Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Anchorage Daily News
July 7, 2008
Pg. 1
General in charge of transportation slated to lead Air Force
By Dave Montgomery, McClatchy News Service
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- Gen. Norton Schwartz bounds out of bed at 4:30 each morning and charges off for a four-mile run. By 7 a.m., he's settling into his office to begin another day as the quarterback of the Defense Department's vast transportation network.
As the commander of the U.S. Transportation Command, headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, the gentlemanly four-star general directs one of the biggest and most far-flung endeavors in America's wartime military. It's also one of the most essential.
Each day, hundreds of airplanes, ships, rail cars and trucks -- which Transcom operates through three component commands -- engage in a by-the-clock ritual of moving cargo and people across the globe. With a $10 billion budget and nearly 138,000 personnel worldwide, Transcom operates like a giant multinational corporation.
Ships with Transcom's Military Sealift Command have plucked survivors from tsunamis and sinking ships. Evacuation crews with the Air Mobility Command have rushed wounded soldiers to lifesaving treatment in the United States. The Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command choreographs a daily parade of trucks and rail cars laden with supplies and equipment for troops overseas.
Schwartz, known to colleagues as "Norty," has been at the center of this sprawling universe since September 2005. As a lieutenant general, Schwartz headed the Alaska Command from 2000 to 2002.
He'd planned to retire this fall, but Defense Secretary Robert Gates upended those intentions by recommending the Transcom commander be nominated as the Air Force chief of staff after a top-level Air Force shake up.
If President Bush accepts the recommendation as expected, Schwartz, 56, would be in line to lead the Air Force at a time when it's been jarred by a series of setbacks and internal problems, including the forced resignations of Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne and Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley.
Transcom seldom grabs headlines, but its mission is vital to the nation's defense posture.
"What we do is not that glamorous, but it's fundamental to the success of others," Schwartz said during a recent interview in his office. "The person who has the enemy at 12 o'clock doesn't have to worry about his backside."
Gates' decision to tap Schwartz for the top job in the Air Force, while unexpected, was praised as a smart move by military analysts. It focused new attention on the Transcom commander and the transportation system he's led for nearly three years.
As Schwartz's replacement at Transcom, Gates recommended Gen. Duncan J. McNabb, the Air Force vice chief of staff who served at Scott as the commander of the Air Mobility Command from October 2005 to September 2007. Gates' choice of McNabb to replace Schwartz also has won praise.
The nominations to both positions require Senate confirmation.
Transcom relies heavily on commercial partners -- including U.S. airlines and private merchant ships -- to augment the government's resources in meeting the burgeoning demands of supplying troops and moving personnel.
More than 35 private air carriers and more than 1,200 aircraft -- including major airlines such as American, Delta and United -- are under contract to assist Transcom when needed. At least a fourth of the ships that the Military Sealift Command operates are under commercial contract.
The Transcom nerve center is the Deployment Distribution Operations Center, where dozens of specialists work around the clock in a cavernous control room tracking the movements of planes, ships and surface vehicles. The unexpected -- from a storm at sea to an urgent request for medical help -- is often the norm, prompting DDOC operatives to reorder priorities hurriedly.
Transcom was created by the 1987 Goldwater-Nichols Act, which reorganized the Defense Department and allowed for the consolidation of military transportation functions.
The goal was to put transportation under one umbrella and end what had been often redundant and competitive operations. Today, Transcom is one of nine joint commands in the Defense Department, and Schwartz reports directly to the defense secretary.
"It was segmented, it was fragmented, it was incoherent," Schwartz said, recalling the pre-Transcom era. "In the intervening years, what I think has occurred is that we have a process and a system that is responsive and makes things happen by air, land or sea."
The 2001 terrorist attacks and the deployment of combat forces overseas have infused Transcom with an urgent wartime tempo. By Schwartz's assessment, Transcom in many ways is like an offensive lineman, often unheralded but always indispensable.
"It's hard to jazz it up, but it's like blocking and tackling," he said. "Teams don't score many touchdowns without a few blocks and tackles."
