Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has just fired both Secretary of the Air Force Michael Wynne and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Moseley.
This practically-unheard-of double ditching of a service's top two officials comes "after nuclear missile warhead fuses were mistakenly shipped to Taiwan" and the Pentagon's official investigation, headed by a Navy admiral, found a " 'lack of a critical self-assessment culture' in the Air Force, making it unlikely that weaknesses in the way critical materials such as nuclear weapons are handled could be corrected."
It didn't help matters that last year a B-52 bomber was flown from Minot AFB, North Dakota, to Louisiana carrying six cruise missiles armed with actual atomic warheads, a fact not discovered until after the bomber had landed.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
SecDef decapitates Air Force
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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.
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