Journey

by Norty Schwartz

  The sad thing is if you ever go to Dover, it is the most dignified place you’ve ever been to. Those remains have names the minute they get on that plane. There’s a locker for each one of them and the people who are preparing for their arrival use their name. They are meticulous. Every uniform is correct and perfect because that uniform is going to lie in that casket. This is the most moving piece of this individual’s journey for those families because when that plane opens up and those cases are revealed, it is the moment that that family knows that it’s real. Their knees will buckle and they will fall to the ground if someone’s not there holding them. Many of them are absolutely wailing and sobbing, as Americans do. They are beside themselves. The people inside the mortuary are so respectful and every transfer is incredibly stressful for them.

  The way the story unfolded was just a devastating, debilitating thing to go through, and Norty was in a no-win situation. If there was any “winner,” it would have to have been ESPN, because that was the beginning of my watching Mike & Mike on ESPN every morning instead of the news. From that day on, I could never look at any newspaper, I could never watch any broadcast news report and I could never surf any news-related websites. It was just too painful.

  FORCE SIZE

  In an era of fewer resources being appropriated for defense, a smaller, more focused Air Force is the only rational approach. But getting there is easier said than done, and my attempts at working through this turned into a bloodbath.

  The main issue is that if the Air Force gets smaller, which of our three components gets smaller and by how much? Is it the active duty that gets smaller, or is it the reserves? And if both get smaller, who gets smaller than the other? And what about the National Guard? Then there’s the raging debate about costs. And availability. Can you depend on a reserve unit on very little notice? And how about the Guard’s responsibility to their respective states? We ended up with at least three conflicting camps that were questioning each other’s motivations, more if you throw in Congress and the governors.

  This is all highly contested and highly controversial, and the goal needs to be to have these discussions without it becoming profoundly divisive. I failed at this, and instead, we beat each other up. It took place on my watch and I feel largely responsible for it. It was bad for the Air Force and we ended up with a black eye on Capitol Hill. So much for my belief that we should be one Air Force. The reality is that that’s not the way it is and I don’t believe it ever will be that way.

  AIR FORCE STANDARDS

  It’s been called “one of the capstone acts of my thirty-nine-year career,” and it just might be the most lasting contribution of my tenure. It’s a single paragraph on page nineteen of a tiny blue booklet I had written and distributed to over 600,000 airmen just before I retired; every member of the Air Force would receive their own personal copy. The paragraph is entitled “Government Neutrality Regarding Religion” and it’s still being debated today:

  Leaders at all levels must balance constitutional protections for an individual’s free exercise of religion or other personal beliefs and the constitutional prohibition against governmental establishment of religion. For example, they must avoid the actual or apparent use of their position to promote their personal religious beliefs to their subordinates or to extend preferential treatment for any religion. Commanders or supervisors who engage in such behavior may cause members to doubt their impartiality and objectivity. The potential result is a degradation of the unit’s morale, good order, and discipline. Airmen, especially commanders and supervisors, must ensure that in exercising their right of religious free expression, they do not degrade morale, good order, and discipline in the Air Force or degrade the trust and confidence that the public has in the United States Air Force.

  When it was published, it prompted a barrage of accusations against the Air Force, and against me personally. But I see it very differently. This is not about limiting people’s capacity to believe or practice whatever faith they want to practice. This is about reinforcing the notion that commanders cannot suggest or even give the impression that they’re making choices based on what their subordinates believe.

  In May of 2014—almost two years after I distributed the booklet—Virginia Congressman Randy Forbes was still on the warpath to somehow void this instruction. He wrote to General Mark Welsh asking him to revise the language. Forbes also called on Mark to revoke a memo I distributed to commanders in September 2011. The memo merely reminded those leaders that they must avoid even the appearance of using their position to proselytize.

  This is the same Forbes who confronted me about this in the middle of my testimony before the House Armed Services Committee—a hearing that was on an entirely different subject. Later on he had a member of his staff relay to me what I call a non-apology apology. “The congressman did not want things to unfold that way,” I was told. But to me, it was the substance we should have been focusing on, not the forum in which it played out. Both my memo to the commanders and the passage in the “blue book” were bona fide efforts to fulfill my obligation to be a secular commander of the armed forces, and I would argue that that’s a requirement for effective leadership in the diverse American armed forces.

  Command of America’s sons and daughters requires impartiality and inclusiveness.

  I asked my spokesman, Sam Highley, to issue the following response:

  We have seen instances where well-meaning commanders and senior noncommissioned officers appeared to advance a particular religious view among their subordinates, calling into question their impartiality and objectivity. We can learn from these instances.

  Air Force Instruction 1-1, 7 August 2012, Air Force Standards

  Congressman Todd Akin (R-Missouri), along with Congressman Diane Black and Congressman Randy Forbes, sent a letter signed by sixty-six members of Congress urging Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta to investigate a pattern of hostility toward faith in the United States Air Force.

