Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Air Force Times
October 20, 2008
Pg. 62
By Robert F. Dorr
Defense Secretary Robert Gates is doing an excellent job as the top civilian leader in the Pentagon and as the No. 2 in the military chain of command.
I disagree with some of his decisions but, on balance, Gates is the best defense secretary we've had in a long time.
Gates has put new emphasis on accountability, and proved it when he sacked the Air Force's top civilian and military leaders. With his civil manner and steel-trap mind, Gates has restored good relations between the Pentagon and Capitol Hill.
When he testifies before lawmakers about issues that are critical to troops in the field, Gates speaks in plain English. He dislikes military jargon and technical talk.
Gates would like to shut down the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba but acknowledges that he hasn't figured out how. He would like to increase operations from Afghanistan against al-Qaida strongholds inside Pakistan, but admits that the sensitive topic of Pakistani sovereignty must be resolved above his paygrade.
It's refreshing that he acknowledges foreign policy is the province of the State Department and actively cooperates, rather than competes, with it.
You won't find him spending a lot of time mingling with the troops or schmoozing one-on-one with the staff sergeants and captains who make the military work. He hasn't done enough of that and he hasn't paid enough attention to key personnel issues, like pay and benefits.
But his first job is to run the biggest military machine in the world, and he's doing that well.
The author, an Air Force veteran, lives in Oakton, Va. Dorr is co-author of "Hell Hawks," a history of an American fighter group in World War II.
October 20, 2008
Pg. 62
By Robert F. Dorr
Defense Secretary Robert Gates is doing an excellent job as the top civilian leader in the Pentagon and as the No. 2 in the military chain of command.
I disagree with some of his decisions but, on balance, Gates is the best defense secretary we've had in a long time.
Gates has put new emphasis on accountability, and proved it when he sacked the Air Force's top civilian and military leaders. With his civil manner and steel-trap mind, Gates has restored good relations between the Pentagon and Capitol Hill.
When he testifies before lawmakers about issues that are critical to troops in the field, Gates speaks in plain English. He dislikes military jargon and technical talk.
Gates would like to shut down the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba but acknowledges that he hasn't figured out how. He would like to increase operations from Afghanistan against al-Qaida strongholds inside Pakistan, but admits that the sensitive topic of Pakistani sovereignty must be resolved above his paygrade.
It's refreshing that he acknowledges foreign policy is the province of the State Department and actively cooperates, rather than competes, with it.
You won't find him spending a lot of time mingling with the troops or schmoozing one-on-one with the staff sergeants and captains who make the military work. He hasn't done enough of that and he hasn't paid enough attention to key personnel issues, like pay and benefits.
But his first job is to run the biggest military machine in the world, and he's doing that well.
The author, an Air Force veteran, lives in Oakton, Va. Dorr is co-author of "Hell Hawks," a history of an American fighter group in World War II.