McPeak only got the job when Dugan got sideways with Cheney's war PR machine.

The CSAF made some informal comments to CNN in his office about how quickly and easily we were going to obtain air superiority. While that was certainly the narrative afterward, it was off-script beforehand, as was Dugan's "enthusiasm." I guess Dugan should be happy he only got fired and not shot in the face.

General Dugan was a laid-back former SPAD pilot (Who flew out of NKP, at that.) and a really well respected leader. I had a post-retirement conversation with him once at the Henderson Hall BX in 1992. Just a really genuine, nice guy.

Skeletor was a disaster. I watched more than one really good briefer get torn to pieces for no other reason than McPeak was drunk on power. Or a dick, take your choice. His four star peers openly made fun of him. Talk to some of those PACAF EC-135 IP's about his antics. The C-21 folks weren't too impressed with his lack of skills either.