WASHINGTON, June 5, 2008
Air Force Dealt Major Shakeup
Defense Secretary Accepts Resignations of Air Force's Military, Civilian Leaders
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Play CBS Video Video Axe Falls Over Lost Nukes The Pentagon fired the Air Force's top officials for a major security breach in the case of a missing shipment of nuclear warhead that was mistakenly sent to Taiwan. David Martin reports.
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Air Force Secretary Michael Wynn, left, accompanied by Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Moseley, testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 5, 2008. (AP)
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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, reports CBS News correspondent David Martin.
"I believe these actions are required because … the focus of the air force leadership has drifted with respect to perhaps its most sensitive mission," said Gates.
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 nuclear program, 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.
The investigation found a declining trend in Air Force nuclear expertise - not the first time that has been raised as a problem, Gates said - and a drifting of the Air Force's focus away from its nuclear mission, which includes stewardship of the land-based missile component of the nation's nuclear arsenal, as well as missiles and bombs assigned for nuclear missions aboard B-52 and B-2 long-range bombers.
Gates also announced that "a substantial number" of Air Force general officers and colonels were identified in the Donald report as potentially subject to disciplinary measures that range from removal from command to letters of reprimand. He said he would direct the yet-to-be-named successors to Wynne and Moseley to evaluate those identified culprits and decide what disciplinary actions are warranted - "or whether they can be part of the solution" to the problems found by Donald.
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.
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Add a Comment See all 322 Comments
- The Air Force will repair it''s image and change it''s culture. Gates did what the taxpayers paid him to do. There are no sacred cows when nukes are involved with errors or security breaches. I pray that the Air Force understands they still have conditional public support and confidence for their achieving their mission. Most people are happy the errors were caught, but also wonder if any were committed and remain undiscovered. That will be up to the new leaders to learn and deal with.
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- God bless the soldiers who fought and died in the largest land invasion in human history. Their efforts and sacrifice kept our first amendment in place. Posted by thgdriver at 11:20 AM : Jun 06, 2008
You and I disagree quite a bit, but I will stand shoulder to shoulder in full agreement with you on your post.
:)
Posted by AaaBee
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Count me in too!
:) - Reply to this comment
You sound really mixed up.
Posted by FeelFree4U
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Put these in the machine.
Sarcasm
Spoof
Facetious
Lampoon
Tongue-in-cheek- Reply to this comment
- God bless the soldiers who fought and died in the largest land invasion in human history. Their efforts and sacrifice kept our first amendment in place. Posted by thgdriver at 11:20 AM : Jun 06, 2008
You and I disagree quite a bit, but I will stand shoulder to shoulder in full agreement with you on your post.
:) - Reply to this comment
- Did you know today is the 64th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy?
You can''t find one word about it at CBS. It''s sad they decided to ignore that fact.
God bless the soldiers who fought and died in the largest land invasion in human history. Their efforts and sacrifice kept our first amendment in place. - Reply to this comment
- Secretary Gates, " ...the focus of the air force leadership has drifted with respect to perhaps its most sensitive mission."
If only Secretary Gates had been Bush''s ... or should I say Cheney''s Secretary of Defense after 9/11 because THEN the focus of this nation''s leadership would not have drifted with respect to our most sensitive mission. - Reply to this comment
- At any rate, if a nuclear device goes off in a "Black" neighborhood, we will know who is behind it, and it won''''t be some "rogue state"...
Posted by brianbwb
Are you just plain ignorant, or what? Do you realize that in "black neighborhoods" there are a mix of people living there? secondly, the megatons of modern global thermal nuclear weapons are so large. In your little mind, it will only kill a few blacks only? Therefore you can blame it on Bush? Like you blamed a hurricane on Bush? even though the population of New Orleans could have been evacuated, but the people and the mayor ignored the warnings, then instead of blaming them or FEMA, you target BUSH?....You Democraps are sick, I say, sick - Reply to this comment
- This is just substitution justice.
If you can''t take out the heads of the cartel, at least try to get as high up the chain of incompetence and criminality as you can.
This is just a lesson on how one runs the street dealers out on a rail using power that the real criminals gave him. - Reply to this comment
- After all the lies accusing Iran of building nuclear weapons, lies that prompted McSame''s "bomb Iran" song, the possibility does exist of a nuclear false flag event.
The Neocon-derthals are so desperate to maintain their agenda, as since we see they are not above sacrificing innocent lives for it, the question should be considered, is Gates recommending people who might go along with such a plan?
We''d best keep our eyes on this story, and examine his choices thoroughly and carefully.
At any rate, if a nuclear device goes off in a "Black" neighborhood, we will know who is behind it, and it won''t be some "rogue state"... - Reply to this comment
- WERE THE WMD''S MOVED & HIDDEN SO WE COULDN''T FIND THEM????
WELL ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE--SANTA CLAUS, TOOTH FAIRY, EASTER BUNNY!!!
ITS A KNOWN FACT THAT TWO YEARS AFTER THE INVASION THAT THERE WERE IRAQ ARMS SUPPLY DEPOTS WITH THOUSANDS OF TON OF MUNITIONS SITTING AROUND STILL UNGUARDED AND UNTOUCHED BY AMERICANS. WHERE DO YOU THING THE INSURGENTS ARE GETTING THEIR ARMS. WE LET THEM SET THERE FOR THEM TO GET AND USE WHENEVER THEY CHOSE.
