Comments on: Air Force Secretary, Chief of Staff Fired

By: Some Guys in a Car

Some Guys in a Car — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 01:51:59 +0000

Some Guys in a Car Episode 17 - Your Fired!...

Some Guys in a Car Episode 17 – Your Fired!
Recorded – June 7, 2008

Don’t mess with the Zohan – Review
http://www.youdontmesswiththezohan.com/
Air Force Chief of Staff General Michael Moseley and Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne Fired
http://...

By: Bob Bob

Bob Bob — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 01:46:24 +0000

I believe this is a much larger problem in the Air Force then we realize. To say Secretary Wynne and Gen Moseley are at fault is not completely true and to say it is just in the involvement of nuclear weapons is not completely true; what is true is that they did the honorable thing. I understand leadership is from the top and yes they are responsible, but this is a larger problem as a whole which is why I say it is not completely true. Here is what I mean; a former Squadron I was in a few individuals have tried to physically hurt other people, lied, forged documents and committed fraternization. When I tried to stop this and could not, I brought this to the attention of my Squadron Commander who told me to turn my head. I in turn told him I would not and he has held this against me and taken every action he can against me.
What am I trying to say? The Air Force teaches us we must all get along in a professional environment, which I completely agree with but it is often interpreted we are to turn our heads on everything and if we do not we are hurting the team or individuals which is what led to the problems that the investigative report by Adm Donald revealed. People in the Air Force know they will be attacked for being a whistle blower and instead choose to turn their heads. SECDEF Gates said it best” Embrace accountability in all that you do - for everything in your area of responsibility. When you see failures or growing problems in other areas - outside your lane, as it is often described - throw a flag: bring them to the attention to people who can do something about it” I hope the SECDEF is right as I believe this is the root cause of the Air Force problem.

By: Diary of the Mad Pigeon

Diary of the Mad Pigeon — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 04:12:54 +0000

Open Topic: The USAF Bloodletting...

Gates ousts Air Force leaders in historic shake-upAP: Defense Secretary Robert Gates ousted the Air Force's top military and civilian leaders Thursday, holding them to account in a historic Pentagon shake-up after embarrassing nuclear mix-ups. Gates a...

By: DC Loser

DC Loser — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 15:41:57 +0000

I'm a former SAC missile maintainer. This is long overdue. Whereas nuclear surety was a religion in the "good ole days" of SAC, now it's just an inconvenience for the fighter jocks who run the Chair Force. If the AF doesn't want the bother of keeping nuclear weapons, take away the mission and give it to somebody else.

By: legion

legion — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 01:48:07 +0000

While I'm sure the budget issues have some impact - the AF spent years telling troops how important they were while simultaneously cutting personnel budgets to afford the F-22 and F-35 - it probably really is fallout from the nuke issue. When it happened, I was working with a B-1 pilot who was (to put it lightly) irate over the whole affair. He was very strongly of the opinion that if that had happened in the SAC days (he was a Lt Col), the 4-star SAC commander would have been expected to have his resignation on the SecDef's desk the next morning. I'm very curious as to what sort of "systemic" issues the investigation revealed that led to their firing this long after the fact...

By: anjin-san

anjin-san — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 21:31:11 +0000

Gates seems to be doing a good job. Nice to see some accountability in the upper echelons...

By: Triumph

Triumph — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 20:23:51 +0000

I love how a liberal democrat like McKaskill tries to blame this whole thing on the troops while it is really her liberal, anti-military policies which is the problem.

By: Michael

Michael — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 20:05:13 +0000

So, let me get this straight: Three incredibly high profile, big-time screw-ups is enough to get you fired from a high Pentagon post nowadays?

Yeah, at the very least that deserves a Presidential Medal of Freedom and a "Heckuva job".

By: c. wagener

c. wagener — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 19:55:38 +0000

This seems incredibly judgmental. Shit happens. Look, I've been storing bin Laden's head in my freezer for Dick Cheney since 2002. At one point it ended up in our slow cooker, mistaken for a frozen pot roast.

By: Anderson

Anderson — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 19:54:14 +0000

I dunno -- Wired seems to think it's more budgetary disputes (more F-22's! says AF; why? says Gates) than anything melodramatic like I imagined. Of course, that's what they would WANT us to think ... where's that tinfoil, I just had it here somewhere ....

By: Anderson

Anderson — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 19:47:12 +0000

I don't buy it, either.

I wonder if there's any connection to (1) calls for airstrikes on Iran or (2) the misguided use of airstrikes in counterinsurgency in Iraq. And if so, what went down exactly.

Given a day or two, the smart guys who do military stuff for a living will hopefully have blogged us some insight on this.

By: Dave Schuler

Dave Schuler — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 19:24:22 +0000

I've heard McCaskill's name mentioned as future presidential candidate material every so often.