Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - No promotions until I get my planes

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...2003Jun12.html

Quote:

WASHINGTON - Idaho Sen. Larry Craig cleared the way for the Senate to approve the promotions of 127 Air Force captains and majors, but will continue to stall promotions of higher-ranking officers in a showdown over planes for the Air National Guard in his state.

Relenting to requests from the White House, Craig's staff processed paperwork releasing the 127 nominees Wednesday night and they were scheduled for a Senate vote Thursday, said Will Hart, a spokesman for the Idaho Republican.

"Senator Craig is still reserving his right on the rest of these holds until we are able to come to a conclusion," Hart said.

Hart said holds remain in place on 85 colonels and generals, including Maj. Gen. John W. Rosa Jr., who was picked to lead the Air Force Academy, which has been marred by a rape scandal in recent months.

Some Senate officials have put the number of officers' nominations on hold at nearly 400.

Senate rules allow any senator to delay action indefinitely on a nomination sent by the president for Senate confirmation.

Craig put the holds on the Air Force promotions nearly three weeks ago and vowed to stall them until the Air Force honors a commitment to add four C-130 transport planes to complete a squadron at Gowen Air National Guard Base in Boise.

Craig said he had worked in the past several years to secure $40 million in construction at the air base in anticipation of the planes being relocated. The additional planes would bolster the Boise air field's standing in the coming round of military base closures scheduled for 2005.

Craig met with Air Force Secretary James G. Roche and White House representatives who acted as arbiters in the dispute, but no resolution was reached and there have been no meetings since, Hart said. There have been staff-level discussions.

White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer has made it clear that the president wants the nominations to proceed.

"That's in part why the senator released the lower ranks of this field grade list in deference to the White House position, but they are working with us, so that is a positive," Hart said.

Rosa was expected to be in place at the Air Force Academy earlier this month to help reform the military academy after allegations that the previous leadership was dismissive of cadets' reports of sexual assaults.

The senator also has delayed the confirmation of Gen. Robert Foglesong, selected to head the U.S. Air Forces in Europe; and Lt. Gen. T. Michael Moseley, who commanded allied air forces during the Iraq war and would replace Foglesong as Air Force vice chief of staff.

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Sen. Larry Craig: http://craig.senate.gov

U.S. Air Force: http://www.af.mil

I heard on the news earlier this week that the number of promorions being suspended prior to the approval of the 127 was somewhere around 920.

So, a Senator decides to hold up promotions because he doesn't have 4 C-130's. Has he woken up and realized that there's still a war going on? The flight from Boise to The Gulf takes 18.5 hours. Maybe we should put the planes there so that they'll be a big help to our military. It just wouldn't make sense to put them in, oh, let's say, one of our bases in Poland where we can fly supplies and troops from Europe to help out in The Gulf in only 4 hours, would it?

This guy needs to get his priorities straight. Our military men and women don't get paid nearly as much as they should, and he won't let them get the promotions and raises that they deserve? They're the ones protecting us from getting nuked and gassed. I say we give him one plane, and tie him to the propeller whhile it flies him back to his home state.

Am I overreacting, or will you join me in writing to him and telling him that this is unacceptable?