Let's ALL Get Behind Former Army Sergeant and Two Time Purple Heart Recipient Chuck Hagel to Be the Next Secretary of Defense!

Those questioning Former Army Sergeant Chuck Hagel’s credentials to serve as Secretary of Defense should ponder Shakespeare’s famous St. Crispin's Day Speech delivered by Henry V before the Battle of Agincourt to see if there might be a subconscious reason for their bias.

From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered,
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.
For he today that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition.
And gentlemen in England now abed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's Day.

Question:  What do Florida Senator Marco Rubio, Bill Kristol (Weekly Standard), Texas Senator John Cornyn, Bret Stevens (Wall Street Journal), Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey, New Hampshire Senator Kelly Ayotte, and Abe Foxman (Director, Anti-Defamation League) all have in common other than trashing former Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel in an effort to derail his potential nomination as Secretary of Defense?

Answer: unlike Chuck Hagel, none of them have ever donned a uniform let alone shed a drop of blood or even a bead of sweat, in defense of this nation!

Sergeant Hagel was leading troops in combat as a 9th Infantry Division Infantry Squad Leader in Vietnam (67-68) and earning the Combat Infantryman Badge, two Purple Hearts, the Army Commendation Medal and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry among other decorations, before many of his critics were even born although some like Foxman, Kristol and several others were certainly of an age where they were eligible to serve with Sergeant Hagel if they had had the guts.

There are still enough metal shards from a Viet Cong mine embedded in Hagel’s chest that he sets off metal detectors in airports and the scars on the left side of his face from another mine explosion a month later can scare young children.  His younger brother Tom was assigned to his squad and the first time Chuck was struck by shrapnel it was his brother Tom that stopped the bleeding and saved his life. During that second mine attack a month later, the roles were reversed and Chuck rescued Tom who was knocked unconscious in the explosion. Seems heroism runs in his family and his father was even a WWII Vet.  Once confirmed, Chuck Hagel will be the first Secretary of Defense with a Purple Heart since Elliot L. Richardson during the Nixon administration.

“Stopping a war is a hell of a lot harder than starting it, and Chuck understands that,” said Bob Kerrey, another former Nebraska senator and Vietnam Medal of Honor recipient. “Sometimes it provokes cries from the right that he’s soft. But it’s just that he’s experienced it, and it animates him.”  Hagel once told a Library of Congress Veterans History Project interviewer in 2002: “thinking to myself, you know, if I ever get out of all of this, I am going to do everything I can to assure that war is the last resort that we, a nation, a people, calls upon to settle a dispute. The horror of it, the pain of it, the suffering of it. People just don’t understand it unless they’ve been through it.”

An independent thinker, Hagel was often uncomfortable at Republican caucus meetings especially when Vice President Dick Cheney attended, as Cheney would give “him the hairy eyeball” but hostility from the White House or party leadership never muted Hagel as his Vietnam experience gave him the boldness to speak independently.  It’s hard to intimidate a combat veteran by threatening to withdraw a committee assignment.  About the only way a Draft Dodger like Cheney could have hurt Hagel was to give him a paper cut while handing him the meeting agenda!

Another example of Hagel’s independence is President Reagan appointed him deputy Veterans Administration administrator in 1982, but he resigned over a disagreement with his boss, VA Administrator Robert P. Nimmo.  He opposed Nimmo cutting the funding for VA programs and his referring to veterans groups as "greedy," and to Agent Orange as not much worse than a "little teenage acne."

Among his defenders and supporters, most of whom are also former military and often combat vets, is IN Senator (and former Navy Lieutenant) Richard G. Lugar, a foreign policy mentor to Hagel who is leaving the Senate.  Lugar calls Hagel “an excellent candidate” and predicts “most senators who served with Chuck would be favorable to his nomination.”

Two top former Republican defense officials also support Hagel.  Former Bush 43 Deputy Secretary of State (and 3 tour Vietnam Vet and former Navy Lieutenant Commander) Richard Armitage, says of Hegal “I happen to know the guy. He’s not owned by anybody, he happens to think for himself, and this apparently causes some fear in some cases. He’s got an unerring bullshit sensor, he’s got real stones, and he doesn’t mind telling you what his opinion is, which will stand him in very good stead in the Pentagon if the president nominates him.”

