10/14/2009 - PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- The commander of the 91st Missile Wing at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., was relieved of command on Oct. 14 due to loss of confidence in his ability to command.
Col. Christopher B. Ayres was removed by Maj. Gen. Roger W. Burg, commander of 20th Air Force. Col. Ayres assumed command in May 2008.
He was not relieved for any alleged misconduct or wrongdoing. Recent incidents during his command, including a vehicle rollover accident involving a Payload Transporter on Aug. 31, 2009, contributed to the loss of confidence.
"We must uphold the highest standards within the nuclear enterprise," said Gen. C. Robert Kehler, commander of Air Force Space Command, who approved of the decision. "We must have complete confidence in our leadership as we continue the revitalization of the nuclear enterprise."
A veteran - whether active duty, retired, national guard, or reserve - is someone who, at one point in his or her life, wrote a blank check made payable to The 'United States of America', for an amount of 'up to and including my life.'
That just sucks that your cmd can be just uprooted from you due to problems that you really couldnt stop from happening. But someone always has to be a scapegoat and take responsibility for others actions.
I remember in the early '60s the 340th Bomb Wing (Whiteman) failed an ORI. Whole bunch of stars came down from Omaha. There was a welcoming committee and a band. BIG mistake, there. Fired the Wing CO and Base CO and worked us like borrowed mules til we passed. Not a good thing to fail an ORI.
Man you got that right !!!!. I was at Hahn Germany in 1988 when they hit us with an ORI, Nuc surity inspection, and Nato TAC eval, all at once ( I still think it was a set up to fire some people. Hahn had a horrible flying safety record, and other things). We failed, USAFE cleaned house and put who they wanted in charge, and worked our arses off until the reeval which we got an outstanding on. It wasn't a good time for us.
It sucks he failed to "inspire" his troops. Individuals screw up all the time, unfortunately those individuals compromise the team, and when it comes to surety, it's a perfection game.
Sh*t doesn't really roll down, it actually siffens. Being a 1C3, I have seen commanders become over critical during inspection times, and by reading this thread; we can all see why. What I mean by siffening sh*t is the higher up you go, the amount of trouble one can get into magnifies.
I guess when it comes to wing leadership, MAJCOMS look at it as failure to supervise the handful of group cmdrs who than can diseminate their will to those below.
Too bad in AFSOC they don't treat it the same. We are more of a "screw up-move up" command. MajGen David Scott was our wing commander with three DUI's and the command chief under him Taco Sanchez had the same record. He couldn't even drive to his own retirement because his driving privelages had been suspended on base. Cream sure didn't rise to the top there.
While I was stationed at Kirtland, the AB wing there failed two NSI's and the wing commander is now a two star at Tinker. She must have a lot of top cover.
Originally posted by caninedale: While I was stationed at Kirtland, the AB wing there failed two NSI's and the wing commander is now a two star at Tinker. She must have a lot of top cover.
Yeah, I know Close, she has connections going back to daddy, her hubby (ret. 0-6) who is an ass and was dangerous on the flightline.
She's now rubbing elbows at HQ AFMC hoping to be the next CC. If she can stab a few backs and kiss a few...she's on her way, maybe...
