can't get that time back. Make the most of it."