THE MOST INCOMPETENT MILITARY ACTION SINCE THE REVOLUTION IN 1776. - Reply to this comment
- WE NEED FEDERAL MARSHALS WITH ARREST WARRANTS AT THE BACK GATE OF THE WHITE HOUSE ON 1/9/09 TO ROUND THE THE PEOPLE WHO WILL BE INDICTED.
THE WARRANTS SHOULD SAY SHRUB, DARTH VADER, ROVIE, CONDI, BOLTEN, AND MANY WHITE HOUSE STAFFERS WHO ACTIVELY PARTICIPATED IN THE LYING TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE!! - Reply to this comment
- ALL OF THIS DECLINE IN SECURITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY CAME IN THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION AND THE GREAT LEADERSHIP OF SHRUB, DI*CK, AND RUMMY.
CHICKEN HAWKS WHO DONT KNOW THEIR BU*TT FROM A HOLE IN THE GROUND!!! - Reply to this comment
- These lazy *** got caught not doing thier job effeciently and there is no room for this type of complacency.People think that the biggest threat to our nation is at our borders.
- Reply to this comment
- FeelFreek4U -- a subhuman Arab, posing as a patriotic American.
Posted by juwboy at 05:13 AM : Jun 06, 2008
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juwboy - NASCAR Bumpkin - Reply to this comment
- FeelFreek4U -- a subhuman Arab, posing as a patriotic American.
- Reply to this comment
Re: "I was involved in nukes years ago and it''s a no humor deadly serious business."
Posted by bhoogren
Brain radiation experimentation?- Reply to this comment
Re: "Could the truth be that WMD''s were found in IRAQ and transported to a secret place."
Posted by bhoogren
That astoundingly foolish supposition was thoroughly discredited more than 4 years ago, when it originally widely accepted that the WMD nonsense was ***.
You sound really mixed up. Half concerned anti-war progressive. Half goose-stepping, dead-brained craven fascist. There is a writer just like that named Michael Totten. You should check him out. I think that you would like his stuff.
www.michaeltotten.com
michaeltotten.com- Reply to this comment
- THE MISSING GENERALS
Since these Generals are getting the axe most people who worry about the conquering of the USA are not going to watch them because we assume they''re patriots and got the shaft for the Administration who is.
Since they will not be under the microscope they can start a shadow Air Force just like Hitler did in Russia.
THE MISSING WMD''s
Isn''t it suspicious there were then there weren''t WMD''s? Isn''t it suspicious thet The Administration was so honest about not finding WMD''s?
Could the truth be that WMD''s were found in IRAQ and transported to a secret place.
WHAT WAS THE PRIORITY WE DON''T KNOW ABOUT??
What about the missing hundreds of tons of weapons and munitions that disappeared? Why was priority was NOT given to secure the same explosives being used on our troops today.
We find a massive elaborately built WMD research and production site and say it was empty? Were we really transporting WMD''s and had no people to spare for the weapons and munitions that disappeared?
NO ONE was watching the pivate security forces at that time. NO ONE REALLY KNOWS WHAT THEY WERE DOING AT THAT TIME. We were more worried about truck drivers getting blownup.
WHAT"S WITH OUR TOP PLAYERS OVER THERE?
Greenspan goes over there and just afterwards so did Bush and the oil prices went sky high?
Obama, unprecedented, says he wants direct talks. WHY?
Hallibuton Headquarters to Dubai
Bush Ranch in South America - Reply to this comment
Tom_gwynn,
The UCMJ and the enforcement of it has been shown to be a joke. Continued criminal war of aggression against Iraq would be the main charge that I would level against him.
He didn''t start it, but he signed onto it.
Many WWII Nazis were sentenced and hanged for following a virtually identical overall plan. I see no reason why Gates should not share their fate.
Ps- If you think that the rampant individual war crimes committed by "our troops" in Iraq and Afghanistan have waned, then you are fooling yourself.- Reply to this comment
- I just feel that these guys wouldn''t go along with it so they are being replaced, consider all the people that weren''''t replaced even for criminal acts. so why these guys no real info just an hunch. hope I''''m wrong.
Posted by nownthen
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Yea. Others have expressed the same worry.
Here''s my take.
I was involved in nukes years ago and it''s a no humor deadly serious business.
When we practiced with live or dummies it was the same loaded guns and security ready to apply lethal force.
What you read in the news about these nuke events I suggest is the tip of the iceberg. I bet only 10 percent of the total screw ups have been reported - even even that much.
This would make our fellow nuclear community very very nervous and I bet there were some nasty evil phone calls from Putin and the rest to the White House.
So with that kind of nuke garbage going on I suspect Gates is going to be swinging that axe quite vigorously and we''re going to see a lot of heads rolling.
Normally these kinds of events are candy coated. Ya know the usual "due to philisophical differences da da da da...."
Gates is actually saying these top level managers are screw-ups and he fired them for being screw-ups and he could care less what they say. - Reply to this comment