Retired Air Force Lieutenant General Brent Scowcroft, a former Ford and Bush 41 National Security Adviser calls Hagel “one of the most well-respected and thoughtful voices on both foreign and domestic policy. At an uncertain time in America – with a significant debt burden, a polarized Congress, and a host of challenges facing the international community, I am confident Senator Hagel will provide a vibrant, no-nonsense voice of logic and leadership to the United States.”

Even Washington Post liberal columnist Dana Milbank defended Hagel in his 18 December column calling Hagel’s pro-Israel legislative record one which reflects “an infantry sergeant who isn’t opposed to war (he voted for the conflicts in the Balkans, Afghanistan and Iraq) but knows the grim costs of going to war without a plan… indicative of a decorated military man who, unlike some of his neocon critics, knows that military action doesn’t solve everything.”

Nobody can ever predict how well a Defense Secretary nominee will perform, case in point Les Aspin, or if Hagel will be a good manager during this pivotal time in Pentagon history. With the US Afghanistan combat role ending and budgets shrinking, refereeing the infighting among the services for resources is going to require all the finesse of an NFL Official.  Hagel brings some obvious strengths to the job.  As a Republican and genuine military hero, he provides the “street cred” for executing the Afghanistan withdrawal that only a combat veteran can bring and the withdrawal will succeed only if our military leaves an Afghanistan that can hold together.

Hagel’s military record is surely one big plus.  Rhode Island Senator (and former Army Major) Jack Reed says of Hagel “He’s a guy who knows how to talk to the troops and has walked in their boots. He’s blunt, direct and impatient with pettifogging. In these traits, he’s similar to the current secretary, Leon Panetta, and his predecessor, Bob Gates. And like both of them, Hagel has a temper.”

Hagel will handle the tough, no-nonsense-boss part of the job with no problem but he’s more blunt than nuanced and nobody ever called him a defense intellectual so it remains to be seen how he is at steering Pentagon procurement decisions in this age of technology and officiating as the Joint Chiefs mud wrestle over budgets.  Fortunately, to help him Hagel will have as the Deputy Secretary Ashton Carter who has a wealth of experience at Defense including having served as the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (USD AT&L), the official responsible for procurement decisions.  Hagel will have no problem saying NO to the Chiefs and their logrolling allies on Capitol Hill and with Carter as his Deputy and chief operating officer to help, I’m confident he’ll skillfully manage the complex spending and strategy decisions.

The most formidable obstacle to his getting the job, that I’m comfortable he’ll successfully negotiate, is the array of neoconservative journalists who are ganging up against him and trying to smear him as an anti-Semite despite his votes for the Iran Nonproliferation Act, the Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act and the Iran Missile Proliferation Sanctions Act. He even co-sponsored resolutions opposing any unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state and praising Israel’s efforts “in the face of terrorism, hostility and belligerence by many of her neighbors.” He also co-sponsored legislation urging the international community “to avoid contact with and refrain from supporting the terrorist organization Hamas until it agrees to recognize Israel, renounce violence, disarm and accept prior agreements.”

The Right-wing neocon columnist arrayed against him include the likes of the Wall Street Journal’s Bret Stephens and the Weekly Standard’s Bill Kristol and they all have that one thing in common I previously mentioned, unlike Chuck Hagel, none of these chicken hawks have ever donned a uniform let alone shed any blood or even sweat, in defense of this nation! 

As an old infantry sergeant with two Purple Hearts, Hagel isn’t afraid or opposed to war (he voted for the Balkans, Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts) but he also knows the horrors of it so would only resort to war as the last and unavoidable option, unlike his Chicken Hawk neocon critics who “hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks that fought with us upon Saint Crispin's Day.”

Seems Redskins Quarterback Robert Griffin III Isn’t “Black Enough” to Suite Some!

Criticism of Robert Griffin III (RGIII) not being “Black enough” by clowns like ESPN’s Rob Parker (ESPN suspends Rob Parker) is just further proof of how disconnected most Americans have gotten from their Military since the Draft ended following Vietnam. Without any understand of Military culture, people have no clue about RGIII’s life experience.  RGIII grew up a Military Brat (a term of endearment) of a Senior Army NCO having been born at Lester Military Hospital on Okinawa, Japan and growing up on various Army posts including Fort Lewis (WA) and finally Fort Hood (TX) where his family finally settled down in Copperas Cove, the “Post Town” supporting what is the Army’s largest post.