July 7, 2008
Pg. 1
General in charge of transportation slated to lead Air Force
By Dave Montgomery, McClatchy News Service
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- Gen. Norton Schwartz bounds out of bed at 4:30 each morning and charges off for a four-mile run. By 7 a.m., he's settling into his office to begin another day as the quarterback of the Defense Department's vast transportation network.
As the commander of the U.S. Transportation Command, headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, the gentlemanly four-star general directs one of the biggest and most far-flung endeavors in America's wartime military. It's also one of the most essential.
Each day, hundreds of airplanes, ships, rail cars and trucks -- which Transcom operates through three component commands -- engage in a by-the-clock ritual of moving cargo and people across the globe. With a $10 billion budget and nearly 138,000 personnel worldwide, Transcom operates like a giant multinational corporation.
Ships with Transcom's Military Sealift Command have plucked survivors from tsunamis and sinking ships. Evacuation crews with the Air Mobility Command have rushed wounded soldiers to lifesaving treatment in the United States. The Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command choreographs a daily parade of trucks and rail cars laden with supplies and equipment for troops overseas.
Schwartz, known to colleagues as "Norty," has been at the center of this sprawling universe since September 2005. As a lieutenant general, Schwartz headed the Alaska Command from 2000 to 2002.
He'd planned to retire this fall, but Defense Secretary Robert Gates upended those intentions by recommending the Transcom commander be nominated as the Air Force chief of staff after a top-level Air Force shake up.
If President Bush accepts the recommendation as expected, Schwartz, 56, would be in line to lead the Air Force at a time when it's been jarred by a series of setbacks and internal problems, including the forced resignations of Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne and Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley.
Transcom seldom grabs headlines, but its mission is vital to the nation's defense posture.
"What we do is not that glamorous, but it's fundamental to the success of others," Schwartz said during a recent interview in his office. "The person who has the enemy at 12 o'clock doesn't have to worry about his backside."
Gates' decision to tap Schwartz for the top job in the Air Force, while unexpected, was praised as a smart move by military analysts. It focused new attention on the Transcom commander and the transportation system he's led for nearly three years.
As Schwartz's replacement at Transcom, Gates recommended Gen. Duncan J. McNabb, the Air Force vice chief of staff who served at Scott as the commander of the Air Mobility Command from October 2005 to September 2007. Gates' choice of McNabb to replace Schwartz also has won praise.
The nominations to both positions require Senate confirmation.
Transcom relies heavily on commercial partners -- including U.S. airlines and private merchant ships -- to augment the government's resources in meeting the burgeoning demands of supplying troops and moving personnel.
More than 35 private air carriers and more than 1,200 aircraft -- including major airlines such as American, Delta and United -- are under contract to assist Transcom when needed. At least a fourth of the ships that the Military Sealift Command operates are under commercial contract.
The Transcom nerve center is the Deployment Distribution Operations Center, where dozens of specialists work around the clock in a cavernous control room tracking the movements of planes, ships and surface vehicles. The unexpected -- from a storm at sea to an urgent request for medical help -- is often the norm, prompting DDOC operatives to reorder priorities hurriedly.
Transcom was created by the 1987 Goldwater-Nichols Act, which reorganized the Defense Department and allowed for the consolidation of military transportation functions.
The goal was to put transportation under one umbrella and end what had been often redundant and competitive operations. Today, Transcom is one of nine joint commands in the Defense Department, and Schwartz reports directly to the defense secretary.
"It was segmented, it was fragmented, it was incoherent," Schwartz said, recalling the pre-Transcom era. "In the intervening years, what I think has occurred is that we have a process and a system that is responsive and makes things happen by air, land or sea."
The 2001 terrorist attacks and the deployment of combat forces overseas have infused Transcom with an urgent wartime tempo. By Schwartz's assessment, Transcom in many ways is like an offensive lineman, often unheralded but always indispensable.
"It's hard to jazz it up, but it's like blocking and tackling," he said. "Teams don't score many touchdowns without a few blocks and tackles."