James J. Lee, AFJ Staff Brig. Gen. Andrew Dichter is deputy director for joint integration in the Air Force Directorate of Operational Capability Requirements.

“Time is the enemy of joint requirements,” Air Force Brig. Gen. Andrew Dichter told attendees at the Armed Forces Journal conference, the Power & Limits of Jointness, May 31 in Washington, D.C.

Dichter, the deputy director for joint integration in the Directorate of Operational Capability Requirements, noted that it can take seven to 14 years for a required capability to be delivered. In that time, both the needs and the technology can change.

What’s needed, he said, is a more balanced approach to identifying near-, mid- and long-term capabilities requirements – one based on cooperation among the combatant commanders and the individual services -- rather than a top-down approach.

The combatant commanders, Dichter said, have a better grasp of requirements for the current fight, while the services are better able to determine mid- and long-term needs and priorities.

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