The Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday took up Michael Wynne’s nomination to be Secretary of the Air Force. Though Sen. Carl Levin, the ranking Democrat, thought Wynne’s involvement in the tanker controversy would be a non-issue (DR, 10/06/05), Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) couldn’t pass it up. McCain, who led the attack on the Air Force over the propriety of a tanker-lease deal, also demanded assurances that Wynne had a plan to overcome cost overruns in several major USAF programs. Wynne assured him that he planned to balance technology, requirements, and schedules. He emphasized the need to give program managers more authority to say “no” to add-ons to control costs.
The U.S. military is maintaining a beefed-up presence in the Middle East, including fighters and air defense assets, following the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities June 22 and subsequent retaliation by the Iranians against Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