  REFLECTIONS

  There are so many reasons why I love this country, and why we decided early on to dedicate our lives to her service. You’ve heard me vent about those times when I was challenged on the Hill or in the press room by inquisitors who, at the time, I may have felt pushed harder than was appropriate—demanding answers to questions that were accusatory rather than exploratory. But much more frequently, you’ve heard about the honor I’ve felt at every juncture along the way—learning from leaders who set high standards and demanded that they be met or, even better, exceeded. They took me under their wings and asked nothing in return beyond the satisfaction of rejoicing in my success. When Wide World of Sports talks about the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat, it often seems like they’re encapsulating how the past thirty-nine years have felt to me.

  Throughout it all there remained an unwavering constant—that’s the awe I felt for the brilliance of our founding fathers, battling among themselves to forge a document so powerful and enduring, it lives and breathes today. Within that document they entrenched a phenomenon that was totally unique at the time: the peaceful transfer of power.

  The concept of this peaceful transition is something every American military leader experiences from his or her first squadron (or company) change of command and then all the way up the ladder. Effective leaders exult in their successor’s triumphs, and do everything in their power to enable it.

  The first time I walked down the Pentagon’s Arnold Corridor as Chief, my mind was flooded with a plethora of bold new concepts I was excited to institute—substantive ideas that would remedy some glitches I’d experienced along the way, and others that would bolster our capabilities in ways we’d never imagined.

  In the last few weeks before I turned over the reins to my worthy successor, I was proud of what we had accomplished, yet disappointed at the times we missed the mark. Even worse, I was astonished by how many of those bold new concepts were still floating around in my mind because I allowed the day-to-day demands of the job to
snatch priceless hours that could have been used for these more strategic endeavors. If I only knew then what I knew now, I told myself. But in life there are no do-overs, and the best I could do was to share those insights with Mark Welsh.

  I sat down at my computer and drafted a no-holds-barred document—a completely candid analysis of those areas where I could have done better. Then I went back to that list and offered tangible recommendations on how he might learn from my experiences.

  In my thirty-nine years of service, I’ve had the honor of assuming many commands—from venerated leaders whom I hold in the highest regard. Yet not once had any of them provided me with a document like the one I was about to give Mark.

  I leaned back in my chair and reviewed what I had written: a six-page analysis for the incoming Chief. Then I put myself in his position. Would he view this as an inability on my part to let go and let him run the show? I went back and added one more paragraph:

  I realize that your reaction to much of this will be: if you felt this way, why didn’t you do something about it? It’s a fair point and I hope what I’ve offered here might help you avoid some regrets with the things I know I should have addressed, and I regret I simply didn’t.

  Here are the key issues I presented to Mark, in the hopes they would highlight areas where greater awareness might serve him well early in his tenure—followed by a copy of the complete memo.

  Acquisition: The structure of the Headquarters Air Staff with SAF/AQ under the secretary does not lend itself to him getting the fidelity of information needed to monitor and provide oversight for Air Force acquisition programs. We experienced several major problems despite our focus on this area.

  Recommendations: Acquisition oversight cannot be outsourced to AQ or AFMC or ACC—it remains an area virtually guaranteed to generate major problems.

  Nuclear Enterprise: The nuclear enterprise, for all its recovery, remains fragile and constantly hovers on the edge of scandal and atrophy. It must be subjected not only to brisk inspection and accountability, but also to senior leader intervention in the budget process to maintain its credibility and viability.

  Recommendations: I strongly urged him to retain the Nuclear Oversight Board, but refresh its energy, and to keep the A-10 close—it’s easy to lose that relationship in the day-to-day workings of the staff because the A-10 is a two-star. Visit nuclear bases early and often.

  Strategy: When I came to this office, I was not as comfortable as I needed to be with strategic issues or the future security environment. I found myself struggling in the Tank, sometimes failing to weigh in on strategic issues in the presence of experienced, seemingly better prepared Joint Chiefs. I found it very difficult to cultivate an ethos among the four-stars that we as a collective body are the Air Force’s strategic leaders.

  Recommendations: I recommended that he set aside one CORONA (the senior Air Force leadership conference) as the primary strategy anchor for the year, and then address institutional strategy at every CORONA, both in open and executive session. The leadership must be personally involved in the formulation and presentation of options and perspectives, and should be challenged to make real decisions.

  USAFA: The Air Force Academy proved to be a source of significant problems that did not see many solutions on my watch. We had a difficult time with the senior leadership.

  Recommendations: I suggested that he reiterate the contents of the March letter to the Superintendent, tell the current leader that he expected him (or her) to deliver on the requests in the letter, and ask for better communication with Mark and the secretary during the remainder of his tenure.

  Institutional Innovation: The day-to-day exigencies of the job can be overwhelming, leaving little time or energy to deal with more abstract issues like strategy or innovation. I regret not attending more to cultivation of a general sense of innovation in the Air Force and hoped he could give some attention to its reinvigoration. If you provide the problems, [airmen] will produce solutions.

  Recommendations: If he leads the charge in laying out the problems he wants to see fixed, airmen will solve them, and he and other senior leaders can incentivize those solutions by how he highlights them in speeches, appearances and recognition.

