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The generals’ salute

If Defense Secretary Robert Gates intended to send a wake-up call to the Air Force, he succeeded with a vengeance. I know because I was at a conference of the service’s top generals when it was learned that the Air Force was losing its two most senior leaders as a result of incidents involving nuclear and nuclear-related materials.

Gates is right to demand accountability. In the nuclear business, a zero-defects standard is a must. Of course, neither Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne nor his Chief of Staff, Gen. T. Michael “Buzz” Moseley, was personally implicated. Rather, their offers to step aside are what honorable men do when things go wrong.

Yet, it is sometimes too easy to forget that real people, their families and their admirers suffer in these situations. This is especially so when a military organization loses respected leaders who fought hard for what they believed.

The Wynne/Moseley approach recognized the importance of winning today’s irregular wars but also aggressively responded to the worrisome growth of the regular militaries of the emerging megapowers. Accordingly, they sought high-tech capabilities aimed at off-setting the manpower advantages some potential adversaries might enjoy, as well as their increasingly sophisticated design and manufacturing capabilities. For this, they were mocked as suffering from “next-war-itis.”

In any event, the night Gates made his announcement, the Air Force generals gathered for the conference dinner turned it into an improvised farewell event. Many of these officers have seen more than their share of the war, yet lots of eyes watered as they toasted their popular comrades in arms. Wynne, the energetic forward-thinker whose alternative-fuels initiatives are eerily topical in the midst of today’s gas crisis, was the first.

Saluting Moseley was truly heart-wrenching. A relentless airpower advocate, he led the air campaign that toppled the Taliban in weeks. His ingenious air operation in Iraq smashed the Republican Guard in a matter of days.

Indeed, had Moseley’s plan not been terminated early by his superiors, it just might have eliminated many of the Sunni officers who later formed the core of the insurgency and also could have destroyed more of the weapons caches that subsequently supplied the explosives for thousands of improvised explosive devices. America’s enemies will not miss him.

The generals are especially concerned about the morale of those spending the flower of their youth as the unheralded guardians of the nation’s ultimate insurance against the most horrific possible “Next War.” The vast majority of these professionals perform their nuclear duties magnificently, and this makes the humiliation that the acts of a few caused all the more painful.

Gates has given his direction, and his generals are saluting. After exchanging ideas as to how to fix problems, the meeting of Air Force leaders broke up early as the commanders, concerned about the impact of the announcements on their troops, were anxious to get back to the field.

The generals left carrying the message that a still-great Air Force is determined to learn from its mistakes and make itself even better.

That’s the Air Force way.

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The writer is a major general and the Air Force’s deputy judge advocate general. These are his personal views.

DISCUSS: The leadership changes