Air Force: Gen. misrepresented service stance [View All]

[unhappycamper]

Air Force: Gen. misrepresented service stance
By Robert Burns - The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Feb 15, 2008 22:33:43 EST

In an unusual statement about a senior officer, the Air Force on Friday said Gen. Bruce Carlson had made public comments that “misrepresent” the stance of the Air Force on a key weapon priority.

Carlson was quoted in Thursday’s edition of the trade publication Aerospace Daily as saying the Air Force was “committed to funding 380” of the F-22 Raptor fighter aircraft, even though President Bush’s 2009 budget submitted to Congress last week limited the multiyear buy to 183 planes.

Carlson is commander of Air Force Materiel Command, which is responsible for testing and developing new weapons. The F-22 is the Air Force’s premier fight aircraft but is viewed by some as limited in value as the U.S. military fights a long war against international terrorism rather than against other air forces.

Late Friday afternoon, the Air Force issued a brief statement by Secretary Michael W. Wynne and Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley. Without naming Carlson, it said, “recent comments by a senior Air Force officer misrepresent the position of the Air Force” regarding the F-22.

“The Air Force wholeheartedly supports the president’s budget request for the F-22 program,” it said, adding that the F-22 is “critical for the nation’s defense and the Air Force’s ability to protect America in the 21st century.”


Rest of article at: http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2008/02/ap_carlson_statement_080215/