Asked what type of job they think Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is doing, Americans overwhelmingly say his performance is “only fair” to “poor,” according to a recent Harris Poll. The survey also showed that Rumsfeld’s positive rating was at 78 percent shortly after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, while now only 35 percent of Americans cast his performance as “excellent” or “pretty good.” In fact, since April 2003, Rumsfeld’s positive rate has dropped fairly consistently from 71 percent to today’s 35 percent.
As Air Force leaders consider concepts of operations for Collaborative Combat Aircraft, sustainment in the field—and easing that support by using standard parts and limiting variants—should be a key consideration, according to a new study from AFA's Mitchell Institute of Aerospace Studies.