- Jun 23, 2001
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WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Robert Gates ousted the Air Force's top military and civilian leaders Thursday, holding them to account in a historic Pentagon shake-up after embarrassing and potentially disastrous nuclear mix-ups.
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.
Video: Gates Sacks Air Force Leadership
Gates cited two incidents in the past year. In one, a B-52 bomber was mistakenly armed with six nuclear-tipped cruise missiles and flown across the country without anyone realizing nuclear weapons were aboard.
In the other, four electrical fuses for ballistic missile warheads were mistakenly sent to Taiwan in the place of helicopter batteries. 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."
In a reflection of his concern about the state of nuclear security, Gates said he 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 said 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, making it unlikely that weaknesses in the way critical materials such as nuclear weapons are handled could be corrected, Gates said.
Initial congressional reaction was positive. Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, praised Gates for appointing Schlesinger to lead the nuclear weapons study and made it clear he accepted Gates' decision to oust the senior leaders during a time of war. "The incidents at Minot and Barksdale Air Force Bases and the misshipment of missile nose cones to Taiwan should never have happened," Skelton said in a statement released Thursday evening. "I look forward to reviewing Admiral Kirkland Donald's report on what went wrong with the Air Force's management of nuclear weapons security and safety."
Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), a new member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, also praised Gates for his actions. "What is so encouraging is that Secretary Gates is walking the walk on accountability," she said in a statement.
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." Gates said his priorities, after reading the Donald report, were to fix the problems it identified and to hold Air Force leaders accountable.
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.
Gates said he would make recommendations to President Bush shortly on a new Air Force chief of staff and civilian secretary.
A source with close ties to the senior Air Force leadership told Military.com that the likely replacement for Moseley is Gen. John D.W. Corley, commander of the Air Force's Air Combat Command. The source said that Corley had been tagged to replace Moseley in the fall, when Moseley was due to retire. This source, and an industry source, said that Wynne's successor was unlikely to make it through the Senate's nomination process before the end of the Bush administration and would serve as acting secretary.
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.
Military.com's Pentagon correspondent Colin Clark contributed to this story.
WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Robert Gates ousted the Air Force's top military and civilian leaders Thursday, holding them to account in a historic Pentagon shake-up after embarrassing and potentially disastrous nuclear mix-ups.
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.
Video: Gates Sacks Air Force Leadership
Gates cited two incidents in the past year. In one, a B-52 bomber was mistakenly armed with six nuclear-tipped cruise missiles and flown across the country without anyone realizing nuclear weapons were aboard.
In the other, four electrical fuses for ballistic missile warheads were mistakenly sent to Taiwan in the place of helicopter batteries. 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."
In a reflection of his concern about the state of nuclear security, Gates said he 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 said 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, making it unlikely that weaknesses in the way critical materials such as nuclear weapons are handled could be corrected, Gates said.
Initial congressional reaction was positive. Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, praised Gates for appointing Schlesinger to lead the nuclear weapons study and made it clear he accepted Gates' decision to oust the senior leaders during a time of war. "The incidents at Minot and Barksdale Air Force Bases and the misshipment of missile nose cones to Taiwan should never have happened," Skelton said in a statement released Thursday evening. "I look forward to reviewing Admiral Kirkland Donald's report on what went wrong with the Air Force's management of nuclear weapons security and safety."
Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), a new member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, also praised Gates for his actions. "What is so encouraging is that Secretary Gates is walking the walk on accountability," she said in a statement.
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." Gates said his priorities, after reading the Donald report, were to fix the problems it identified and to hold Air Force leaders accountable.
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.
Gates said he would make recommendations to President Bush shortly on a new Air Force chief of staff and civilian secretary.
A source with close ties to the senior Air Force leadership told Military.com that the likely replacement for Moseley is Gen. John D.W. Corley, commander of the Air Force's Air Combat Command. The source said that Corley had been tagged to replace Moseley in the fall, when Moseley was due to retire. This source, and an industry source, said that Wynne's successor was unlikely to make it through the Senate's nomination process before the end of the Bush administration and would serve as acting secretary.
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.
Military.com's Pentagon correspondent Colin Clark contributed to this story.
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