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While Secretary Gates cited the nuke goofs and the fuses being sent to Taiwan as the primary reason for the firings of both the Air Force Chief of Staff and the Secretary of the AF - that was really just the easiest way to justify it.

People who have been following events lately know there are other, deeper reasons for this.

- The AF leadership pursued an almost myopic view towards modernization, to wit - they wanted more F-22 fighters, and they wanted them badly. In fact, the Air Force has been cutting to the bone (including throwing thousands out of the service involuntarily) to help pay for the F-22. Gates protested, and told leaders the F-22 had "no role in the current war on terror."

My old boss, Gen Carlson, said in February the AF intended to purchase even more of them (despite was the SECDEF and White House had said). Gates called it "borderline insubordination."

- Last month, Gates publicly chastised the Air Force as not doing enough for the WOT, and specifically his request to get more UAVs was "like pulling teeth." The very same day he publicly spanked the Air Force, Gates went to the US Army military academy at West Point and broke down in tears thanking the Army. The signal was lost on AF leaders.

- The AF has been telling Congress the real threats were China and Russia in the future, because this strategy gave them leverage to purchase new and expensive weapons. Gates was furious, and told them to fight the 2 wars on hand we have now.

In short, the F-22 (and to a lesser extent the F-36) caused tunnel vision for the Air Force. The E-ring at the Air Force section of the Pentagon is run by the fighter guys. They could not see the forest for the trees, and now they are paying a price.

The nuke and fuse scandal did contribute to this, but there were many other factors at play.

Other than increase in UAVs, which the Army and Air Force split, what can the Air Force do more of? I would assume they are doing a good job providing close in air support and transport. What does Gates want? The Air Force does need new planes really bad and this is a great time for them to be upgrading with no major air war to fight. Does SecDef expect them to wait until they need the F-22s and F-35s to all of the sudden order them?

The Air Force "leadership" probably should've been replaced after control of the nukes was lost last year, BUT

Gates seems to be ignoring the fact that the current Air Force aircraft are 1970s vintage - or older. F-15s have been disintegrating in mid-air, so there aren't many options. The russians and Red Chinese are building up their military and pose a very serious threat. Sophisticated weapons systems aren't produced overnight. Gates is being very short-sighted in his approach.