Air Force leaders ousted in historic shake-up
WASHINGTON (AP) - June 5, 2008 Gates announced at a news conference that he had accepted the
resignations of Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Moseley and
Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne - a highly unusual double firing.
Gates said his decision was based mainly on the damning
conclusions of an internal report on the mistaken shipment to
Taiwan of four Air Force electrical fuses for ballistic missile
warheads. And he linked the underlying causes of that slip-up to
another startling incident: the flight last August of a B-52 bomber
that was mistakenly armed with six nuclear-tipped cruise missiles.
The report drew the stunning conclusion that the Air Force's
nuclear standards have been in a long decline, a "problem that has
been identified but not effectively addressed for over a decade."
Gates said an internal investigation found a common theme in the
B-52 and Taiwan incidents: "a decline in the Air Force's nuclear
mission focus and performance" and a failure by Air Force leaders
to respond effectively.
In a reflection of his concern about the state of nuclear
security, Gates said he had asked a former defense secretary, James
Schlesinger, to lead a task force that will recommend ways to
ensure that the highest levels of accountability and control are
maintained in Air Force handling of nuclear weapons.
In somber tones, Gates told reporters his decision to remove
Wynne and Moseley was based on the findings of an investigation of
the Taiwan debacle by Adm. Kirkland Donald. The 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, Gates said.
Gates said Donald concluded that many of the problems that led
to the B-52 and the Taiwan sale incidents "have been known or
should have been known."
The Donald report is classified; Gates provided an oral summary.
"The Taiwan incident clearly was the trigger," Gates said when
asked whether Moseley and Wynne would have retained their positions
in the absence of the mistaken shipment of fuses. He also said that
Donald found a "lack of effective Air Force leadership oversight"
of its nuclear mission.
White House press secretary Dana Perino said President Bush knew
about the resignations but that the White House had "not played
any role" in the shake-up.
Early reaction from Capitol Hill was favorable to drastic
action.
"Secretary Gates' focus on accountability is essential and had
been absent from the office of the secretary of defense for too
long," said Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the Senate Armed
Services Committee. "The safety and security of America' nuclear
weapons must receive the highest priority, just as it must in other
countries."
Gates said he would make recommendations to Bush shortly on a
new Air Force chief of staff and civilian secretary. Gates has
settled on candidates for both jobs but has not yet formally
recommended them, one official said.
Gen. Duncan J. McNabb is the current Air Force vice chief of
staff.
Moseley, who commanded coalition air forces during the initial
invasion of Iraq in March 2003, became Air Force chief in September
2005; Wynne, a former General Dynamics executive, took office in
November 2005.
Wynne is the second civilian chief of a military service to be
forced out by Gates. In March 2007 the defense secretary pushed out
Francis Harvey, the Army secretary, because Gates was dissatisfied
with Harvey's handling of revelations of inadequate housing
conditions and bureaucratic delays for troops recovering from war
wounds at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
Wynne and Moseley issued their own written statements.
"As the Air Force's senior uniformed leader, I take full
responsibility for events which have hurt the Air Force's
reputation or raised a question of every airman's commitment to our
core values," Moseley said.
Wynne said he "read with regret" the findings of the Donald
report.