The Big Switch: Ralston In ...

Air Force Gen. Joseph W. Ralston, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was tapped to become Supreme Allied Commander Europe when that key NATO post comes open next spring.

If the past is a guide, he will at the same time become the commander of the multiservice US European Command.

Defense Secretary William S. Cohen's surprising move, disclosed July 27, would make Ralston the first Air Force officer in 38 years to head a major geographic warfighting command.

The only USAF officer to command NATO and USEUCOM was Gen. Lauris Norstad in 1956-62. [See "Those Who Led Both NATO and USEUCOM," p. 27.] Before him came two Army generals; after him came eight, the most recent being Gen. Wesley K. Clark, who commanded Operation Allied Force this year.

Elsewhere in the world, US Atlantic Command always has been led by Navy admirals, except for one Marine general; US Pacific Command by Navy admirals, with one exception-an eight-day stint by an Army lieutenant general; US Southern Command by Army generals and one Marine general; and US Central Command by either an Army or Marine general.

Ralston became vice chairman in 1996. He will complete his second term in February and had planned to retire. Ralston would have had to do so unless he moved to another post within 60 days. Cohen values Ralston's skills as a military and diplomatic troubleshooter and was eager to retain him.

Officials said that the NATO position-the most prestigious of regional commands-was the only one interesting to Ralston.

Ralston's most recent Air Force assignment was as commander of Air Combat Command, headquartered at Langley AFB, Va.

... And Clark Moves On

Gen. Wesley K. Clark, today's SACEUR, will have to relinquish his post prematurely-and amid much speculation about the reason. His nominal three-year tour at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe was supposed to end in July 2000. However, he was told to vacate the position in April instead.

Some said the step stemmed from the fact that Clark and Cohen did not see eye to eye on the Balkan War strategy, but Pentagon officials said that the timing of Clark's departure was dictated by a desire to move Ralston into the position. Pentagon spokesman Kenneth H. Bacon said: "He's obviously a proven warrior; he's a proven diplomat and a proven politician. He's got great skills in all those areas just as General Clark did."

Bacon said Cohen had recommended to President Clinton that Clark be considered for a high-level ambassadorship.

Clark confirmed on July 28 that he would step down three months early, but he turned aside suggestions that the move was due to actions during the Alliance's 11-week air campaign against Yugoslavia. When a Reuters reporter asked if his leaving was linked to his handling of the Kosovo conflict, Clark said, "Not that I know of."

However, no one disputes the unusual nature of the move. Clark would be the first European commander in decades to be told to retire before completion of a full three years. Six generals in his position have served longer than that.

For First Time, Woman Commands Shuttle

When the shuttle Columbia blasted into orbit July 23, it established at least two NASA firsts. It carried the heaviest payload a shuttle has yet lifted into orbit, the X-ray observatory Chandra. Perhaps more notably, it was also the first shuttle commanded by a woman-Air Force Col. Eileen M. Collins.

"I'm not too concerned that I'm the first woman shuttle commander," Collins said before liftoff. "What's important ... is that we fly a perfect mission. Whether you're commanding as a man or woman really doesn't matter when it comes to getting the mission done."

Female astronauts have come a long way since the Mercury program, when 13 women were picked for astronaut training but never flew into space. Twenty-five percent of NASA astronauts today are women-36 out of 144.

Only Collins is a shuttle commander, however. Two other women are pilots, the next highest astronaut rank.

NASA has now flown 11 consecutive shuttle flights with at least one female crew member, dating back to February 1997.

Columbia ended its mission on July 27. Collins took control of Columbia at about 30,000 feet, executed a 236-degree overhead turn, and landed the spacecraft like an airplane.

USAF Was the Training Ground

Shuttle Commander Collins got her start in 1978 as one of the first women to undergo undergraduate pilot training at Vance AFB, Okla. As a new lieutenant, she was inspired to shoot for a space career after seeing the first female astronaut candidates go through parachute training at Vance.

Collins spent her early Air Force years as an instructor pilot for T-38 trainers and C-141 transports. In Operation Urgent Fury in October 1983, she flew a C-141 with 200 troops of the 82nd Airborne Division into Grenada. She flew out carrying 36 US medical students who had been held captive on the island.

