Air Force Nominations Hearing Today

At 9:30 today the Senate Armed Services Commitee will hold a hearing to consider the nominations of:

Mr. Michael B. Donley
to be Secretary of the Air Force

General Norton A. Schwartz, USAF
for reappointment to the grade of general and to be Chief of Staff, United States Air Force

General Duncan J. McNabb, USAF
for reappointment to the grade of general and to be Commander, United States Transportation Command

We expect a number of tanker related questions to be asked.

C-Span will be covering the hearing but may not air the proceedings live.

The hearing is now over but the Pentagon Channel did air the hearing live.

HASC Tanker Briefing Round Up

Yesterday the Air and Land Subcommittee of the HASC met with GAO officials and a last minute DoD procurement stand-in for the Sue Payton.

From the reports we received, it is clear that the majority of members came away from the brief more convinced then ever that the Air Force has continually misled Congress about the tanker selection process.

By their remarks, even those Members who support the KC-30 seemed to have concluded that GAO did a thorough job in rendering its decision and that the reasons for rebidding the contract are compelling and overwhelming.

When questioned if the GAO believed that the was malice directed against Boeing, the reply was that they did not believe so. But, they did mentioned that there was pattern of incompetence that clearly resulted in favoring the KC-30.

Chairman Abercrombie, who reportedly was none to happy with what he heard yesterday, has scheduled another Air and Land Forces Subcommittee hearing on the tanker contract for July 10th. This time around Ms. Payton and DoD acquisition chief John Young are expect to be in attendance.

Aviation Expert Supports Protest and Congressional Tanker Hearings

Highly respected aviation expert Scott Hamilton, founder of Leeham Companies, LLC calls for Congressional Hearings and a vigorous protest by Boeing.

In his recent report on the tanker issue Mr. Hamilton writes:

Boeing should pursue the protest of the award by the US Air Force of the KC-45A tanker to Northrop Grumman as aggressively as possible. Furthermore, Congressional hearings should also be pursued aggressively.

This is a complete about face of our previous positions. Here’s why: Once Boeing filed the protest, a move we did not support, and Boeing explained its reasoning, it’s clear that there is a real disconnect between what the public has been hearing from the Air Force, Northrop, aerospace analyst Loren Thompson, whose close ties to the Air Force and his information published became the focus of some criticism, and what Boeing understands from its debrief. [Note: see our previous post on this issue.]

Northrop, the Air Force and Thompson said the win by Northrop for its KC-30 wasn’t even close. Boeing says not only was the win not close, Boeing’s KC-767 actually outscored the KC-30 in several areas. Furthermore, Boeing claims the process was changed, sometimes without the Air Force telling it, during the evaluation. These changes, Boeing said, were designed to keep Northrop’s KC-30 in the competition. With the huge disconnect and the Boeing assertions, there is only one way to resolve the issue and to provide affirmation, modification or rejection of the process and decision, and that’s to aggressively pursue the protest.

Anything less will leave a cloud of doubt hanging over the Air Force’s decision and continue to subject the award to Congressional, labor and public criticisms. Even if the Government Accountability Office, with which Boeing filed the protest, affirms the award, it’s unlikely to completely quell the criticism because of the political ramifications that have enveloped this process from the start of the competition.

Mr. Hamilton's support for Boeing's protest and Congressional inquiry into the matter are welcomed by those of us here at Tanker War Blog.