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Why General Schwartz was chosen

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — By nominating the first non-fighter pilot to lead the Air Force since 1982, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said his decision marks a “transitioning Air Force.”

Gates said he has recommended to President Bush that Gen. Norton Schwartz, head of Transportation Command, be the next Air Force chief of staff. If confirmed by the Senate, Schwartz will become the 19th Air Force chief of staff, but the first former special operations pilot to fill the role.

Gates said he understood the implications of not picking a fighter pilot — Schwartz would be the first chief without that background since 1982. Bomber pilots used to dominate the position, Gates said, including during the time he served in the Air Force, in Strategic Air Command.

Over the past week, Gates has signaled that he expects sweeping changes to occur throughout the service, specifically targeting the Air Force’s declined focus on its nuclear mission, which he described as the service’s “most sensitive.”

Gates explained to reporters while flying from Langley Air Force Base, Va., to Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., that he chose Schwartz because he’s been impressed with the job Schwartz has done heading Transportation Command since taking the helm in 2005. Schwartz also was chosen, Gates said, because of the general’s background in air mobility, special operations and joint commands.

“His record in TransCom speaks for itself,” Gates said..

Gates said Schwartz has focused on improving efficiency in delivering military resources to Iraq and Afghanistan, all while the equipment and personnel he’s had at his disposal has diminished.

Loren Thompson, an analyst with the Lexington Institute, said the Schwartz selection will be almost universally praised.

“I cannot imagine a person better suited to this job at this point in history,” Thompson said. “Schwartz is so highly regarded among senior political appointees [and] he is so smart that all I can say is, ‘boy, we really dodged that bullet.’”

Reporter blogs from the Gates trip

Schwartz also has a low-key, get-along personality that might appeal to Gates, Thompson said.

“He is self-effacing and reserved and unfailingly courteous,” he said. “I think it’s fair to say that Gates didn’t want a knock-off of Curtis LeMay, and he’s not getting one. I think the way most people will describe Gen. Schwartz is as a team player with a giant-sized intellect.”

Schwartz’s career started much earlier flying special operations missions in the MC-130E Combat Talon for the 8th Special Operations Squadron at Hurlburt Field, Fla. He returned to Hurlburt in 1995 to take command of the 16th Special Operations Wing, and later served as deputy commander of Special Operations Command, beginning in 2000.

The defense secretary also highlighted the special operations background of his Air Force secretary nominee, Michael Donley, who is a former paratrooper in the Army’s XVIIIth Airborne Corps and Special Forces. Gates said his focus on anointing those with an affinity for the special operator is no coincidence.

“I think [Army Gen.] Peter Schoomaker put it best when he said special operations was the Ferrari in the garage and nobody took it out because they didn’t want to dent it,” Gates said.

“The Ferarri is now out of the garage.”

Staff writer Erik Holmes contributed to this story.

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