Growing up a Military Brat myself, when I was drafted into the Army I considered it just a PCS to another base.  Remaining in the Army 30 years, my kids had the same life experience I did, including going into the service while I was still on active duty so I have some knowledge of this subject.

In the Military culture, it’s your Dad's Rank NOT Race that interests other kids.  As a Senior NCO’s kid growing up in the Military culture, I suspect RGIII rarely experience a race problem – when his father retired after 22 years of service, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was even Black!  Army Brats ALL speak the same using Military Slang, NOT street slang.  Another example of this “Military colorblindness” phenomenon is Tiger Woods who is also often criticized as not being “Black enough.”  Tiger’s father was an Army Lieutenant Colonel.

My point, the US Military has long been a meritocracy on the forefront of equal rights so those who criticize RGIII’s “Lack of Blackness” are simply ignorant of the essence of Military culture and RGIII’s life experience.

What Should Be the Military Legal Disposition of GEN David Petraeus’ UCMJ Adultery Violation?

As more is revealed about the GEN David Petraeus resignation from the CIA over an adulterous relationship, it is very probable that the General, while still on active duty, engaged in adultery with a female married Army Reservist in clear violation of Article 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Article 134 makes criminal the act of adultery when certain legal criteria, known as “elements,” have all been met. There are three distinct elements to the crime of adultery under the UCMJ: first, a Soldier must have had sexual intercourse with someone; second, the Soldier or their sexual partner was married to someone else at the time; and third, that under the circumstances, the conduct of the Soldier was to the prejudice of good order and discipline in the armed forces or was of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces.

GEN Petraeus has already admitted to the first two elements of the crime and violation of the third, that his violation brought discredit to the armed forces and especially the Officer Corps, is obvious. The first thing every young officer learns is he or she is “always on parade.” That is their conduct is always being watched and the higher one rises, the more this is true. By the time an officer reaches field grade (major), they are constantly under scrutiny and every transgression sets a new standard of conduct, higher or lower, for their subordinates. So what should GEN Petraeus’ “reward” be for his violation of Military law?

To answer this question, it might be instructive to review what happened to the last highly decorated Army 4-Star General that had an “inappropriate relationship” that some might loosely describe as an “extramarital affair” although this General had been separated from his wife for over a year at the time, was in the process of finalizing a divorce, the lady was an unmarried civilian and he had made no attempt to hid the relationship. He was relieved of his command, demoted to 3-Star Lieutenant General and unceremoniously retired from the Army.

He was GEN Kevin P. Byrnes, at the time the Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) Commanding General, and on 8 Aug 2005, he was relieved of his command for his relationship with an unmarried civilian with no connection to either the military or even the federal government. The General had been separated from his wife since May 2004 and coincidentally their divorce was finalized on the same day he was relieved of his command – 8 Aug 2005.

The General was a popular and highly regarded leader credited with ushering in systemic changes in Army doctrine and training. A decorated Vietnam War veteran, he had commanded the 1st Cavalry Division and the multinational troops in Bosnia, and had been the Director of the Army Staff. He was set to retire that November after 36 years of unblemished service beginning when he was 19 years old so his punishment was “light” and he was allowed to retire at the reduced rank of Lieutenant General or 3-Star rank.

Now let’s contrast that with GEN Petraeus’ behavior (or “Peaches” as she calls him) with Army Reserve Lieutenant Colonel Paula Broadwell. She first met “Peaches” Petraeus in 2006 when she was a Harvard Grad Student and not sure when the affair started but it’s clear she began spending an inordinate amount of time with him by the time he was the CENTCOM Commander in 2009. When he became the ISAF Commander she managed to visit him six times in Afghanistan spending a total of three months with him. She characterized it as being embedded with “Peaches” there but it sound more like “Peaches” was “embedded” in her. Her “cozy” relationship with the General became awkward for his staff who could not understand how he could possibly select a totally unqualified “writer” with absolute no qualifications to write his biography.

GEN “Peaches” Petraeus has been married for 38 years and has two grown children; his son is also a West Point Grad and serving Army Officer. The general is fond of introducing his wife in glowing terms and preaching ethics and morality to his subordinates with his favorite saying being: “Character is doing the right thing when nobody is watching.” Broadwell is a forty year old married woman who lives in the upscale Dilworth neighborhood of Charlotte, NC, with her radiologist husband and two young boys. Like “Peaches” and his son, she is a West Point Grad.