  CORONA: I started out and remain critical of CORONA. CORONA briefings are either not sufficiently actionable or have inadequate information for senior decision.

  • CORONA briefing ROE. Briefings should be limited to either true decision briefings or executive education briefings. Decision briefings should present genuinely different and difficult options.

  • CORONA scheduling. Every CORONA should involve some very senior government official speaking to the group—it’s a highly leveraged moment that should be exploited to the fullest. Every CORONA should have an institutional strategy discussion with data.

  Chapter Seven

  I DON’T CARE ABOUT YOUR GODDAMN AIRPLANES

  While Suzie is a vital part of everything I do, her contributions to our Air Force and to our country are so extraordinary—this book would be grossly incomplete without a chapter dedicated to her unique accomplishments, told by her from her perspective. She is the staunchest, most passionate and supportive advocate for airmen and their families above all others.

  Here are a few samples, in her own words:

  If there’s one word I would use to describe myself it would be passionate. I have nowhere near the calmness that Norty has. While he carefully considers the pros and cons before giving his opinion, I speak first and think later—sometimes way later. People who are quiet often don’t know what to make of me. I think I scare some of them, really, but that’s never been my intention. It’s worked for me over time because people have learned that’s who I am, and since I always speak my mind, they will always know exactly where I stand in open and honest terms. It’s part of what makes the two of us such a great team. For most of Norty’s career I was fortunate to follow a spouse who did little, which played to my advantage because whatever I did was better than doing nothing.

  Our personalities couldn’t be any more different, and I truly believe that’s been one of our strengths. He was always perceived as a strong and decisive leader, but particularly in the early years I don’t believe he was viewed as the most energetic, outgoing, or vocal individual. His nature was to sit at the computer instead of getting out with the team. Over the years, I would almost beat him over the head with a stick trying to get him to get out of his office. “Have you walked the halls today?” I would ask, because he had his routine and getting out to interact with people was not within his comfort zone. I’ve always felt that a leader needs to do more than just stay on task and push paper across the desk. People respond to enthusiasm, and that word was not a part of his vocabulary in the early days. I used to tell him that the Army ate him up and spit him out: “Honey, the Army does not respect the quiet, professional Air Force officer. Kick some ass in there!”

  Don’t get me wrong: He was always highly regarded intellectually and his competency was never questioned, it’s just that fostering personal human connections was not his forte. He’s as happy as a clam to be sitting in a corner by himself, while more than thirty seconds of that would drive me crazy. So we balance each other out and function as the perfect team.

  AIR CONDITIONERS

  I was very active when Nort was wing commander at Hurlburt, and I ran every day. I’d begin at our house, then round the corner and continue up a little street that had a mix of both enlisted and young junior officers. They’d be walking their dogs and picking up their newspapers, so I’d stop and chat; eventually I got to know a lot of families. One young spouse I had befriended had seemed a bit dejected—no surprise since she was trying to raise her three little ones (all under five) completely by herself while her husband was deployed overseas.

  I had just been given a gift certificate for a free haircut, color, and highlight, and I had a feeling this would be just the ticket to cheer her up. When I rang her doorbell, she lit up an
d invited me in. It felt like I had walked into a blast furnace. “Honey, why is it so hot in here?” I asked. “It’s always like this now,” she explained. “Ever since they put in the new air conditioner units last month, it only blows hot air. They came out to check it but said there was nothing they could do.”

  My blood started to boil (as if it weren’t already boiling from the heat in there). I had a pretty good idea about what had been done and I wasn’t going to stand for it. I got right in my car (of course without either thinking it through or giving myself time to calm down) and raced directly to the civil engineering squadron commander’s building, screeching to a stop in the loading zone beside the front door. Racing through the maze of cubicles, I flew past his secretary and walked right in to his office. “Hi ma’am. What can I do for you? Would you like to take a seat?” he said. “No, I don’t want to have a seat but I think you might want to.” I could almost see a big white “thought bubble” appear over his head—the kind you see in comics: “Now what’s her #%*@ problem?” it read.

  I told him the story. “Either you guys put in some totally inadequate new ‘energy efficient’ system or it’s just plain junk. Either way, this is Florida in the summer and she’s got a baby crying nonstop because it’s so damn hot in there.” He listened intently and promised to take care of it, which he did beginning that very afternoon. They discovered that the entire section of thirty homes had been given air conditioner units intended for much smaller homes—they were useless. But he replaced them all.

  Norty has always encouraged me to do whatever I think is right, as long as it was never for us. And it was Nort who suggested I start at the top. “Don’t start with the master sergeant because you put the squadron commander in a bad situation. You go directly to him and give him every opportunity to succeed—to do the right thing because he wants to.” As the years went on, “starting at the top” entailed higher starting points. By the time Nort became Chief of Staff, I’d be calling the three-stars on the Air Staff. They’d always take my calls, but I’m sure when they hung up they would roll their eyes, just like the squadron commander must have done when I barged into his office.