Expect to learn:
• Why character and competence are both nonnegotiable.
• How to recognize when a disruptive idea is actually the future.
• Why disagreement, not agreement, can build stronger teams.
-
• Guest: General Dave Goldfein (aka JD), USAF Retired
JD was the 21st Chief of Staff of the Air Force (CSAF) and a 1983 graduate of the Air Force Academy.
Over a 37-year career spanning 21 assignments, he accumulated more than 4,200 flying hours and flew combat missions in operations including Desert Storm, Allied Force, and Enduring Freedom.
In 1999, while commanding the 555th Fighter Squadron, his F-16 was shot down over Serbia, leading to a combat search-and-rescue mission that brought him home from hostile territory.
But before all of that, he was a young cadet who nearly walked away from the Air Force Academy altogether, taking a year off and riding a bicycle roughly 5,000 miles across America before deciding to return.
-
00:00 - Goldfein’s biography and the path from cadet to Air Force chief
02:29 - Why he is my second favorite CSAF to guest on the show
03:39 - Family ties between General Jumper and the Goldfein family
04:37 - Zero turn lawnmower story and surviving a rollover accident
06:23 - Why great senior officers are shaped by great chiefs
07:55 - “Why is life great right now?” and serving the grandkids
08:23 - First combat mission nerves and the value of Red Flag training
10:32 - Malcolm Gladwell, the air house, and servant leadership
12:01 - Why character and competence are both nonnegotiable
14:04 - Why he still looks up: air power, space power, and obsession
15:19 - Milosevic, the U-2, the B-2, and credible military options
17:43 - How to tell when a bold idea is really the future
18:42 - Team building across the interagency and Chairman Caine
19:57 - Bomber Mafia’s core tension and the AI autonomy debate
23:51 - Precision from Vietnam to Desert Storm to the B-2
26:50 - Deterrence and the goal of making adversaries say “not today”
28:26 - Finding common ground in space despite tension on Earth
31:06 - What “making time count” means to Goldfein
33:09 - Why open disagreement makes better leaders
36:13 - K Wright, Manny, Jumper, CQ Brown, and Malcolm Gladwell
39:49 - What is more dangerous: SA-3s, rose bushes, Serbia, or HOA?
40:58 - Flying combat from home and spouse support network
44:22 - Why he would not want a billboard of himself
45:24 - Movie pitch, Danny DeVito, and twin sons of different mothers
46:51 - What he wants young people to know about military service
49:23 - Why he is proud to be number two behind General Jumper
50:11 - “You get to make lemonade” and closing thoughts
-
People and Names mentioned in the episode:
General John P. Jumper
Kaleth Wright
Manny Piñeiro
Seve Wilson
Jimmy Kelly
General CQ Brown
General Raymond
General Hyten
General Caine
Malcolm Gladwell
-
Resource:
⬛ USO website: https://www.uso.org/
-
🎙️ Please follow and leave a positive review on Apple and Spotify:
🍏Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/passing-the-torch/id1338122884
ᯤSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/47ZwWTJWETz5SwEfcuPQwF?si=055366dec7154b3c
-
My links:
Website: https://www.passingthetorchpod.com/
🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC04suOPTX3ny_M0aDxmBAXQ
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/torchfoster
IG: https://www.instagram.com/torchmartin/
-
Full Audio episode with Chapters:
⬛ https://www.buzzsprout.com/1946508/episodes/19945047
-
Keywords: Air Force leadership, Desert Storm, Bomber Mafia, Malcolm Gladwell, servant leadership, combat missions, United States Air Force Academy, F-16 shootdown, military technology, artificial intelligence in warfare, precision bombing, deterrence, team building, interagency operations, Red Flag training, character and competence, military values, space diplomacy, U-2 reconnaissance, B-2 bomber, autonomous systems, non-kinetic effects, international relations, military history, mentorship, Chief of Staff of the Air Force, work ethic, core values, loyalty, veterans in the workforce, air and space power