Schwartz public appearances become more common - Air Force News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Air Force Times

Schwartz public appearances become more common

Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz sat before a group of reporters, sipping coffee and answering one F-22 question after another.

The media roundtable Tuesday in Washington, D.C., was the first for Schwartz since September. In his first six months in office, Schwartz has made few public appearances — mostly speaking at news conferences about the Air Force’s rebuilding nuclear enterprise.

Recently, though, Schwartz has stepped up his exposure. Along with the media breakfast, he was a keynote speaker at a National Defense Industrial Association conference and plans to take questions from reporters Feb. 26 at the Air Force Association conference in Orlando, Fla. He sat down Feb. 11 for an interview with Air Force Times.

In his speech at the NDIA conference, Schwartz railed against interservice rivalries in a time of war, telling the crowd of joint special operators and industry executives that he is not “threatened” by other services that fly airlifters or unmanned aircraft.

“I’m less worried about ownership than I am about the end results,” Schwartz said. “We have to get off of these theological debates.”

Schwartz’s appearances are coming right before major decisions such as the future of the F-22 program and the 2010 defense budget, but the chief isn’t on “a campaign,” said Lt. Col. Adriane Craig, his spokeswoman.

The greater visibility is simply a chance for Schwartz “to articulate some of the changes seen in the Air Force,” Craig said. “It shows the transparency of how he and Secretary [Michael] Donley want to lead.”