AF Secretary and Chief of Staff Forced to Resign This Morning

[afchic]

Surprised it happened now and not months ago. Given the issues with the Thunderbird contract etc... Although I am sure Minot failing it's NSI last week probably had something to do with this as well. I bet we don't see a new chief until after the election.

NBC: Top two Air Force officials resigning
Secretary, chief of staff ousted; choice reportedly was 'resign or be fired'
NBC News and news services
updated 10:06 a.m. PT, Thurs., June. 5, 2008
The nation's top two Air Force officials are resigning, military sources told NBC News Thursday.

Air Force Chief of Staff Michael Moseley and Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne are being forced out, the two sources said. Moseley, a general, is the Air Force's top uniformed officer; Wynne is the top civilian official.

Word of the resignations was first reported by InsideDefense.com and the Air Force Times earlier Thursday.

"Top-level Pentagon officials gave Moseley the option to resign or be fired during a meeting this morning," the InsideDefense.com reported, quoting an unidentified military official.

The Air Force Times noted that the resignations follow high-profile scandals and disagreements between with lawmakers and Defense Secretary Robert Gates over the Air Force's role in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Gates earlier this year publicly stated that the Air Force could dedicate more resources, especially unmanned drones, to those battlefronts.

Sources told the Air Force Times that other senior officers could also be relieved.

A public announcement was expected later in the day. There was no immediate word on who would be nominated to replace Moseley and Wynne.

The Air Force has endured a number of embarrassing setbacks over the past year. In August, for instance, a B-52 bomber was mistakenly armed with six nuclear-tipped cruise missiles and flown across the country. The pilot and crew were unaware they had nuclear arms aboard.

The error was considered so grave that President Bush was quickly informed.


NBC News producer Courtney Kube, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report