Collins went on to teach mathematics at the Air Force Academy and earn two master's degrees, one in operations research and one in space systems management. She was selected as an astronaut in January 1990 while attending USAF test pilot school at Edwards AFB, Calif.

She has logged more than 5,000 flying hours in 30 different aircraft, including two previous shuttle flights.

In the Air Force, "you need to learn how to work with people and use people to get the mission done effectively," Collins said at a preflight press conference. "I think all of that experience has really helped me with this job here."

Peters Gains Top Air Force Post

The Senate on July 30 confirmed F. Whitten Peters to be the new Secretary of the Air Force.

The confirmation moved up Peters from the post of service undersecretary, the No. 2 civilian job. He had been in that position since November 1997.

During those same 20 months, Peters also functioned as the acting Secretary of the Air Force. The office officially had been vacant since Nov. 1, 1997, when Sheila E. Widnall stepped down to return to academic life.

Peters, a former officer in the US Navy Reserve, is the 19th confirmed Secretary of the Air Force. There have been six acting Secretaries.

USAF Recruiting Falls Short

With the end of the fiscal year in sight, Air Force officials predict that it is likely they will miss their recruiting targets for the first time since 1979.

The goal for Fiscal 1999 (which ends Sept. 30) was to sign up 33,800 new Air Force men and women. As of midsummer, the Air Force Recruiting Service predicted the service would fall short of this number by about 2,500 people.

A major reason for the recruiting problem is that the booming economy has all the military services in a vise. Civilian jobs are luring veterans out of uniform, while keeping potential recruits from joining in the first place.

"There are a lot of other opportunities in today's job market. Competition is tough," Air Force Secretary F. Whitten Peters told recruiters recently. "Hopefully, working the retention side of the problem will help reduce the number of people recruiters need to bring in."

Already Air Force officials are looking to increase their emphasis on getting back prior-service members as a means to help plug recruit holes.

The Enlisted Prior-Service Program has been around for some time but has not been used extensively since the early 1980s, when it was drawing 1,000 to 3,000 former Air Force personnel back into the ranks annually. This year, officials doubled their target for prior-service recruits from 300 to 600. As of midsummer, 424 ex­Air Force men and women had returned to military life.

That number "doesn't seem very high unless one of those airmen is going out to a unit that's working 14 or 15 hours a day because they're one or two people short. Then, it's a lot," said CMSgt. Danny Roby, chief of enlisted accession policy for the Air Force.

Top Recruiting Target: Recruiters

In today's tough environment simply keeping recruiting offices open is tough enough.

Filling, and keeping filled, 1,209 non-prior-service recruiter positions across America is the No. 1 near-term priority for Air Force Recruiting Service, says AFRS commander Brig. Gen. Peter U. Sutton.

Every year, Recruit the Recruiter teams travel to every Air Force installation, looking for top-notch senior airmen through master sergeants. The teams interview applicants and spread the word about the benefits of recruiter service, which include more money and greater control over living location.

"It's generally location, location, location," said CMSgt. James Williams, Recruit the Recruiter team leader, referring to the office location choices new recruiters value.

Pay is an additional $375 per month in special-duty assignment pay and an extra $192 in annual clothing allowance.

"Recruiters are in a unique position," said Williams. "Very often, they are the only Air Force representation in some towns and are generally their own bosses. They manage their own offices, and the level of their success depends greatly on the effort and commitment they put forth."

C-141 Makes Daring Antarctic Drop

On July 16, a C-141 flight crew from McChord AFB, Wash., returned home to a hero's welcome after conducting a daring drop of emergency medical supplies to scientists at the Amundsen­Scott South Pole Station.

The station houses 41 National Science Foundation researchers. The supplies were for one of these scientists, herself a medical doctor responsible for station health, who had detected a lump in her breast.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the arm of the US government which runs the station, withheld the woman's name and further details of her condition out of respect for her privacy.

The Air Force airdrop was conducted in daunting weather conditions. From March through October, during the polar winter, airplanes are unable to land at the NOAA station's small airstrip. Residents of its geodesic dome are marooned.

Temperatures during the mid-July mission were so low that water bottles in the cockpit froze. Outside windchill reached 150 degrees below zero.

