March 15, 2010
- Coos Bay / North Bend, Oregon
Pentagon chief says getting Air Force help is 'like pulling teeth'
Defense Secretary Robert Gates is seen in a file photo. By Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Monday the Air Force is not doing enough to help in the Iraq and Afghanistan war effort, complaining that some military leaders are "stuck in old ways of doing business."
Gates said in a speech at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., that getting the Air Force to send more surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft to Iraq and Afghanistan has been "like pulling teeth." Addressing officer students at the Air Force's Air University, the Pentagon chief praised the Air Force for its overall contributions but made a point of urging it to do more and to undertake more creative ways of thinking about helping the war effort. He said he has been trying for months to get the Air Force to send more surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft, like the pilotless Predator drone that provides real-time surveillance video, to the battlefield. "Because people were stuck in old ways of doing business, it's been like pulling teeth," Gates said. "While we've doubled this capability in recent months, it is still not good enough." To push the issue harder, Gates said he established last week a Pentagon-wide task force "to work this problem in the weeks to come, to find more innovative and bold ways to help those whose lives are on the line." He likened the urgency of the task force's work to that of a similar organization he created last year to push for faster production and deployment of mine-resistant, ambush-protected armored vehicles that have been credited with saving lives of troops facing attacks by roadside bombs in Iraq. "All this may require rethinking long-standing service assumptions and priorities about which missions require certified pilots and which do not," Gates said, referring to so-called unmanned aerial vehicles that are controlled by servicemembers at ground stations. Gates, who served in the Air Force in the 1960s as a young officer before he joined the Central Intelligence Agency, urged the officers in his audience to dedicate themselves to thinking creatively. "I'm asking you to be part of the solution and part of the future," he said. |
Upload directly from your mobile device. Learn howYouNews
This content requires the latest Adobe Flash Player and a browser with JavaScript enabled.
Click here for a free download of the latest Adobe Flash Player.
Resources and info you need to prepare for the switch to DTV. Stay Connected |
Connect with KCBYViewer PollMost Popular
|
Copyright © 2010
KCBY-TV, 3451 Broadway,
North Bend,
OR
97459
Copyright © 2010 <a href='http://www.fsci.com'target='new'>Fisher Communications, Inc.</a>
Powered by Broadcast Interactive Media.