While the simultaneous removal of a service’s top civilian and uniformed leaders is unprecedented, there has been speculation for months among defense insiders that Moseley, Wynne or both could be in trouble.
The Air Force has been rocked by a series of missteps during the past year, and Moseley and Wynne’s relationships with
[…]
“This [is] the final chapter in a long list of grievances between OSD and the Air Force.”
Those grievances include criticism of the Air Force’s nuclear weapons handling, two major acquisitions programs that have been stalled by protests, the service’s inability to rush more surveillance drones to the war zones, apparent conflicts of interest of current and retired senior officials related to a $50 million contract to produce a multimedia show for the Thunderbirds, and repeated clashes with Pentagon leaders over the number of F-22s the Air Force will buy and other budget issues.
And that’s just the Big Stuff. God only knows what other things have gone down in the Five-Sided Wind Tunnel. There is also speculation that the high-profile firings are only the beginning and more heads are gonna roll. We’ll see.
In the meantime, the Air Force Association put out a release yesterday that was mentioned in today’s Daily Report:
AFA Reaction to Wynne and Moseley Resignations: The Air Force Association noted "with the utmost regret" the resignations of Secretary of the Air Force Michael Wynne and Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Moseley on June 5 (see above). In a statement, AFA said both men "made significant contributions" to the Air Force during their tenure. AFA Chairman of the Board Bob Largent said "their visionary leadership in articulating legitimate Air Force requirements is precisely what our Air Force needs during these challenging times."
Not surprising, that. SecDef Gates maintains the nuclear surety issues were the only reasons for the firings, but still and even, one wonders.
As for my opinion…I don’t have one. I’m too far removed, in both space and time, from the Air Force to offer any comment at all. And besides that, I was too far down the food chain when I was on active duty to offer a qualified opinion. I will say this, though: I’ve not been pleased or impressed with the Air Force’s leadership of late, which, IMHO, is much too politically correct and careerist. I realize careerism and politics have always existed in the military’s higher echelons. My father complained about it all the time, and so did I during my years on active duty. I think the problem is MUCH worse these days and USAF needs a little shaking up. What I don’t know is whether firing the Chief of Staff and the Secretary of the Air Force is the right and proper way to effect the required change. It sure as Hell got everyone’s attention, though.
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Boy… the weather sure has sucked this week. It seems like the Wind Gods are extremely displeased with those of us who live on The High Plains of
It’s been like this all freakin’ week. Steady winds in the 30-mph range, with gusts approaching 50 mph… and HOT. Or, as Jenny sez: “blow dryer weather.” The Wind Machine is supposed to be turned off today, if one believes the WX Channel. It’s relatively calm this morning, so I hope they’re right. We need a break!
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Primarily for SN1…because he and I are both big D-Mac fans…here’s Darren McCarty interviewing Chris Osgood in the locker room after Wednesday night’s Stanley Cup-clenching victory:
I don’t think the WDIV reporter has to worry about her job. McCarty did a bang-up job, true, but the lady is MUCH better looking. And teevee IS a visual medium, right?
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The parade begins in a little over half an hour… and in Today’s Understatement: I wish I was there! But this will have to do.
Thank goodness the weather is a little better today. Yesterday my AC decided to freeze up and needed most the day to thaw out. Running fine now after the day off, but I hope it doesn't do it again anytime soon. Much cooler today, too. I'm sure you are happy for that as well.
ReplyDeleteWow. It was HOT yesterday, too! I'm glad your AC is working today...
ReplyDeleteWhile it's marginally cooler today, it's still pretty danged warm. I was just out to Wally-World and it's still flat-freakin'-HOT. I do have my awning down, though... and that's a good thing. Until tomorrow...
Well that's good to hear, there's some more specific information about what "mishandling" entails here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.236.com/news/2008/06/06/air_force_officials_fired_over_6989.php
It's nasty hot here too, today it will be in the high 90's, near 100 degrees same yesterday and tomorrow. We also have that nasty humidity too, in the 90's as well right now. So, the suffering will be commencing soon as I have a lot of outdoor projects to do. I have a small fish pond, maybe 2000 gallons and the area around it needs weeding so I'll be out there all day. I'll be sweating like a crazy and it won't feel like its helping.
ReplyDeleteAs for the AF thing, I know the SECDEF had pushed back on the F-22 thing many times. I read in AW&ST that the AF did this huge budget drill about re-shaping the bomber force, going down to 50 each of the B-52's and B-1's and trimming the buy of their variant of the F-35 all to pool up money to buy more F-22's. My SN1 told me how his unit was 'surveyed' by the HQ of AF Personnel and the thing that struck him was they were all asked if they could retire at 10 years how many would leave. You know, draw down the people side of the equation, even though they have nothing to do with Bombers (his unit runs the AF CAS/Air Controllers training range at Camp Atterberry).
Anyway, the shakeup has all my old friends at my old job at NAVAIR HQ all concerned, I am sure they have set Material Condition Zulu in preparations for some heavy fighting.
Wow, Jimmy... 90+90 ain't good! At all! That's ONE of the redeeming qualities about our WX... low humidity, most of the time. And not much snow. But on days like yesterday and today, I find the thought of snow to be rather appealing!
ReplyDeleteI hear ya on the F-22 thing, budget drills, and the like. Which is one of my issues with AF's senior leadership. USAF has already gone through a personnel draw-down to free up funds for more F-22s. It was ugly, too. SN1 knows a few folks (junior ossifers) who were caught up in it. As I said: uglee.
I also hear you on the fallout spilling over into the other services. And I've read a bit of buzz on some of the Navy blogs I frequent on this subject, specifically where ship-building is concerned. The AF ain't the only service with "issues." One could trace this problem all the way to the top (i.e., Dubya), and some have. The current war(s), while necessary in my book, have been eating up equipment at a furious pace, and there doesn't seem to be enough money in the DoD budget to replace what's been lost or worn out. That's just for starters...
BIG problems in this space.
Eventually, Buck, I will get around to commenting on the big picture.
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