Now Broadwell is a bit of a “nut case” which is how the FBI first learned of the affair which resulted in Director of National Intelligence Lieutenant General (Ret) James R. Clapper Jr. directing GEN “Peaches” that he immediately tender his resignation, turn in his badge, and never return to CIA Headquarters at Langley again!  It is encouraging to see at least this general officer had the moral courage to do the "right" thing although it appears GEN Petraeus was prepared to dishonorably maintain his deception as long as he could get away with it.

What triggered the FBI involvement was it seems Broadwell had gotten access to GEN “Peaches” Gmail account and learned of another woman who might have gotten a bit too close to her “Peaches.” Broadwell began sending her threatening e-mails and the other woman became so frightened by Broadwell’s menacing messages that she went to the FBI for protection and to help tracking down the sender. The FBI investigation traced the threats to Broadwell and the rest is History. The other women receiving the threatening e-mails has been identified as 37 year old Jill Kelley and her "story" is worthy of a whole another chapter is this sordid saga.

What is clear here is that GEN Byrnes’ transgression pails in comparison to that of GEN “Peaches” Petraeus. Byrnes was in an open relationship with an unmarried civilian and he was a stellar officer who was legally separated from his wife at the time and in the process of getting a divorce – but he was nevertheless wrong and he was appropriately punished for his violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

So what should be the punishment for a General that carried on a long adulterous relationship with a female married Army reserve officer and it only comes to light through an FBI investigation? Also, it should be noted that GEN “Peaches” Petraeus did not just “volunteer” to resign because he realized “what he did was wrong” but rather Director of National Intelligence Clapper, himself a retired Air Force Lieutenant General, TOLD him he had to go! To be consistent, the “Byrnes precedent” sets the standard for how to be consistent in punishing GEN Petraeus for his UCMJ violation. Congress should immediately act to re-confirm the General on the Retired List in the reduced rank of three-star Lieutenant General.

While we’re at it, let’s not forget Army Reserve Lieutenant Colonel Paula Broadwell. Not only did she commit adultery but this “nut case” had classified documents on her private computer yet still carries a DOD Top Secret/SCI Clearance, although suspended, because of her Reserve duties. Regardless what else happens to her, her TS/SCI Clearance should be immediately revoked! Also, do we really need to retain in service a reserve lieutenant colonel so unstable as to be sending threatening E-Mails sufficiently menacing as to warrant an FBI investigation? Even though the Justice Department may choose not to prosecute, Broadwell should be immediately cashiered out of my United States Army!

Obama Tells Another Whopper on Univision – Tried to Blame Bush for Fast and Furious! Then Pays Off Univision for NOT Challenging Him on the Lie by Appointing Univision Owner’s Wife U.S. Representative to the UN

Obama Scores Three Pinocchio from the Washington Post for lying at Spanish language TV Interview "I think it’s important for us to understand that the Fast and Furious program … begun under the previous administration… . the people who did initiate this were held accountable.” 
— President Obama during Univision interview, 20 Sep 2012

On Thursday/20 September President Obama appeared on the Spanish-language television network Univision and host Jorge Ramos asked Obama if U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder should be fired over Fast and Furious – his administration’s “gun-walking” operation that allowed firearms to be transferred to Mexican arms traffickers and two of those guns were used to kill US Border Patrol agent Brian Terry. In typical Obama fashion Obama responded with the bold faced lie that the previous administration initiated Fast and Furious and that Holder shut the program down after he found out about it and even worse, in typical fawning press fashion, Ramos didn’t call him out on his lie. Seems there is also a Spanish version of the “Lame-Stream Press” and both are too busy attacking everything Romney says to bother to check any of Obama’s utterances, no matter how false, outlandish, ridiculous or improbable.

Then a few days after the interview when it was revealed Obama had appointed Cheryl Saban, wife of Univision owner Haim Saban, U.S. Representative to the United Nations everything became clear. The “Fix was in” before the interview even started so it should have been billed a campaign rally and not a news interview. (See: Obama-Appoins-Univision-Wife) It’s obvious Obama must not respect Latino viewers because he must believe they are so naive as to believe anything he says, no matter how improbable as evidenced by the fact he also told them during this same interview that the 11 September attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens, diplomat Sean Smith and two former Navy SEALs was an outgrowth of the Middle East demonstrations over that American-made Internet video insulting the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He made this ridiculous statement despite the fact Jay Carney, his White House Press Secretary, had already announced earlier in the day during his daily press corps briefing that it was a well planned and coordinated sophisticated terrorist operation and by that time even Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was calling it a "terrorist attack."

