Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld came to the Pentagon with a broad mandate to "transform" the armed forces. When he and others looked at the four services, what they saw was a glacially slow pace of military change. Rumsfeld's view was only partly correct. He seemed unaware that one service-the US Air Force-had been transforming for years. This fact first came into view in the 1991 Gulf War, when USAF's laser guided weapons, stealth aircraft, and space power smashed Iraq's forces and shocked the world. Next came an even more dramatic push for innovation. In the 1990s, USAF acquired all-weather precision arms and spread these systems across the combat fleet. On top of that, the force became lean and expeditionary, with superb battlespace awareness.
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机译：国防部长唐纳德·拉姆斯菲尔德（Donald H. Rumsfeld）来到五角大楼，其职责广泛，是“改造”武装部队。当他和其他人查看这四个部门时，他们看到的是军事变革步伐缓慢。拉姆斯菲尔德的观点只是部分正确。他似乎没有意识到美国空军的一项服务已经改变了多年。 1991年的海湾战争首次发现了这一事实，当时美国空军的激光制导武器，隐形飞机和太空力量摧毁了伊拉克军队，震惊了整个世界。接下来是创新的更大推动力。在1990年代，美国空军购买了全天候精确武器，并将这些系统散布到整个作战舰队中。最重要的是，这支部队变得精疲力竭，并且具备出色的战场意识，可以进行远征。
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