By Bob Kjar
President AFA Houston, San Jacinto Chapter AF233

The signatures of great leaders are defined by their acts of greatness. No greater strength defines a leader than to fail because of the principles they believe in and are willing to die for. Such is the case with Secretary Wynne and General Moseley. Our history is replete with heroes who have “fallen on their swords” for principles they believe in. Witness U. S. Grant who had the scorn of an elite military establishment, yet would not bend and hung in to be rescued by a president that believed in him and he proved that president right. Witness General Billy Mitchell, who sacrificed it all for a principle and was proven to be right, Witness Hap Arnold, Jimmy Doolittle and Curtis E. LeMay who stood for principles of modern warfare that no mortal man could diminish or dismiss. Our modern heroes, Wynne and Moseley have stood up to a defense establishment bent on relegating our aerospace power to a secondary role in the belief that wars are now sectional battles that need only an Army and Navy .to succeed. That defense establishment has used every means to destroy or diminish the Air Force as a major arm in war deterrence. The Minot to Barksdale missile incident, the nose cone transfer to Nationalist China incident over which the Air Force had no control. These are all indications of a defense establishment bent on destroying our major threat deterrence in favor of a battle field strategy. It is flat wrong and Secretary Wynne and General Moseley are right to stand up and “fall on their swords” to prove it. I am sure that history will prove them correct in their judgment.

Bob Kjar
bob@kjar.org