The fact that the attack was carried out by heavily armed extremists using military-style tactics and that they had also steered Americans toward a waiting ambush as they were being rescued would alert anyone with even a passing knowledge of military tactics that this was not a spontaneous demonstration. The Terrorists attacked with heavy weapons including RPGs and broke off into teams to block certain roads away from the compound as the Americans moved to an annex to await relief. Once there, that building came under coordinate mortar fire with projectiles landing directly on the roof of the annex indicating a sophisticated battlefield strategy by experienced fighters with a well-developed assault plan.

But back to Fast and Furious. Last week following his 19-month investigation, the U.S. Justice Department's own Inspector General released his 471-page report and he reported that on 26 October 2009, a teleconference was held at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. with Deputy Attorney General David W. Ogden, Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer, ATF Director Kenneth E. Melson, DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Robert Mueller and the top federal prosecutors in the Southwestern border states where they cooked up this hare brained scheme and Operation Fast and Furious began on October 31, 2009 – some nine (9) months into Obama’s term of office.

In his report, the IG recommended 14 employees, including Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, for discipline in connection with this botched "Operation Fast and Furious" so how did Holder hold his deputy “accountable?” He gave him a complete pass and said he would take no action. Now that’s real “discipline and accountability” and it thoroughly outraged the slain agent’s family.

The Washington Post Pinocchio Test – What did the Washington Post Fact Checker find:

Obama was not telling the truth and “the Fast and Furious program,” unquestionably started during his term as president.

That the operation was DEFINITELY not “begun under the previous administration” and Obama was probably trying to wash his hands of any accountability for a program that was obviously launched on his watch and that allowed 2,000 powerful firearms to end up on U.S. and Mexican streets.

The Post said “we can’t let politicians get away with this sort of egregious factual mistake.” The Fact Checker also noted that this had become an Obama pattern and he had earlier tried to shirk his responsibility for politically hot failures in the past including saying his administration wasn’t at fault for the $535 million federal loan that went to the now-bankrupt solar-panel manufacturer Solyndra when in fact, it was ALL his fault.

The Post awarded Obama THREE PINOCCHIOS for his Fast and Furious lies and noted his factual error that the previous administration was responsible for gun walking and Operation Fast and Furious was Absolutely a LIE! But don’t take my word for it; if you want to see EXACTLY what the Factchecker said, either blow up and read the below graphic or read the actually article at this link: Obama_Tells_Another_Whoppe_on_Univision

The Government Released the August 2012 Jobs Report this Morning (7 Sep); Here's the Old Colonel’s Good News - Bad News Analysis

How do you cure the common cold? Turn it into pneumonia! How does Obama lower unemployment? Shift people from the labor force to unemployment and welfare!

This morning the Government released the August Employment Numbers and here’s my analysis of them:

The Good News: Unemployment fell to 8.1% this week.

The Bad News: Unemployment fell because 368,000 people gave up looking for work so are no longer searching for jobs; the unemployment rate only counts those seeking work. At this rate, the Unemployment Rate and the Labor Force Participation Rate would converge at ZERO if there were to be an Obama second term.

More Bad News: 41,000 fewer jobs were created in July and June than first estimated so the economy has added a paltry 139,000 jobs a month since the beginning of the year, well below the 153,000 2011 average.

More Bad News: The proportion of the population working or looking for work fell to 63.5 percent; the lowest level in 31 years for the Labor Force Participation Rate.

More Bad News: Hourly pay fell, manufacturers cut the most jobs in two years and the number of people in the work force dropped to its lowest level in 31 years.

More Bad News: Average hourly wages dropped a penny.

More Bad News: The average work week in July and August has fallen to just 34.4 hours and the number of temporary jobs fell for the first time in 5 months.

More Bad News: Many of the jobs were in lower-paying industries such as retail, which added 6,100 jobs, and hotels, restaurants and other leisure industries, which gained 34,000. Higher-paying manufacturing jobs fell by 15,000, the most in two years.

More GOOD News: If we can hold on until 20 January 2013, Help is on the way in the form of a Romney-Ryan pro-growth, business friendly Administration.

For a full discussion of Obama's Job performance, check out my earlier old-soldier-colonel.blogspot article: How do you cure the common cold? Turn it into pneumonia! How does Obama lower unemployment? Shift people from the labor force to unemployment and welfare!

