Pentagon chief says Air Force should do more
WASHINGTON (AP) - April 21, 2008 Gates singled out the use of pilotless surveillance planes, in
growing demand by commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan, as an example
of how the Air Force and other services must act more aggressively.
Gates has been trying for months to get the Air Force to send
more unmanned surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft, like the
Predator drone that provides real-time surveillance video, to the
battlefield. They are playing an increasing role in disrupting
insurgent efforts to plant roadside bombs.
"Because people were stuck in old ways of doing business, it's
been like pulling teeth," Gates said of his prodding. "While
we've doubled this capability in recent months, it is still not
good enough."
Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said Gates' complaint
about struggling to get more drone aircraft to the battlefield was
aimed not only at the Air Force but at the military as a whole.
Gates made his remarks to a large group of officers at the Air
Force's Air University at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala. Noting that
they represent the future of Air Force leadership, he urged them to
think innovatively and worry less about their careers than about
adapting to a changing world.
He did not mention any of the controversies that have dogged the
Air Force in recent months - most recently the disclosure that
investigators had found that a $50 million contract to promote the
Air Force's Thunderbirds aerial stunt team was tainted by improper
influence and preferential treatment. The probe found no criminal
conduct but laid out a trail of communications from Air Force
leaders - including from its top officer, Gen. Michael Moseley -
that eventually influenced the 2005 contract award.
The Air Force also has been involved in a pair of embarrassing
nuclear-related mistakes, and Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne,
the service's top civilian, was compelled to issue a public
statement last month disowning a public remark by a senior general
that suggested the Air Force was at odds with the Bush
administration over money in the proposed 2009 budget for F-22
stealth fighters.
The bulk of Gates' remarks focused on suggested areas in which
the Air Force can adapt to changing times.
While Gates' comments were directed mainly at the Air Force, his
concern about faster fielding of unmanned surveillance and
reconnaissance aircraft included a broader appeal to the entire
military. The Army, Navy and Marine Corps have been expanding their
fleets of drone aircraft.
"In my view we can do and we should do more to meet the needs
of men and women fighting in the current conflicts while their
outcome may still be in doubt," he said. "My concern is that our
services are still not moving aggressively in wartime to provide
resources needed now on the battlefield."
He cited the example of drone aircraft that can watch, hunt and
sometimes kill insurgents without risking the life of a pilot. He
said the number of such aircraft has grown 25-fold since the
terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, to a total of 5,000.
To push the issue harder, Gates said he established last week a
Pentagon-wide task force "to work this problem in the weeks to
come, to find more innovative and bold ways to help those whose
lives are on the line."
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said Gates expects an initial
report from the group by early May. He said Gates told Brad
Berkson, his director of program analysis and evaluation, to plan
on making short- and midterm recommendations, including some at the
30-, 60- and 90-day marks.
Gates likened the urgency of the task force's work to that of a
similar organization he created last year to push for faster
production and deployment of mine-resistant, ambush-protected
armored vehicles that have been credited with saving lives of
troops facing attacks by roadside bombs in Iraq.
"All this may require rethinking long-standing service
assumptions and priorities about which missions require certified
pilots and which do not," Gates said, referring to so-called
unmanned aerial vehicles in the Air Force fleet that are controlled
by service members at ground stations.
The military's reliance on unmanned surveillance and
reconnaissance aircraft has soared to more than 500,000 hours in
the air, largely in Iraq, according to Pentagon data. The Air Force
has taken pilots out of the air and shifted them to remote flying
duty to meet part of the demand.
Gates, who served in the Air Force in the 1960s as a young
officer before he joined the Central Intelligence Agency, urged the
officers in his audience to dedicate themselves to thinking
creatively.
"I'm asking you to be part of the solution and part of the
future," he said.
He said the Air Force and the other branches of the military
need to protect those in their ranks who are maverick thinkers, who
defy convention and push for creative solutions to hard problems.
He said he intended to make a similar point about the value of
dissent in the military in remarks later Monday at the U.S.
Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.
"Dissent is a sign of health in an organization, and
particularly if it's done in the right way," Gates said.