Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
New York Times
June 10, 2008 By David Stout
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates announced his new Air Force leadership team on Monday, tapping Michael B. Donley, a Pentagon administrator, to be the service’s next secretary and Gen. Norton A. Schwartz, who has been in charge of transportation for the Pentagon, to be chief of staff.
Mr. Donley is the Defense Department’s director of administration and management, and General Schwartz is the commander of the Air Force’s Transportation Command.
The White House said President Bush would designate Mr. Donley as acting secretary so he could begin his duties before the Senate took up his nomination. Mr. Donley was acting Air Force secretary for several months in 1993 and the service’s top financial officer from 1989 to 1993.
Mr. Donley would replace Michael W. Wynne, and General Schwartz would replace Gen. T. Michael Moseley. Mr. Gates fired Mr. Wynne and General Moseley last week over lapses in the handling of nuclear weapons.
General Schwartz is a former deputy commander of the military’s Special Operations Command, an elite counterterrorism unit, and a former director of the military’s Joint Staff.
The shuffle is the latest effort by Mr. Gates to put his stamp on the vast Pentagon bureaucracy. Since succeeding Donald H. Rumsfeld 18 months ago, Mr. Gates has made accountability a theme, sacking Army officials after disclosures of shoddy conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and pushing into retirement generals associated with failures in Iraq.
Thom Shanker contributed reporting.
June 10, 2008 By David Stout
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates announced his new Air Force leadership team on Monday, tapping Michael B. Donley, a Pentagon administrator, to be the service’s next secretary and Gen. Norton A. Schwartz, who has been in charge of transportation for the Pentagon, to be chief of staff.
Mr. Donley is the Defense Department’s director of administration and management, and General Schwartz is the commander of the Air Force’s Transportation Command.
The White House said President Bush would designate Mr. Donley as acting secretary so he could begin his duties before the Senate took up his nomination. Mr. Donley was acting Air Force secretary for several months in 1993 and the service’s top financial officer from 1989 to 1993.
Mr. Donley would replace Michael W. Wynne, and General Schwartz would replace Gen. T. Michael Moseley. Mr. Gates fired Mr. Wynne and General Moseley last week over lapses in the handling of nuclear weapons.
General Schwartz is a former deputy commander of the military’s Special Operations Command, an elite counterterrorism unit, and a former director of the military’s Joint Staff.
The shuffle is the latest effort by Mr. Gates to put his stamp on the vast Pentagon bureaucracy. Since succeeding Donald H. Rumsfeld 18 months ago, Mr. Gates has made accountability a theme, sacking Army officials after disclosures of shoddy conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and pushing into retirement generals associated with failures in Iraq.
Thom Shanker contributed reporting.