Gates to move quickly on new air force leadership

WASHINGTON: US Defense Secretary Robert Gates expects to move quickly to replace the air force civilian and military chiefs ousted over two major nuclear-related blunders, a spokesman said on Friday.

"He has his choices in mind," said Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon press secretary, who said Gates had discussed the matter with President George W. Bush but not made a formal recommendation.

Michael Donley, a Pentagon official in charge of administration and management, was under "strong consideration" to replace Michael Wynne as air force secretary, a senior defense official said.

Gates planned to travel to three US air bases early next week to reassure the air force's rank-and-file but also to reaffirm that the service must buckle down on its nuclear mission.

"The purpose is to reaffirm the fundamental message that there is no room for error when it comes to the safety of our nuclear arsenal and nuclear components," Morrell said.

"The air force has to do a much better job in that area," he said. Gates sacked Wynne and air force chief of staff, General T. Michael Moseley on Thursday after an investigation found that two major nuclear-related incidents resulted from systemic problems in the control of nuclear weapons and related components.

The report remains classified, but Pentagon officials described it as scathing in its conclusions that air force leaders had allowed standards and performance to slip over a 10 year period.

The investigating officer, Admiral Kirkland Donald, recommended disciplinary action for a "substantial" number of senior officers, including several generals, ranging from removal from command to reprimands.

Deciding what actions to take against them will be one of the first tasks for the air force's new leadership, officials said.

The investigation was launched March 25 after the discovery that four fuses for nuclear weapons had been mistaken shipped to Taiwan in August 2006. The error went undetected for 18 months.

That followed an incident in September 2007 when a B-52 bomber flew from one US base to another with nuclear armed cruise missiles under its wings, a mistake went unnoticed for 36 hours.