When There Is NO Bad News to Report at a Republican Campaign Rally – NBC News Manufactures Some!

I Wouldn't Believe Lester Holt or Anyone on NBC News Under Oath!

On the 17 August 2012 NBC News, Lester Holt led off with coverage of Republican Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan’s appearance at West Springfield (VA) High School and featured a short outburst by a lone heckler. Problem is, the heckler was obviously a NBC News Plant or at least it was prearranged with them or they NEVER could have caught it on camera. I was standing less than 15 feet from that one lone heckler (singular) who let out a 3 second outburst that was inaudible to me at that close range and then he was escorted out of the building. Unless NBC already had their camera and gun mike trained on him, by the time NBC reacted to turn their camera, the event would have been long over. This is shameful but their distorted reporting of the event is in keeping with NBC’s bias coverage.

In the entire 2 hour rally, that 3 second outburst was the ONLY disruption. What they should have reported about was the overflowing racially mixed crowd he was able to attract on one day’s notice and how enthusiastically he was received. This snippet of their newscast reminded me why I don’t get my news from NBC. I like to get facts not agenda!

It appears that when there is nothing derogatory to report at a Republican event, NBC just has to create (or even invent) something. they can't help themselves! If the wild fires out West begin to subside, I wouldn’t put it past NBC to begin lighting fires to keep the story going.

Drones – UAVs – RPVs: The Argument for Why They are the Future of Military Aviation and Who Should be Flying Them!

Is it time to reestablish the “nothing can stop” the Army Air Corps?

For an elaborate explanation why it’s only a matter of time before Military combat pilots are obsolete, you can check out my previous Blog article: “How Long Will It Be Before Air Force & Navy Cockpit Pilots Are Obsolete?” below but here is the Readers’ Digest version:

Drones will be “the inevitable future of Military aviation” as technology will eventually render most human piloted Military aircraft obsolete, not because of the obvious concerns for the safety of the pilot or the morality of killing with drones but because the limiting factor on manned aircraft performance is how much abuse the human body can endure. We know the limits of the human body but as aircraft technology continues to leap forward, we are going to reach a point where the aircraft will be able to “out perform” the pilot so the only way to take full advantage of the aircraft’s performance will be to remove the “limiting factor” – the pilot – from the cockpit. A drone can simply turn sharper and accelerate quicker than the human body can tolerate so an adversary’s drone will be able to defeat any piloted aircraft we field. And this doesn’t even consider a computer’s faster reflexes than a human to react to situations. In aerial combat, split seconds matter.

In July 2011, the U.S. Navy even got closer to routinely flying combat drones off carriers when an F/A-18 Hornet landed itself performing dozens of arrested landings without any input from the pilot onto the deck of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) using flight control software designed for the Northrop-Grumman-built Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstrator or UCAS-D.

Also, a good argument can be made that all man-piloted airframes will eventually become obsolete. Since December 2011 the US Marines have been operating the K-MAX unmanned aerial cargo haulers in Afghanistan and the aircraft has met all expectations with less than one maintenance man-hour per flight hour. The K-MAX has proven its value as a reliable cargo resupply aircraft and a lifesaving asset that eliminates the need for manned ground convoys so reducing warfighter exposure to improvised explosive devices. The Lockheed Martin and Kaman Aerospace-built K-MAX drone was designed to perform autonomous or remote-controlled cargo delivery in harsh environments and its features include a high-altitude, heavy-lift K-1200 airframe, as well as mission management and control systems to enable autonomous flight over long distances. The K-MAX has been so successful in validating its ability to deliver more than 6,000lb of cargo a day at sea level and more than 4,000lb at 10,000ft altitude that the US Army is now interested in adopting them.

Hence, it’s just a matter of time before even the “morality” arguments becomes moot as ALL combat aircraft become Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) as, unless we keep up with technology, our piloted combat planes will eventually be out performed and defeated by our adversaries’ drones. The value of the other uses for Remotely Piloted Vehicles (RPV) is obvious. Sorry, you can’t stop progress so it’s only a matter of time -- and I know this scares the Heck out of all Military pilots, especially Navy and Air Force Jet Jocks -- but your days are numbered! Sorry!

But the other purpose of this entry is to question why the Air Force is WASTING precious resources piloting UAVs with officers and especially highly paid Senior Officers (Colonels & Lieutenant Colonels), most drawing Flight Pay and retention bonuses, when the Army has proven that low ranking enlisted soldiers are just as capable of flying them.

