Air Force Space Command is no exception.

At a recent Strategic Focus Day, the senior leadership at AFSPC headquarters reviewed the past, assessed the present and speculated on the future.

Thirty-five people representing all directorates in the command came together, looked into a crystal ball and began shaping tomorrow.

According to Maj. Michael Fleri, AFSPC Strategy, Doctrine and Policy staff officer and Strategic Focus Day project officer, "Two of the goals of this gathering were to build consensus about the future direction of the command and to discuss how to communicate that new course to other warfighters."

Participants were divided into three distinct working groups. Each group was assigned a scenario which represented a potential path for the command. The members studied this "future," evaluated strengths and weaknesses, then made recommendations on which aspects to keep and which to discard.

At the end of the day the different groups were reassembled and asked to agree upon one, all encompassing future that appeared the most likely for AFSPC.

The strategic planning meeting then addressed the way to communicate that new future to its members and the world.

"The most effective way to do this is through a new vision statement," said Fleri.

Background research showed the old vision statement was too generic, it could have belonged to anyone, said Fleri.

"The casual observer cannot readily identify the command based upon the statement," he said.

The focus day participants produced "buzz words" which helped to craft three new candidate statements. Then, a smaller, second meeting narrowed the choices down to one contender. Top command officials scrutinized the final version, made changes and approved the vision statement.

The whole process from start to finish was completed in record time taking a little over a month.

"Formulating our vision statement is important because it acts as a bridge that links where we are today with where we want to be tomorrow" said Brig. Gen. Russell J. Anarde, AFSPC's director of Plans and Programs.

"Today, our space and missile forces contribute to the full spectrum of military operations. These contributions run the gamut from the continuous deterrence provided by our 20th Air Force ICBM warfighters, to our 14th Air Force warriors who stood tall during Kosovo by promptly engaging to support and enable the air campaign with warning/infared detection, precision navigation timing, weather data, and communications," Anarde said.

"In the future, protecting our national security, safeguarding our space assets, and assuring routine and reliable access to space may call for new deterrence and engagement capabilities�and AFSPC will be ready," he said.

Looking closely at the new vision statement it becomes apparent that the words do link the present with the future. Strategic deterrence is one of the critical missions that AFSPC supports today, continuously; prompt engagement is an area that will receive greater emphasis in the future.

Currently, AFSPC successfully exploits the space medium. Down the road, not only will that exploitation mature but information exploitation will take on added importance within AFSPC. Collectively, these four areas will work hand-in-hand to shape and define the AFSPC of tomorrow, said Fleri.

"The new AFSPC vision statement is a fingerprint for our command," said Fleri. "It will tell everybody who we are and what we want to be."

The future holds promise and a potentially new and exciting direction for both the Air Force and Air Force Space Command.

Air Force Space Command Vision Statement: A globally integrated aerospace force providing continuous deterrence and prompt engagement for America and its allies � through control and exploitation of space and information.