A different article on a USAF leader
This is just the beginning of the article, the full text is at http://www.sftt.org/cgi-bin/csNews/csNews.cgi?database=DefenseWatch%202006.db&command=viewone&op=t&id=93. Among other things, it makes a small point of how USAF personnel are not allowed to distinguish themselves from each other (combat vs. non-combat, operational aircrew vs. MWR officer, etc) lest we look for special treatment - EXCEPT, when it comes to the commander or pentagon service badge or some other officially sanctioned distinction.
Hollow Core Values
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]By Nelson Kane
Integrity First... Service Before Self... Excellence in All We Do...
What happened to Fly and Fight, Fight to Win?
Oh, sorry. That was the Air Force. Not the Air and Space and Information Dominance... whatever Force.
Core Values, ever changing ‘Visions’ and Mission Statements... new uniforms... leadership failures. These are all symptomatic of one thing.
Across the board the United States Air Force lacks a coherent focus. It has no sense of itself regardless of the platitudes mouthed by its... leaders.
Most of them are definitely part of the problem anyway. The victories won in the air since 1991 were won by the flyers. Hard flying and hard working aviators, usually below the rank of lieutenant colonel, who continue to ‘make it happen.’ And they make it happen despite the trite silliness of general officers who promote themselves on their ability to reinvent the wheel and wrap it in new paper.
The emphasis placed in definitions, visions and platitudes only serves to illustrate the utter lack of realistic direction from the top. In simple terms, when you know what you’re doing you don’t need to run around telling everyone. You just do it.
Air Force Chief of Staff
This is precisely why, in this turbulent, unsettled and downright confusing time, Air Force Chief of Staff T. Michael ‘Buzz’ Moseley is concentrating on something he truly understands.
Changing the Air Force uniform... again.
But lest you believe that’s the only item on his failing, incoherent agenda, T. Michael has also created new badges for Pentagon staff officers to wear. Not knowing what to do with critical issues like morale, over deployment and aging aircraft, he and his Yes People have chosen to concentrate on superfluous fluff.
The Pentagon Service Badge.
Can anyone think of anything less impressive and more downright ludicrous? Is there any clearer statement from this latest Polyester Pretender about what he considers important in an officer’s career - Pentagon service?
A cheap piece of enameled tin symbolizing... what? The ability to be a non thinking drone? The capability to nod your head ‘Yes’ at an amazing speed and frequency? This latest absurdity sends a clear, unequivocal message to young officers everywhere. Not to mention our current and future enemies. The American military, especially the Air Force, considers upwardly mobile staff officers more vital than combat officers.
Nice going T. Michael.
This is just the beginning of the article, the full text is at http://www.sftt.org/cgi-bin/csNews/csNews.cgi?database=DefenseWatch%202006.db&command=viewone&op=t&id=93. Among other things, it makes a small point of how USAF personnel are not allowed to distinguish themselves from each other (combat vs. non-combat, operational aircrew vs. MWR officer, etc) lest we look for special treatment - EXCEPT, when it comes to the commander or pentagon service badge or some other officially sanctioned distinction.
Hollow Core Values
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]By Nelson Kane
Integrity First... Service Before Self... Excellence in All We Do...
What happened to Fly and Fight, Fight to Win?
Oh, sorry. That was the Air Force. Not the Air and Space and Information Dominance... whatever Force.
Core Values, ever changing ‘Visions’ and Mission Statements... new uniforms... leadership failures. These are all symptomatic of one thing.
Across the board the United States Air Force lacks a coherent focus. It has no sense of itself regardless of the platitudes mouthed by its... leaders.
Most of them are definitely part of the problem anyway. The victories won in the air since 1991 were won by the flyers. Hard flying and hard working aviators, usually below the rank of lieutenant colonel, who continue to ‘make it happen.’ And they make it happen despite the trite silliness of general officers who promote themselves on their ability to reinvent the wheel and wrap it in new paper.
The emphasis placed in definitions, visions and platitudes only serves to illustrate the utter lack of realistic direction from the top. In simple terms, when you know what you’re doing you don’t need to run around telling everyone. You just do it.
Air Force Chief of Staff
T. Michael ‘Buzz’ Moseley
(af.mil photo)
This is precisely why, in this turbulent, unsettled and downright confusing time, Air Force Chief of Staff T. Michael ‘Buzz’ Moseley is concentrating on something he truly understands.
Changing the Air Force uniform... again.
But lest you believe that’s the only item on his failing, incoherent agenda, T. Michael has also created new badges for Pentagon staff officers to wear. Not knowing what to do with critical issues like morale, over deployment and aging aircraft, he and his Yes People have chosen to concentrate on superfluous fluff.
The Pentagon Service Badge.
Can anyone think of anything less impressive and more downright ludicrous? Is there any clearer statement from this latest Polyester Pretender about what he considers important in an officer’s career - Pentagon service?
A cheap piece of enameled tin symbolizing... what? The ability to be a non thinking drone? The capability to nod your head ‘Yes’ at an amazing speed and frequency? This latest absurdity sends a clear, unequivocal message to young officers everywhere. Not to mention our current and future enemies. The American military, especially the Air Force, considers upwardly mobile staff officers more vital than combat officers.
Nice going T. Michael.
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