The Air & Space Forces Association presented the W. Stuart Symington Award to the Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall ’71 at the 2023 Air, Space & Cyber Conference. The award is presented annually in recognition of the most outstanding contribution to national defense by a civilian, and is named for W. Stuart Symington, the first Secretary of the Air Force.
In 2022, Secretary Kendall outlined “Seven Operational Imperatives,” a roadmap for bringing the new technologies and innovative thinking required for the Air and Space Forces to deter and, if necessary, defeat modern adversaries. These Operational Imperatives have since enabled both the Air Force and the Space Force to focus on what matters to defeat the threats of today while evolving to face those threats of tomorrow.
