Monday, July 28, 2008

More Air Force Resignations

AP is reporting that the Special Assistant for Acquisition Governance and Transparency to the Secretary of the Air Force Kenneth E. Miller has resigned.

Mr. Miller is no stranger to Tanker War Blog and it is report that he is under investigation for leaking procurement information prior to its approved release.

In May we did a post we on him and his role in the tanker war. We had heard he may be retiring this summer, but are still surprised it has taken this long to show him the door.

Also, reported earlier today was the resignation of William C. "Bill" Anderson the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Installations, Environment and Logistics.

Mr. Andrerson's office had given some unsatisfactory answers to members of Congress about KC-30 Milcon costs, but this was a minor issue. We do not know of any big tanker related issues connected to his resignation.

At this point, most people here in DC are taking him for his word that the resignation is due to lack of leadership backing "necessary to lean forward to aggressively support" the service's Airmen. Given that Mr. Anderson clashed with a KC-30 supporter on joint-basing it rings very true.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

With Payton and Miller both out of the picture it sort of reminds me of cockroaches disappearing under the baseboards once you turn the lights on.

The plain fact of the matter is that DOD procurement has NEVER followed procurement law, and now that they have stepped on their crank sufficiently badly that Congress and the GAO are going to be watching them closely, it's not surprising that these people are ducking out before the investigation really gets going. It's a heck of a lot more difficult to call to account a retiree than it is someone still working in Civil Service.

I think the people in DOD procurement have started to have acute onset of reality about this thing. We should be able to tell soon. If Gates and company actually have decided that the jig is up, they will either not make substantive changes in the RFP OR admit that it's a new program, and give Boeing the (rather substantial) time necessary to convert their proposal from a KC-767 proposal to a KC-777 proposal (or what the hell, they might propose more KC-10s, since they bought McDonnell-Douglas and own the rights to that aircraft, perhaps with updated and more fuel efficient engines. That aircraft is smaller than the A330 with a much greater offload).

But if Gates and company aren't convinced they can afford to wait the extra time and decide instead to try to 'steal a base' by changing the RFP substantively and pretending they didn't, this is headed in to the courts, and DOD will spin its wheels for another three or four years before the resulting contract is voided and they get to start over.

If you don't have the time to do it right, where are you going to find the time to do it over??

Anonymous said...

The Boeing MD-11 would make a sweet tanker, and they may find some buyers for the MD-11 Freighter in UPS & FedEx. The MD-11 is only out of production for about 8 years, they would have to get the suppliers back up to speed. Size-wise, I think it is a better fit than the 777. But if you get a MD-11 to replace the 135, go for the 777 to replace the KC-10

GasPasser said...

Here's an idea from Wynne, lets buy from both bidders...easy for him to say now that he's been fired. Funny how he's changed his tune. From todays AF Magazine's daily report.

http://www.airforce-magazine.com/Features/modernization/Pages/ComeTogetherbySplitting.aspx


I actually like the idea for a few reasons.
(1) the KC-135 should be replaced at twice the pace the AF has laid out.
(2) With both being awarded the contract, the protests stop and the replacements begin.
(3) The KC-767 should go to the Guard & Reserves. They have MANY pilots who are already typed in the 767. Let the AD fly the frog plane.

Anonymous said...

Let the AD fly the frog plane.

What's a frog plane? More of the A330 is built in UK, Spain and Germany than France, but why let facts get in the way of prejudice?

Let's face it, a split buy is the only way the KC-767 Frankentanker is going to get a piece of the action.

Anonymous said...

The Boeing MD-11 would make a sweet tanker, and they may find some buyers for the MD-11 Freighter in UPS & FedEx. The MD-11 is only out of production for about 8 years, they would have to get the suppliers back up to speed.

Ha ha, good luck with that one. Boeing destroyed the MD-11 tooling. Getting the MD-11 back in production would be nearly as expensive as designing a new type from scratch.

http://osdir.com/ml/culture.discuss.cia-drugs/2005-06/msg00286.html
QUOTE:Boeing has made one great, unreported blunder in this battle of refueling tankers that places it in jeopardy of losing this sale. Right after the ink dried on the deal acquiring McDonnell-Douglas, Boeing sent a wrecking crew into the MD-11 facility in Long Beach, Calif., and destroyed the tooling for all versions of this aircraft series.

Dream on, it ain't gonna happen.

Anonymous said...

I actually like the idea for a few reasons.
(1) the KC-135 should be replaced at twice the pace the AF has laid out.

No money in the FYDP for this option.
(2) With both being awarded the contract, the protests stop and the replacements begin.No, you merely double the administrative expenses and decrease the total aircraft buy, while still not addressing milcon, parts inventory, sustainment, and other issues.
(3) The KC-767 should go to the Guard & Reserves. They have MANY pilots who are already typed in the 767. Let the AD fly the frog plane.
Sounds like the old Korean war era fighter doggerel about the reserves going to Korea, the regulars staying in Japan. The KC-767 would always be the one operating out of the most sparse airbases, generally those pretty far forward.

Anonymous said...

In a (hopefully) unrelated development, another senior Air Force leader has apparently committed suicide.

The Air Force's bad year just got a whole lot worse. A general who spent nearly two years as the executive officer to the recently ousted Air force chief of staff has died in an apparent suicide at his home in Alaska, AP reports:

Brig. Gen. Thomas L. Tinsley suffered a gunshot wound to his chest late Sunday night and was pronounced dead within a half hour, said Col. Richard Walberg, who assumed command at Elmendorf Air Force Base after Tinsley's death.

Tinsley, the commander at Alaska's Elmendorf Air Force Base, previously worked at the Pentagon under General T. Michael "Buzz" Mosely, who along with Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne, was recently forced to resign.

The suicide is a serious blow to the service, which yesterday saw two more resignations of senior Air Force officials. There was also another suicide last year. Charles Riechers, a former top Air Force acquisition official, committed suicide last year after a sadly flawed newspaper article asserted that he had been given a "no work contract."


http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/07/air-force-offic.html