Donley Eyed as Wynne Successor

Donley Eyed as Wynne Successor: Breaking wire service reports, including this Reuters article, are announcing from the Pentagon that Defense Secretary Robert Gates likely will name Michael Donley to take over as Air Force Secretary in place of Michael Wynne, who resigned yesterday (see below). The announcement could come later today, Reuters said. Donley, currently director of administration and management within DOD, has nearly three decades of experience in the national security community, including stints on Senate and White House staffs and in the Pentagon. (Click here for his full bio.) He is no stranger to the Air Force, having served for seven months in 1993 as acting secretary between the tenures of Donald Rice and Sheila Widnall. Prior to that, he was USAF’s assistant secretary for financial management/comptroller from 1989 to 1993.

6/6/2008

Verbatim

To Be Clear
“Just like in my business, the issues that go badly get all of the attention. I think, to be clear with you, there are many things that are managed well every day in the Air Force.”
—John Young, Pentagon acquisition executive, speaking to defense reporters on the state of Air Force acquisition, Washington, D.C., Nov. 20, 2008.

Verbatim

F-22 Options
“They have two choices. On January 21st, they can obligate the $90 million and decide there's some chance ... that they will buy the airplanes and they'd rather preserve the option to buy [them] at no additional cost to the taxpayer. Or, they could chose not to obligate the $90 million and accept that they still have a decision to be made between then and March 1st. But that decision may cost the taxpayer more money.”
—DOD acquisition czar John Young on how releasing only $50 million of the $140 million authorized by Congress to keep the F-22 production line active until March 2009 still preserves options for the new Administration, Capitol Hill, Nov. 19, 2008.