SESA Keynote Speaker and 25th Secretary of the United States Air Force , Barbara Barrett
ethics , integrity , and drive to be a collective “ best ”— the same characteristics she had as a little girl raising cattle and training horses on a 100-acre farm back in Pennsylvania : “ There is one eye-watering constant across the Air and Space Forces : the universality that these are good people ,” she said . “ I have worked at numerous businesses , I have been a member of dozens of groups , and I have been part of myriad organizations , but I have never been part of any entity where there is such consistency of good intent and effort to be the best , together .”
Figure 6 . Secretary of the Air Force Barbara M . Barrett delivers remarks during her farewell ceremony at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling , Washington , D . C ., Jan . 14 , 2021 . As the 25th Secretary of the Air Force , Barrett was responsible for the welfare of more than 697,000 active duty , Guard , Reserve , and civilian Airmen and Guardians and their families . ( U . S . Air Force photos by Eric Dietrich )
Additional interesting facts about the 25th Secretary of the U . S . Air Force , Barbara Barrett :
• She trained in her late 50s as an astronaut in Kazakhstan and then in Russia .
• She had to learn Russian while undergoing astronaut training . 13