Pope Wing CC fired
 

The Pope AFB Wing CC was fired today. For those of you who really know him, you will mark this as a great day in Air Force History....


Fayetteville (NC) Observer
June 13, 2009 Colonel Removed From Command At Pope
By Henry Cuningham, Military editor
Col. John W. McDonald was removed abruptly Friday from his post as commander of the 43rd Airlift Wing and Pope Air Force Base.
Maj. Gen. Winfield W. “Skip” Scott III made the decision. He is commander of the 18th Air Force, Pope’s higher headquarters, at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois.
“Col. McDonald was removed for cause,” said a statement from the 18th Air Force. “Gen. Scott decided his actions rendered him ineffective as the 43rd Airlift Wing commander.”
Air Force officials declined to give details, citing privacy laws that limit the release of personal information about federal employees.
McDonald will be reassigned as a special assistant to the commander of the 18th Air Force. He declined to comment.
A spokeswoman said Scott was not available to answer questions.
McDonald’s replacement is Col. James C. Johnson, who will arrive this weekend, said Capt. Beverly Mock, a Pope spokeswoman.
Johnson, a navigator, had been vice commander of the 19th Airlift Wing at Little Rock Air Force Base in Arkansas.
Typically, Pope’s wings change commanders with several months’ notice. There is a ceremony in a hangar with speeches, band music and the passing of flags. McDonald’s biography was on Pope’s Web site on Friday morning, but Johnson’s biography had replaced it by afternoon.
Local reaction
Civic leaders who worked with McDonald reacted with shock and sadness.
“I was not made aware of it,” Spring Lake Mayor Ethel Clark said. “I just thought he was a fine man. After we annexed Pope Air Force Base into Spring Lake in September, I considered him as a resident of Spring Lake.”
Johnny Dawkins is honorary vice wing commander.
“Col. McDonald did an outstanding job of building community relations between Fayetteville, Spring Lake and Hope Mills with the Air Force base,” Dawkins said. “We hate to see him go, yet we look forward to welcoming Col. Johnson.”
McDonald, a navigator, had been the wing commander since May 2008. The wing has not had its own airplanes since June 2008, when the last of its Vietnam War-era C-130E Hercules cargo airplanes were transferred to Little Rock Air Force Base.
Johnson will take command at a time when Pope is undergoing double transitions. The 2005 Base Realignment and Closure law mandates that the Army take over Pope’s property, although the Air Force will continue many of its currrent functions. Also under BRAC, the Air Force Reserve’s 440th Airlift Wing brought its C-130H airplanes to Pope from Wisconsin. Active-duty crews are sharing the airplanes.
The 43rd Wing commander also is the installation commander of Pope, whose Green Ramp is the launching platform for Army rapid-deployment forces from neighboring Fort Bragg.
The 82nd Airborne Division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team on June 1 went on call to respond on short notice to emergencies worldwide. Secretive special operations forces stand by to deploy within hours.
“There won’t be any disruptions of operations at Pope,” said Mock, the Pope spokeswoman. “The wing will continue the mission of providing tactical airlift to the 82nd Airborne Division and the U.S. Special Forces Command. There will be no disruption.”
The base will send teams to compete in the Air Mobility Rodeo 2009 on July 19-24 at McChord Air Force Base, Wash., Mock said.

So what's the RUMINT? Did they rape him on the unit climate assessment?

Doubt that would be enough for such a short-notice change. I've seen Unit Climate Assessment cause early change, but still with the pomp and circumstance to save face...this had to be something more.

One down, many to go. Given how rare senior leadership discipline is, I'd go with something specific like an inappropriate relationship - but that's just my guess for the APC office pool.

maybe another DADT "victim" ????

McChord recently lost a SqCC....
 

for inappropriate behavior while on deployment. He was removed as he walked off the airplane after getting home. A year later the trial was held and a conviction was handed down. I would think a removal of this nature would be something more than just a climate assessment. If it does enter the legal realm it will also be a while before anything is known definitively.

Yeah, that was kind of a joke, kind of serious about the UCA. We had a squadron ADO who got throttled (rightfully so) on the UCA.....and they made him the IG. Go figure.

What is DADT?

The DoD policy on gays.

These type of "Military" bozos come into our Airlines and try to run things like a squadron.....which don't work.

The Military:

1. Makes no Profit.

2. Has no Customers.

3. Has no Competition.

4. Forces us all to fund it - Taxpayers.

5. Though volunteer - those that are there just cannot get up and walk away.

6. Will be the last thing that, "goes out of business."

7. Has no true value (see above) and thus no true Leadership.

When I was in I found it totally corrupt.

Marsea