Replacements recommended for sacked Air Force officials

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Defense Secretary Robert Gates recommended new leaders Monday to replace the top Air Force brass he sacked last week, the Pentagon said.

The defense secretary also announced he will halt planned cuts in the size of the Air Force.

Gates proposed that President Bush nominate Michael Donley and Gen. Norton Schwartz as secretary of the Air Force and chief of staff, respectively, the two top positions in the service, the Pentagon said in a statement.

The defense chief fired Michael Wynne and Gen. Michael Moseley on Thursday after a critical report into the mistaken transport of nuclear-tipped missiles and other missile components.

Donley, director of administration and management for the Defense Department, will be acting Air Force secretary until confirmed. Schwartz, head of the Transportation Command, had planned to retire. He is said to be highly respected inside the military.

The announcements come as Gates embarks on a two-day tour of Air Force bases in the United States to reassure airmen of his support for the service after last week's firings.

During his first stop at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, Gates noted that the Air Force has "its own fallen heroes -- often struck down while serving on the ground alongside soldiers and Marines. We know this, and are working to ease the burden. For example, I intend immediately to stop further reductions in Air Force personnel."

The Air Force had announced a five-year plan to draw down Air Force personnel by about 40,000, to 316,000, in 2005.

Wynne and Moseley were dismissed after two cases of the mishandling of nuclear equipment. An investigation found the Air Force failed to take the matter as seriously as it should, according to the Pentagon.

"Both Gen. Moseley and Secretary Wynne have always contributed valuable advice, and been willing to set aside policy differences in pursuit of the president's and my agenda," Gates said. "I enjoyed working with both of them, and I will certainly miss them."

In August, a B-52 bomber flew from North Dakota to Louisiana with the crew unaware that six nuclear-tipped missiles were on board. In 2006, components that arm and fuse nuclear warheads were mistakenly shipped to Taiwan, Gates said.

"Our policy is clear: We will ensure the complete physical control of nuclear weapons, and we will properly handle their associated components at all times," Gates said at Langley Air Force Base. "It is a tremendous responsibility -- one we must not and will never take lightly."

He added that "there is simply no room for error in this mission. Nor is there, unfortunately, any room for second chances -- especially when serious questions about the safety and security of our nuclear arsenal have been raised in the minds of the American public and in the international community."

Critics also cite last month's news that the Air Force's 5th Bomb Wing failed a defense "nuclear surety" inspection despite having months to prepare and being under close scrutiny. The inspection found deficiencies in the wing's ability to protect its part of the nation's nuclear stockpile.

Gates said the report "depicts a pattern of poor performance" in which Air Force brass didn't act to improve security after past mishaps and Air Force personnel handling nuclear weapons consistently failed to follow existing rules.

Air Force leaders "not only fell short in terms of specific acts, they failed to recognize systemic problems, to address those problems or, when beyond their authority to act, to call the attention of superiors to those problems," Gates said.

A six-week investigation into the mistaken North Dakota-to-Louisiana flight uncovered a "lackadaisical" attention to detail in day-to-day operations at the air bases involved, an Air Force official said in October.

CNN's Jamie McIntyre and Laurie Ure contributed to this report.

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