Senator praises Air Force secretary

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  • By Master Sgt. Scott Elliott
  • Air Force Print News
WASHINGTON --  A leading member of Congress praised Secretary of the Air Force Dr. James G. Roche on the floor of the U.S. Senate on Nov. 19, just days after the secretary announced his resignation.

Sen. James Inhofe paid tribute Secretary Roche’s service, specifically pointing to his efforts at revitalizing maintenance depots and supporting the warfighter in post-Sept. 11 operations.

Secretary Roche announced Nov. 17 that he will step down from his position as 20th secretary of the Air Force on Jan. 20. He has been service’s senior executive since June 1, 2001.

“I remember … his first trip was to go with me to Tinker Air Force Base, Okla.,” said the senator who is from the state. “After visiting the base, he returned to Washington … and immediately put in place a plan to revitalize the depots using the existing Air Force budget. This is something that previous administrations had never accomplished.”

Secretary Roche’s keen interest in depot maintenance brought about processes that led to decreased failure rates, enhanced readiness standards and decreased overall costs, Senator Inhofe said.

In fiscal 2003 alone, Air Mobility Command officials reported a decrease of 37.6 percent in the time its aircraft were grounded for maintenance, surpassing its goal by 922,000 hours. Additionally, Senator Inhofe said, mission-incapable part incidents decreased by 23.4 percent, bettering that goal by 4,400 incidents.

“It goes on and on. His record is there,” he said.

Secretary Roche came to the Air Force after holding several executive positions with Northrop Grumman Corp., including corporate vice president and president.

“(Secretary Roche) has done a magnificent job at applying his business practices in making our scarce dollars in the military go a lot further,” Senator Inhofe said. “I was very impressed with his focus on depots, but his ability to guide the Air Force through the troubled waters after 9-11 (was) equally impressive.”

The secretary was lauded for his leadership in restructuring the force and focusing training to support several new missions. These include homeland defense, renewing the commitment to close air support, partnering with other services in joint operations, and championing space support to warfighters.

“He accelerated the delivery to the battlefield of armed (MQ/RQ-1) Predator (unmanned aerial vehicles) and Global Hawks, bombers in support of close-air support, … networked intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and advanced combined air operations center capabilities,” Senator Inhofe said.

The senator also called weapon-system modernization as a hallmark of Secretary Roche’s tenure.

“I remember, back in the late 1990s, after we downsized and downgraded and had done away with a lot of modernization programs … (Air Force Chief of Staff) Gen. (John P.) Jumper had the courage to stand before (the Senate Armed Services Committee) and admit we were going to have to do something … about the Joint Strike Fighter, because the Russians were making the SU series that were better than our best strike vehicles,” Senator Inhofe said. “This is the type of courage that came forth during Secretary Roche’s administration.

“He has tirelessly pressed new ideas,” Senator Inhofe said.

Sometimes, though, innovative ideas can lead to adversity -- as with the Boeing tanker lease.

“The investigation into the tanker lease continues,” Senator Inhofe said, “and it will continue until all individuals who acted inappropriately are held accountable. That is appropriate.

“However,” he said, “we must move forward on recapitalizing our tanker fleet, fighting the war on terrorism and getting back to the business of supporting the warfighters, specifically, moving forward on confirmations of senior military leaders so our troops in the field have the leadership they deserve.

“I thank Secretary Roche for the very fine contributions he made to the U.S. Air Force and the United States of America.”