Air Force leaders have argued that comparisons between its programs and the Army’s are misleading because enlisted soldiers fly smaller UAVs that don’t carry the same weapons load as Air Force Reapers and Predators but that argument has lost weight as enlisted soldiers are now flying the Sky Warrior — a UAV that is a foot longer and can carry 325 pounds more than the MQ-1 Predator. Sky Warriors armed with four Hellfire missiles were deployed into combat beginning last summer and the Army’s UAV Division team chief said “the debate over whether a UAV pilot should have a commission is moot as long as that pilot receives the right training….When you look at this and say, ‘Shouldn’t an officer be doing this?’ then that’s implying that officers are smarter than enlisted folks when in fact it’s just the difference of the training.”

The Army starts training its enlisted MOS 15W UAV pilots straight out of basic training. The pilots spend the first nine weeks in a common core UAV training before moving to training specific to the platform they will fly. Hunter and Shadow (small platform) training is 12 weeks and Sky Warrior training is 25 weeks. As of October 2011, the Army had trained 3,200 UAV enlisted operators.

Previously, Air Force Predator and Reaper pilots spend two to three months learning to fly UAVs at Creech Air Force Base, NV, however, these Air Force Officers had already been through years of pilot training and spent hundreds of hours flying manned aircraft.

In recognition of the inevitability of UAV warfare, last year the Air Force trained more drone pilots than the total number of conventional bomber and fighter pilots combined and in the last decade, the Air Force has pulled more than 250 manned fighters off the flight line and plans to retire 123 more next year. During that time, the Air Force drone fleet ballooned from 39 Predators, Reapers and Global Hawks to 280. Counting Army drones and those of other services, the tally of unmanned military aircraft is more than 7,000. Air Force Chief of Staff General Norton Schwartz recently acknowledge that: “Ultimately, it is conceivable that the majority of aviators in our Air Force will be remotely piloted aircraft operators.”

For a comparison, here is what the effective pay (basic pay + Allowances + Tax Benefits) would be for a typical married Army Specialist (E-4) with over two (2) years of service flying a Sky Warrior from Nellis AFB, NV versus what the Air Force effective pay would be for a typical married Captain Pilot with 4 years of service and a Lieutenant Colonel with 18 years of service flying the smaller Predator sitting beside that Soldier at Nellis:

Army Specialist E-4 with 2 yrs Svc
Effective Pay = ~$41,500

Air Force Captain Pilot (O-3) with 4 yrs Svc
$85,000
+Flight Pay = $206/mo
Effective Pay = ~$87,500/yr*

Air Force Lieutenant Colobel (O-5) with 18 yrs Svc
$130,000
+Flight Pay = $840/mo
Effective Pay = ~$140,000/yr*

* The Air force Pilots would likely also qualify for an additional $25,000/yr Aviation Continuation Pay for each year they continue in service beyond their obligated term.

As a young Army officer in Vietnam, I remember well what happened when the Army (under the 1966 Johnson-McConnell agreement) relinquished the fixed wing C-7 Caribous, mostly flying in Vietnam, to the US Air Force in exchange for an end to restrictions on Army rotary wing operations. On 1 January 1967, the 17th, 57th, 61st, 92nd, 134th, and 135th Aviation Companies of the U.S. Army were inactivated and their aircraft transferred respectively to the newly-activated 537th, 535th, 536th, 459th, 457th, and 458th Troop Carrier Squadrons of the USAF. On 1 August 1967 the "troop carrier" designations were changed to "tactical airlift.”

The untold story here was when the Army was flying the C-7s, each Army Aviation Company of 24 Caribous was commanded by a Major with a captain leading each platoon of 8 aircraft and a few lieutenants but mostly warrant officers piloting the planes. When the Air Force took over, each Major was replaced by a Lieutenant Colonel Squadron Commander and each Captain platoon leader was replaced by an Air Force Major Flight Leader. The Warrant Officer pilots were all replace by AF commissioned officers although several Army Warrants accepted AF Direct Commissions to keep flying them. Bottom line was, it cost the AF at least 25% more in salaries to fly the same planes doing the same missions as the Army was flying!

Hence, there is an historical precedent for the Air Force “high price” approach to every mission. Never spend a dollar when you can spend two to accomplish the same thing! Maybe it’s time to disestablish the Air Force and turn their mission back over to the Army Air Corps!