To guide the incoming airplane, scientists lit 27 smudge pots in the shape of a large C, marking the drop zone. The C-141 roared in at 700 feet, with crew members pushing out two packages. Four more were dropped in a subsequent pass.

Besides medical supplies, the boxes contained fruits and vegetables and fresh-cut flowers for the endangered woman. One was covered with the entire flight crew's signatures and well wishes.

In an e-mail message posted on NOAA's Internet site, one station scientist wrote: "The aircraft was low enough that I actually saw a person at the side cargo door, arms and legs spread out, braced against each side of the door frame, body silhouetted by light from inside the airplane. He was obviously looking down to us, and we up to him. ... I was choking on the emotion."

MOOTW Draining US Forces, Warns GAO

The numerous peacekeeping and no-fly zone enforcement operations that the US military is now being called on to perform are wearing down key equipment and personnel, according to a new study by the Congressional General Accounting Office.

"There is a greater demand during peacetime for some military assets than the services can meet without degrading the readiness of these assets and causing lost training opportunities and reduced quality of life for personnel in these units," said the study, which was completed before the NATO air campaign against Yugoslavia but only recently released to the public.

USAF airplanes used in Military Operations Other Than War, primarily F-15Cs, F-16s, and A-10s, are running up more flight hours than planned and are encountering unexpected maintenance problems which lower their flight readiness ratings, said GAO.

The study cites the 1st Fighter Wing's deployment to Southwest Asia in December 1997. Deployed F-15Cs accounted for 35 percent of the wing's sorties but 60 percent of its flying hours. The wing was putting about two years' worth of wear on deployed aircraft in about six months, wing officials told GAO.

But more hours do not add up to greater pilot skill. A-10 pilots told GAO that flight restrictions kept them at such high altitudes that they received only limited practice in their two primary missions, close air support and air-to-ground combat. F-16 pilots in Southwest Asia rated their opportunity to train in such key skills as Maverick missile employment to be poor.

C-17 Getting Dual-Row Airdrop Capability

Boeing and Air Force Materiel Command's Aeronautical Systems Center have developed a new, dual-row airdrop capability for the C-17 that increases the aircraft's cargo airdrop capacity by 266 percent.

The change largely relies on hardware already in place on the aircraft, plus a few minor modifications. The C-17 is the only US military aircraft with this capability. The first dual-row model was delivered to the Air Force in April. Among other things, the change will reduce the number of C-17s required by the Army's Strategic Brigade Airdrop, which calls for delivery of 2,400 troops and their support equipment.

"We will have an initial operational capability for the SBA by the fourth quarter of 2000," said Capt. Scott Shuttleworth, C-17 dual-row airdrop program manager.

The dual-row technique takes advantage of the airplane's existing set of rails. The airplane flies at a four-degree nose-high angle, and gravity-not a parachute-pulls cargo out the airplane's back door. A static line activates a drogue parachute, which in turn deploys main recovery parachutes. The method allows airdrop of eight 16-foot platform loads. Each load has a weight limit of 14,500 pounds.

New anchor cables and software for the mission computer were among the tweaks which make dual-row airdropping possible. Fourteen weeks of testing at Edwards AFB demonstrated it would work.

"We mainly worked on developing rigging procedures for the Humvees and Howitzer cannons," said Capt. Don Lytle, who served as the dual-row airdrop program manager during development. "We wanted to make sure we could get them secured and land safely."

Pentagon Plumbs Kosovo Conflict

A panel co-chaired by Deputy Defense Secretary John J. Hamre and the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Joseph W. Ralston, is overseeing the gathering of data for a Pentagon report on the military lessons learned from the Kosovo conflict.

The effort has three primary goals, Hamre told reporters July 8. One is to develop recommendations that will help the US fight better if it has to go to war again. A second is to decide whether anything new needs to be included in the next Pentagon budget, due to Kosovo concerns. The third is to put in place the foundation of knowledge for the next Quadrennial Defense Review.

Three major areas of effort will be to study the deployment and employment of forces, intelligence support for operations, and the results of Alliance and Coalition warfare.

The CINCs and services will all be asked to provide input. Early fall is the target date for a rough draft.

