This US Senator Has Blocked 300 Military Promotions

Sen. Tommy Tuberville  

CNN: Tuberville says he will keep blocking military promotions despite Israel’s war  

Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who has held up military promotions for nine months, slammed a proposal being floated to change the chamber’s rules to allow a vote on many of the nominations en masse and attacked the White House and Senate Democrats for not negotiating with him. 

“It’s typical of this place. This administration would rather burn the Senate down and that’s what would happen. … If you change the rules of the Senate then it lasts forever,” Tuberville told CNN’s Manu Raju. “So they would rather burn down the Senate than negotiate.”  

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Update #1: 'They would rather burn down the Senate': Tuberville lashes out at White House as he defends military holds (USA Today)

Update #2: Tuberville: White House would rather ‘burn the Senate down’ than negotiate on military holds (The Hill)  

WNU Editor: The US Senate has a plan to circumvent Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville's military holds .... Senators prep proposal to go around Tuberville's holds (Politico).

The Pentagon Wants To Hire Civilians For Military Leadership Positions

The Pentagon, headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, taken from an airplane in January 2008. Wikipedia

Military Times: The Pentagon's controversial plan to hire military leaders off the street

Defense Secretary Ash Carter wants to open the door for more “lateral entry” into the military's upper ranks, clearing the way for lifelong civilians with vital skills and strong résumés to enter the officer corps as high as the O-6 paygrade.

The idea is controversial, to say the very least. For many in the rank-and-file military, it seems absurd, a bewildering cultural change that threatens to upend many assumptions about military life and traditional career paths. But while it's not universally embraced, there is interest in Congress and among some of the military's uniformed leaders — even, they say, in exploring how the services could apply this concept to the enlisted force.

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WNU Editor: If implemented .... it will completely change the culture of the U.S. military as we know it.

Reforming The Pentagon's Promotion System Is Causing A Deep Rift Among Senior Military Leaders

The Pentagon, headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, taken from an airplane in January 2008. Wikipedia

Military Times: Inside the Pentagon personnel feud that's roiled the military's most senior leaders

Internal Pentagon drama is strangling Defense Secretary Ash Carter’s signature initiative to make the military’s promotion system function more like a Fortune 500 company, leaving the controversial reform effort unlikely to succeed during the Obama administration's final months.

The Defense Department's most senior military and civilian leaders have spent months debating a detailed plan to rewrite the policy governing how military officers are promoted, part of a slate of reforms known as “Force of the Future.” The idea is to end the “up-or-out” rules that force mid-career officers to leave the military if they fail to be promoted along rigid timelines, providing flexibility to pursue non-traditional career tracks or focus on developing technical expertise. But now the effort has stalled amid acrimony, finger pointing and disagreements.

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WNU Editor: The current top Generals came up through the existing promotion system .... so their mindset is understandable .... why change it. But we are living in a different world today .... case in point .... this would have been impossible to even contemplate 20 years ago, but today it is treated as a serious issue that needs to be resolved .... Disagreements slow Pentagon’s plan to allow transgender service members (Washington Post).

Yup .... this is not your grandfather's military.

Are UAV Operators Equal To Pilots?

Airman 1st Class Caleb Force assists 1st Lt. Jorden Smith, a MQ-1B Predator pilot, in locating simulated targets during a training mission conducted inside the simulators at Creech Air Force Base, Nev. Force is a MQ-1B Predator sensor operator. Enlisted sensor operators are now eligible for incentive pays. Senior Airman Nadine Y. Barclay / Air Force

Who Are The Real Pilots -- Strategy Page

January 17, 2013: In the U.S. the politicians (Congress) are pressuring the U.S. Air Force to give officers who operate UAVs as many promotions as those who fly manned aircraft. Until recently, only pilots of manned aircraft could, for a few years at a time, serve as UAV operators. But this limited the number of UAV operators the air force could train and saw experienced ones leaving after three years. So now the air force allows non-pilot officers to serve as UAV operators. At the same time the air force is under a lot of pressure (from better civilian job offers for pilots) to give out as many promotions as it can to its pilots of manned aircraft.

