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Gates criticizes Air Force effort in Iraq, Afghanistan
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Monday the Air Force is not doing enough to help in the Iraq and Afghanistan war effort, complaining that some military leaders are “stuck in old ways of doing business,” the Associated Press is reporting.
Gates said in a speech at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., that getting the Air Force to send more surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft to Iraq and Afghanistan has been “like pulling teeth.”
Gates, who served in the Air Force in the 1960s as a young officer, also urged the officers in his audience to dedicate themselves to thinking creatively.
According to the AP story, he said the Air Force and the other branches of the military need to protect those in their ranks who are maverick thinkers, who defy convention and push for creative solutions to hard problems.
“Dissent is a sign of health in an organization, and particularly if it’s done in the right way,” Gates said.
What do you think about Gates’ remarks?
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Comments
By TRS
May 2, 2008 12:23 AM | Link to this
Rich - your right. Just look at the typical redundant and repetitive political smears from the previous posts. This issue has nothing at all to do with politics. There is a great demand for drones from the ground troops. Each drone requires an officer pilot and an enlisted. The USAF is trying to train these folks and at the same time maintain crew to operate other aircraft. Therein lies the debate.By Rich
April 23, 2008 10:12 AM | Link to this
One persistent thought comes to mind — if ANY DEMOCRAT had made exactly the same comments as Sec. Gates, just imagine the knee-jerk negative reaction of the right wingers! They’d deride whoever said this as unsupportive of the troops, anti-American and basically traitorous. We all know this would have happened — and it ought to help us keep in perspective exactly how valid these political smears are, far too often.By Chris
April 22, 2008 5:21 PM | Link to this
I had an old boss give me some great advice for a similar situation. Mr. Gates needs to ask himself: Who has he rewarded lately for ‘screwing’ up? If he can’t give credible answer, then the reason the Air Force is stuck in ‘old ways of thought’ is staring him in the mirror. A leader has to reward and acknowledge people that are risk takers. If he has not rewarded someone for taking a risk and possibly ‘screwing’ up then he deserves what he has got. Can’t say that anyone in the Bush administration is a risk taker. With the Bush policies of politicizing everything, including promotions in the military with (those that have not traditionally been political), the’ve drummed out of the service the very people that are creative problem solvers. There have been several good articles written over the course of the last 4-5 years on the complete mis-management of promotions in the officer corps in the military. The people that we will need to lead and fight the next war have for the most part left.By Savanation
April 21, 2008 11:05 PM | Link to this
Sure the Air Force can do a lot more. Just have them bring every transport plane they have to Iraq as soon as possible to get all of our brave soldiers out of Iraq before Bush kills anymore of them.By Savanation
April 21, 2008 11:02 PM | Link to this
Sure the Air Force can do a lot more. Just have them bring every transport plane they have to Irag and get all of our brave soldiers out of there before Bush kills any more of them.By mwm
April 21, 2008 6:50 PM | Link to this
Gates is probably giving a valid assessment of the current Air Force. I think that there are some officers and enlisted that think on their own. While, there are many officers and enlisted that only tow the “party line”. Perhaps afraid to speak out against the status quo. Some Air Force bases tend to push politics and pro-administration rhetoric rather than focusing on reality. Perhaps some Air Force bases have TV’s in every hallway playing FOX news and having Rush Limbaugh listening parties at lunch. Perhaps allowing for some dissent would welcome new ideas; even if it goes against the status quo and the current party line. After all, not many new ideas can come from a bunch of Blue Suit Robots!By Dave
April 21, 2008 6:17 PM | Link to this
If Mr. Gates thinks the Air Force is not doing the job properly, he should look to the Sec. of Defense to re-align their priorities.