Tricare Dental Expands Overseas

Beginning Oct. 1, military families living anywhere overseas will have the option of obtaining care from host-nation dentists through the Tricare Family Member Dental Plan.

That option has been available to those living in remote military overseas locations since May 1.

"We're identifying host-nation providers and developing the infrastructure necessary to make this program successful in all locations around the world," said Navy Dr. (Capt.) Lawrence McKinley, senior consultant for dentistry at the Tricare Management Activity.

Tricare intends to identify host-nation dentists who speak English and practice dentistry to US quality standards, said McKinley.

"At nonremote locations, care will continue to be available in overseas military dental treatment facilities, whether or not family members are enrolled in the Tricare Family Member Dental Plan," said McKinley.

The overseas extension of the plan will augment existing dental services where military facilities cannot provide the full range of services that Tricare members are used to back in the States.

Family members already enrolled in the dental plan will not have to re-enroll to participate in the plan overseas. Nor will costs increase, according to Tricare officials.

Washout Rate for F-15 Pilot Trainees Doubles

The failure rate for F-15 pilot trainees at the 325th Fighter Wing at Tyndall AFB, Fla., has more than doubled in the past year. The situation has reached the point where commanding officers are becoming concerned.

The failure rate is now 12 percent. Through mid-July, 10 pilots had washed out this year, compared to four in all of last year. Eighty-four F-15 pilots are expected to graduate in 1999, seven fewer than in 1998.

There is no link between the failures, say officials. Pilots are washing out for the same reasons they always have.

News Notes

• On July 17, the B-2 stealth bomber celebrated the 10th anniversary of its first flight. Stealth AV-1 took to the skies July 17, 1989, at 6:38 a.m. at Palmdale, Calif. It flew two hours with landing gear down to Edwards AFB, Calif.
• On July 14, the Air Force announced that it has no plans to rename the first four enlisted ranks. Air Education and Training Command recommended the renaming earlier this year in an effort to free up the term "airman" for more general use, in the same way that "soldiers" and "sailors" refer generically to members of the Army and Navy.
• US Atlantic Command dedicated its new Joint Experimentation Directorate facility at Suffolk, Va., on July 16. The center will help define how joint forces will meet future challenges and maintain current superiority.
• Lt. Col. Frank Leurquin, 25th Flying Training Squadron instructor pilot at Vance AFB, Okla., reached 6,000 hours of flying in the T-38 Talon early in July. He is the first pilot to reach this experience level in the trainer used to instruct future fighter pilots.
• Pacific Air Forces served as the executive agent for a recent US Pacific Command humanitarian assistance planning mission to Russia's Primorskiy Kray region near Vladivostok. The five-part medical program will include testing for lead in the region's kindergarten schools, the donation of excess medical equipment, and the exchange of ideas for dealing with natural disasters.
• A 12-man team, led by the 819th RED HORSE Squadron, Malmstrom AFB, Mont., drilled the deepest well ever dug by Air Force engineers this summer while deployed to Bolivia on a humanitarian exercise. The shaft cuts through 1,049 feet of rock, sand, and clay and provides water to Bolivia's remote southeastern Chaco region.
• An F-16C from the 523rd Fighter Squadron, Cannon AFB, N.M., crashed eight miles northwest of Hobbs, N.M., on July 12. Capt. Jason Marshall ejected and returned to the base uninjured.
• The March 30 crash of a USAF U-2S from the 5th Reconnaissance Squadron at Osan AB, South Korea, was caused by failure in an actuator cylinder, which led to loss of hydraulic pressure to the landing gear system, according to a just-released accident investigation board report. When the aircraft landed, the main gear collapsed and the aircraft skidded 1,500 feet down the runway.
• Capt. John Bean, a C-130 pilot assigned to the 39th Airlift Squadron, Dyess AFB, Texas, was awarded the 1998 Daedalian Exceptional Pilot award at the Order of Daedalians national convention June 5. Bean won the honor for bringing his Hercules safely home during a night training exercise despite damaged landing gear.
• TSgt. James Morrison II of the 16th Airlift Squadron, Charleston AFB, S.C., received the 1999 Pitsenbarger Award from the Air Force Sergeants Association. Morrison was credited with decisive reaction when a phosphorous signal flare ignited in the interior of an airborne and troop-filled C-141B.
• The recipient of the 1998 Koren Kolligian Jr. Trophy, awarded to an Air Force crew member who exhibits extraordinary skill in averting an accident, is Reserve Capt. Mark S. Barker, 459th Airlift Wing, Andrews AFB, Md. Barker landed a 300,000-pound C-141 loaded with 100,000 pounds of fuel in a 20-knot crosswind without nose-wheel steering or anti-skid brakes.
• Capt. Leif E. Eckholm of the 2nd Air Refueling Squadron, McGuire AFB, N.J., has won Air Mobility Command's 1998 Gen. P.K. Carlton Award for Valor. Eckholm was cited for exhibiting courage, dedication, and superb airmanship while supporting Navy operations during Operation Desert Fox.
• The V-22 Osprey flew with an all­Air Force crew for the first time June 25. The crew ferried the tilt-rotor craft from Marine Corps Air Facility Quantico, Va., to NAS Patuxent River, Md.
• The smoking rate of US military members dropped from 32 percent in 1995 to 30 percent in 1998, according to a recently released Pentagon survey. That's not as low as DoD health officials would like. "Almost two-thirds of our smokers say they'd like to quit, but many of them have tried and been unsuccessful. We need to do a better job of helping them," said John F. Mazzuchi, deputy assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, clinical and program policy.
• In mid-June, Eielson AFB, Alaska, housed and fed hundreds of Army families who were forced by raging wild fires to flee Ft. Greely, Alaska. The biggest challenge was pets, not people: An e-mail plea for pet carriers or backyards to contain evacuated dogs and cats led to more than 150 responses.
• The first sergeant for the 347th Operations Support Squadron at Moody AFB, Ga., was recently selected as the recipient of the 1999 Air Force First Sergeant of the Year award. SMSgt. Anthony L. Bishop is being recognized for leadership and professionalism demonstrated during his former assignment with the 18th Civil Engineer Group at Kadena AB, Japan.
• On July 9, Air Mobility Command announced the winners of the 1998 Gen. Robert "Dutch" Huyser awards for excellence. Winners were pilot Capt. William C. Summers, 37th Airlift Squadron, Ramstein AB, Germany; navigator Capt. Martin G. Oliver, 4th AS, McChord AFB, Wash.; flight engineer SSgt. Christopher E. Heppel, 21st AS, Travis AFB, Calif.; loadmaster SSgt. Thomas B. Mazzone, 3rd Aerial Port Squadron, Pope AFB, N.C.; and boom operator SSgt. Shannon B. Clark, 54th Air Refueling Squadron, Altus AFB, Okla.

