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Forum Spin Doctor
Washington Post
June 15, 2008
Pg. B3
By Tom Ricks
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates recently fired the two top officials in the Air Force over the service's sloppy handling of nuclear weapons. Last week, he visited the Air Force Combat Command to explain his actions. His remarks struck me as a model of the way a civilian chief should speak to service members: respectfully and precisely, but leaving no doubt about who is in charge.
In short, I concluded that decisive action was required, because 1) the focus of the Air Force leadership has drifted, with respect to perhaps its most sensitive mission; 2) performance standards in that sensitive area were allowed to degrade; 3) the Air Force's stewardship and oversight of this vital mission did not identify these problems for correction, and 4) the Air Force's investigation into what went wrong did not get to root causes, requiring my personal intervention.
. . . I assume that some, maybe most, of you disagree with my decision. . . . During my tenure, I have emphasized to all services that accountability must reach all the way up the chain of command and that the military as a whole must be willing to admit mistakes when they are made. That's the only way to fix it and it is the only way to ensure that they don't recur in the future. When systemic problems are found, I believe that accountability must reach beyond NCOs and even colonels.
. . . Friction between the Department of Defense's civilian leadership and military services is inevitable under our system . . . . When differences arise, I have made it a point to listen to all sides and on a number of occasions have changed my mind on the basis of what I have heard from senior leadership of the services.
The important thing is to have an open and respectful airing of views in good faith.
. . . Embrace accountability in all you do, for everything in your area of responsibility. When you see failures or growing problems, in other areas outside your lane, as it is often described, throw a flag.
Now, at this point, I'm going to ask the press to leave, so that we can have a candid discussion inside the family, as it were, on some of these issues or any other questions that you might have.
--Tom Ricks is The Post'smilitary correspondent.
 
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