The Air Force Purge

Weekly Standard ^ | June 6, 2008 12:32 PM | John Noonan

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

A word on today's purging of USAF leadership. Official line is that Air Force brass let the nuclear mission slip in the years since the Berlin wall fell. That's true, for a variety of reasons. Standing down Strategic Air Command, the post-Vietnam leadership handoff from nuclear bomber pilots to fighter pilots, the odd square peg that is the kinetic-effects-based Air Force in the round hole of the low-intensity war on terrorism, and the end of the Cold War... all contributed to an overall deemphasis on strategic operations.

Still, this is a really old school way of doing business. Back during the Strategic Air Command days, a Wing Commander who lost custody of one of his bombs--even for a second-- would be immediately relieved. Secretary Robert Gates is an old SAC hat--he was an intelligence officer assigned to a strategic missile wing--so I can't say I'm surprised that he dealt with the Minot AFB and ICBM fuze screwups with Strategic Air Command's tell-tale iron fist.

All that said, the USAF has a ways to go. Looking back on its history, dismantling SAC ranks up there in the service's all time worst decisions.

[JRios1968]

Looking back on its history, dismantling SAC ranks up there in the service's all time worst decisions.

A decision made in 1991 by this guy

 

who is now campaigning (left in the picture) for

 

Anyone else think it's a coincidence?

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Thanks,...didn’t know that.

[PackerBoy]

second pic is a little white box with a red “x” in it.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

From :

GENERAL MERRILL A. MCPEAK Retired Nov. 1, 1994.

*********************EXCERPT******************

He is a command pilot, having flown more than 6,000 hours, principally in fighter aircraft. He flew two years as a solo pilot for the elite aerial demonstration team, the Thunderbirds, and flew as an attack pilot and high-speed forward air controller in Vietnam.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Both pictures worked here...

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Other info on McPeak:

McPeak on Display

************************EXCERPT*************************

By
Published 3/24/2008 12:07:43 AM

Last week, Barack Obama's military adviser and national campaign co-chairman Merrill "Tony" McPeak accused former President Bill Clinton of "using divisive tactics and unfairly trying to question Barack Obama's patriotism." McPeak, a former chief of staff of the Air Force, previously supported Howard Dean and then John Kerry. He has campaigned for Obama and cut commercials claiming that Obama has the "right stuff" to be Commander in Chief. His job is to burnish Obama's image as a guy tough enough to be President. So who better to go after Bill Clinton and get the Obama campaign back on offense?

In off-the-cuff remarks to reporters Friday he even compared the former president's comments with the actions of Joseph McCarthy, the 1950s communist-hunting senator.

"I grew up, I was going to college when Joe McCarthy was accusing good Americans of being traitors, so I've had enough of it," McPeak said. And last month McPeak had to retract his statement that as president, Obama would not be reduced to "crying fits" like Mrs. Clinton

Well, it is likely that Obama will soon be having to retract Merrill McPeak. McPeak, who was arrested last year for driving under the influence, apparently has a problem controlling more than his thirst for fermented beverages. He also has a penchant for bashing Israel or, more particularly, Jews who oppose negotiating with terrorists.

McPeak has a long history of criticizing Israel for not going back to the 1967 borders as part of any peace agreement with Arab states. In 1976 McPeak wrote an article for Foreign Affairs magazine questioning Israel's insistence on holding on to the Golan Heights and parts of the West Bank.

In recent years McPeak has echoed the Mearsheimer-Walt view that American Middle East policy is being controlled by Jews at the expense of America's interests in the region. In a 2003 interview with the Oregonian, McPeak complained of that the "lack of playbook for getting Israelis and Palestinians together at...something other than a peace process....We need to get it fixed and only we have the authority with both sides to move them towards that. Everybody knows that."

[pabianice]

Wait until Obama is elected.

[JRios1968]

That is General Merrill "Tony" McPeak, considered by many to be the WORST ever Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force...infamous for a lot of idiotic decisions, including:

• A complete reorganization of the very Air Force that had been fundamental to the 1991 Gulf War victory, a reorganization which no one had ever suggested was necessary
• A new uniform that no one had asked for, and that made the Air Force a laughingstock
• The infamous "bike test" for physical fitness, which had no basis on real fitness at all, but was perfect for him
  
•  "Quality Air Force"
  • How bad was Quality Air Force? Suffice it to say General John Jumper, Air Force Chief of Staff, 2001 to 2005, once said "We used to have a quality Air Force - but it was destroyed by a program called 'Quality Air Force'. What we need is a chew-ass Air Force."

And this is just a small scratch on the surface!

[rbg81]

We have had air supremacy for so long, we now take it for granted. Big mistake. Without the best aircraft and pilots we will not keep it. Drones are great for some missions, but are nearly useless in air to air combat or heavy bombing. The Russians, Chinese, and even the Europeans (who sell abroad) are not sitten on their laurels here. The danger is that we come to consider low intensity warfare as the standard and then a big conflict comes along and bites us in the a$$. And it will take us far longer to add air wings than it will take us to add Army divisions.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Different Topic but see this....posted some stuff on McPeak:

A large crowd under the bus

[JRios1968]

Absolutely. McPeak was an unmitigated disaster for the Air Force, and to misquote Jeremiah Wright, “the Air Force’s chickens are only now coming home to roost.”

“Tony” McPeak is, in so many aspects, responsible for the current “one mistake” Air Force. Too many good people saw their promising careers cut short, while others whose only talent was butt-kissing progressed long past the point where they were incompetent, all due to McPeak’s influence, which is still felt to this day.

[jblair]

SAC is successful, let’s redistribute its mission and assets. Great idea.

What goes around, comes around. During Viet Nam people said the bomber guys screwed the fighter jocks; TAC could have been described as the Tactical Nuclear Deployment Command - and it showed early in VN. SAC guys got a bum rap. They hadn’t planned for SEA.

Now the fighter jocks can’t manage nuclear missions. Perhaps folks should look to the civilian masters to pinpoint responsibility for any particular deficiency in operational emphasis.

But hey, I’ll going along if folks want to point a finger at Tony(I now go by Merrill)McPeak. Thunderbirds are generally a great bunch, but They picked some doozies for the general officer gigs. How does McPeak get picked over a Jack Chain or Bob Russ type?

[ops33]

Yeah, and he also changed to uniform to something that looks like absolute crap.

This old sarge says its about time, glad the SecDef kicked a** and took a few names.

[Enchante]

podium sign says “Judgment to Lead”

Doesn’t seem like McPeak OR Obama meet the standard.

[JRios1968]

This former captain agrees, though it saddens me to see Buzz Moseley pay a price for the mess McPeak left behind. If only Mike Dugan had kept his mouth shut in 1990...

[CharlesWayneCT]

Your description is racist. :-)

[Fundamentally Fair]

Anyone else think it's a coincidence?

Nope. It's just what I thought of.

[JRios1968]

Merrill McPeak isn’t fit to lead a Boy Scout troop, let alone the US Air Force. Sadly for Obama, he’s chosen to listen to the WORST ever Chief of Staff of the Air Force.

[Fundamentally Fair]