Obituaries

Donald D. Engen, 75, director of the National Air and Space Museum, died in a motorized glider accident in Nevada July 13. He was a retired Navy vice admiral, a pilot for 57 years, a naval aviator in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam, and former head of the Federal Aviation Administration.

Engen had been director of the museum since 1996. His predecessor was driven from office after Congress blocked an attempt by museum curators to use the Enola Gay, the B-29 bomber that dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, as a prop in a politically distorted exhibit that would have depicted Japan as the victim rather than the aggressor in World War II.

Engen restored stability to the museum, an element of the Smithsonian Institution, and took it back to its basic charter, which is to collect, preserve, and display the nation's aerospace heritage. Much of his considerable energy went into a project leading toward a major museum annex at Dulles IAP in Virginia. Many historic airplanes now in storage, including the Enola Gay, will be on permanent display there.

Engen's deputy and friend, Donald S. Lopez, was named acting director of the museum until a new permanent director is chosen.

Charles "Pete" Conrad, former Apollo astronaut and the third man to walk on the moon, was killed in a motorcycle accident July 8 near the town of Ojai, Calif.

He lost control of his Harley-Davidson on a curve and was thrown onto the pavement, said California highway authorities. He was 69.

A veteran of four spaceflights, Conrad's shining moment was when he commanded the second lunar landing, Apollo 12, on Nov. 19, 1969. He said, "Whoopee!" when his feet touched the moon's surface. He later commanded the Skylab 2 mission, which was forced to repair launch damage to the space station in three harrowing space walks.

Federal Agents Seize CAP Records