Congress limits the number of officers of each rank the air force can have at any one time. The organization chart allows for more jobs for higher ranking officers than Congress allows, which means there is always competition for promotion, even though you may be in a job that calls for someone of higher rank. The UAV operators believe they are being shortchanged and have now got Congress on their side. While the UAV operators don’t actually go into the air, they, arguably, suffer more stress because they spend more time in “contact” (even if remotely) with the enemy. Moreover, flying combat aircraft has become so safe that pilots are in more danger driving to and from the airbase than they are once aloft in a warplane. The UAV operators consider their ground based work more useful than the pilots in the air and want a fair share of the promotions. The air force leadership is dominated by pilots (of manned aircraft) so there is some friction over this issue.

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My Comment: I can foresee the day when we may have another service added to the U.S. military. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines .... and Robots .... with the Robot service probably doing most of the combat.

Should A Navy Officer Be Denied A Promotion Because Of His Actions 25 Years Ago?

Photo: Capt. Timothy W. Dorsey

Senate Balks At Promotion For Navy Officer Who Shot Down Air Force Jet -- Washington Times

A Senate committee has refused to approve a promotion to admiral for a Navy officer who, as a young fighter pilot during a training mission, deliberately shot down an Air Force plane whose flier has suffered a life of pain from his forced ejection.

The Senate Armed Service Committee took no confirmation vote on the nomination of Capt. Timothy W. Dorsey as the 112th Congress ended.

Because the Senate did not act, the nomination goes back to the White House. The Navy has the option of trying to resubmit his nomination during the 113th Congress, which convened Thursday.

The Washington Times first reported in February that President Obama had submitted Capt. Dorsey to the Senate despite the officer’s misdeed as an F-14 Tomcat pilot 25 years ago during an exercise over the Mediterranean Sea.

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My Comment: What he did 25 years ago was/is inexcusable and should have ended his career in the military .... but I suspect that there is more to this story than what is being reported.

Update: If true, this is not good.

Why Are U.S. Drone Pilots Not Being Promoted?

Airman 1st Class Caleb Force assists 1st Lt. Jorden Smith, a MQ-1B Predator pilot, in locating simulated targets during a training mission conducted inside the simulators at Creech Air Force Base, Nev. Force is a MQ-1B Predator sensor operator. Enlisted sensor operators are now eligible for incentive pays. Senior Airman Nadine Y. Barclay / Air Force

Congress Questions Low UAV Pilot Promotion Rates -- Defense Tech

Congress wants Air Force leaders to figure out why unmanned pilots don’t get promoted as often their fighter, bomber and cargo counterparts, according to an Air Force Times report.

Lawmakers inserted into the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act a mandate to receive answers in 180 days from Air Force leader.

Air Force Times reported that the past five promotion cycles have shown that unmanned pilots have lagged behind other pilots in three of those five promotion cycles.

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Update: AF told to study rate of UAV pilots’ promotions -- Air Force Times

My Comment: It looks like a drone pilot complained .... and considering how important and vital the U.S. drone program has become in implementing U.S. national security strategies .... important people are listening.

Does This Navy Promotion Make Sense?

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta testifies on the Defense Department's budget proposal before the House Appropriations defense subcommittee in Washington, D.C., Feb. 16, 2012, as Robert F. Hale, undersecretary of defense (comptroller), looks on. DOD photo by D. Myles Cullen

Admiral Nominee Rose Through Ranks Despite ‘Illogical Act’ -- Washington Times

When Lt. j.g. Timothy W. Dorsey fired his fighter jet’s missile at an Air Force reconnaissance plane, nearly killing its two aviators and destroying the aircraft during a training exercise, it was hard to imagine then how his Navy career would wind up 25 years later.

The official investigation into the 1987 shoot-down said the F-14 pilot’s decision “raises substantial doubt as to his capacity for good, sound judgment.” The Navy banned him from flying its aircraft.

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta this month announced to the Senate several nominations for promotion to admiral.

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My Comment: I know America is the land of second chances .... but .... does this make sense?