Daily Report

June 11, 2008

F.E.Warren’s Role In Errant Taiwan Shipment

We’ve been wondering why Defense Secretary Robert Gates came down so hard on the Air Force over the Defense Logistics Agency’s mistaken shipment of four Mk-12 forward section reentry vehicle assemblies for the Minuteman III ICBM to Taiwan in 2006. However, the timeline of the saga, which Gates’s office released last Thursday to accompany his press briefing on the resignations of Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne and Gen. Michael Moseley, Chief of Staff, does show some USAF culpability. But Gates did not specifically discuss this while at the podium or explain this in his speech to airmen yesterday at Langley AFB, Va. The timeline starts March 8, 2005, with DLA’s shipment of 10 of the classified forward section assemblies from its depot on the grounds of Hill AFB, Utah, to F.E. Warren AFB, Wyo. Twenty days later, F.E. Warren officials returned four of the assemblies to Hill. But here’s the kicker: “Due to supply shipping errors,” they were sent to DLA’s unclassified warehouse “with inaccurate description information on the outside of the containers,” according to the timeline. They should have been sent to DLA’s classified storage. This shipping error then snowballed on March 30, 2005, as the DLA receiving custodian did not follow procedures and open the containers to verify the contents. This custodian then incorrectly marked the four containers as helicopter batteries. And the rest is history.

Best Persons for the Job

Michael Donley and Gen. Norton Schwartz, the heirs apparent to take over the Air Force Secretary and Chief of Staff posts, were chosen after a process that was “wrung out well” within the Pentagon to find the best people, Adm....

Moseley’s Last Day

Gen. Michael Moseley, Chief of Staff, last week asked Defense Secretary Robert Gates to make his retirement (i.e, forced resignation) effective on Aug. 1. But in the same June 5 letter, Moseley states that he intends to request terminal leave before his departure. What isn’t clear is when exactly his last day will be. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has already recommended Gen. Norton Schwartz to replace Moseley. But Schwartz still needs to be formally nominated by the White House and then approved by the Senate. Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne, who resigned on the same day as Moseley, is expected to have his successor in place sooner than later. Gates asked President Bush to make Wynne’s would-be replacement, Michael Donley, the Acting Secretary, effective June 21. That way he could assume the post for the interim prior to Senate approval. June 21 is a Saturday and two days after the Government Accountability Office is expected to rule on Boeing’s protest of USAF’s KC-X tanker decision.

Will We See the Donald Report?

Will We See the Donald Report: Adm. Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said yesterday he is not sure if the Pentagon leadership intends to release the so-called “Donald report,” which is currently a classified work. “My...

Accountability Drove Leadership Changes

The fundamental issue driving Defense Secretary Robert Gates last week to ask for the resignations of Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne and Gen. Michael Moseley, Chief of Staff, is accountability, the nation’s top uniformed officer said yesterday. “In one of...

Pave Low Pilot Wins Top Safety Award

Lt. Col. Eugene Becker, a MH-53M Pave Low helicopter pilot with the 20th Special Operations Squadron at Hurlburt Field, Fla., has received the 2008 Koren Kolligian Jr. trophy, the service’s top safety award. Gen. Duncan McNabb, vice chief of staff,...

Double Teaming

F-15Es, working with a B-1B bomber, used 500-pound and 2,000-pound joint direct attack munitions to take out enemy combatants, including an outpost, in Nagalam, Afghanistan on June 8, Air Forces Central said in a June 9 release. Also in Afghanistan...

2018 Date for New Bomber Not Mandatory

Pentagon acquisition chief John Young said last week cost, requirements, and schedule are all dependent variables—and not independent considerations—in the Air Force’s next-generation bomber platform. And all three will determine when the new aircraft will be available. For example, “I...

Jumping Off the Page

One of the US military’s most glaring needs is for each service to become “much more SOF-like,” Adm. Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said yesterday. Speaking to defense writers in Washington, D.C. (see above), Mullen said...

Special Day

Air Force Special Operations Command activated the Special Tactics Training Squadron June 1 at Hurlburt Field, Fla. The newly designated unit was formerly the Advanced Skills Training Flight under the base’s 720th Operations Support Squadron. The new training squadron, which...

Mackay Trophy Winner Cooney Dies

Retired Air Force Col. James P. Cooney, 80, died May 3 in Niceville, Fla. During his 27 year career, Cooney flew as part of the YF-12 record-setting test flight that earned the 1965 Mackay Trophy for Cooney and four other...

Air Sorties from SWA

Air Sorties in War on Terrorism, Southwest AsiaJune 8, 2008 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total YTD ISR 27 12 39 4,754 CAS/Armed Recon 22 58 80 14,208 Airlift 80 80 20,133 Air refueling 52 52 6,583 Total 251 45,678...