Gates names choices for AF chief, secretary

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http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2008/06/airforce_replacements_060908/
news/2008/06/airforce_replacements_060908

Staff report
Posted : Wednesday Jun 11, 2008 8:37:19 EDT

Gen. Norton Schwartz, commander of U.S. Transportation Command, will be nominated to become the 19th Air Force chief of staff, Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced Monday.

And Mike Donley, a career civil servant who is presently the Pentagon’s director of administration and management, will be the next Air Force secretary, Gates announced.

The announcements come just days after Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley and Secretary Michael W. Wynne were forced to resign Thursday as the result of problems with the Air Force’s nuclear weapons program.

If confirmed by the Senate, Schwartz will be the first nonfighter pilot to lead the service since 1982, marking the end of an era during which the so-called fighter mafia has dominated the Air Force.

Gates also announced that Gen. Duncan McNabb, Moseley’s vice chief of staff, will be nominated to replace Schwartz at the helm of TransCom. And Lt. Gen. William Fraser III, currently serving as assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will be nominated to take over as vice chief of staff.

Gates recommended that Donley take over as acting secretary on June 21. No timeline has been announced for when Moseley will step aside, or when the president will formally nominate the new Air Force leaders. The Senate must then confirm the nominees before they can take office.

Schwartz was set to retire at year’s end as boss of TransCom. He came up the ranks as a conventional and special operations C-130 pilot. Previous posts include director of operations for the Joint Chiefs and deputy commander of U.S. Special Operations Command. He will be the first special operations pilot to lead the Air Force.

Donley was acting secretary of the Air Force for seven months in 1993 and served as the service’s top financial officer from 1989 to 1993.

DISCUSS: Gates’ choices

MULTIMEDIA:

* Long-time consultant sounds off on firings

* Moseley-Wynne photos

* Will Moseley’s and Wynne’s initiatives survive?

Memo from Michael W. Wynne to Secretary of Defense Gates

DISCUSS: What next?

Sheila Vemmer / Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz, currently commander of U.S. Transportation Command, has been nominated to be the next Air Force chief of staff.