CENTCOM CC gots some splainin' to do

Witmo

Witmo

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General Kurilla, CENTCOM Commander, is on the hot seat for reportedly having an argument with a C-17 aircrew member as he was flying to Israel where he allegedly shoved the airman. The argument concerned the General's access to a communications system aboard the aircraft. Pretty ballsy of an airman to get into a ****ing contest with a four star. Curious how this is going to pan out.
 
The security procedures may well prohibit all but designated personnel into that space. The General may have a problem, which will go away easily, unless he hassles the airman.

In my other life, in the Army, a new Lieutenant decided to inspect the high security guard site. As he approached, the guard called "Halt", the Lieutenant identified himself as Officer of the Guard, and started to approach the guard. The guard racked a cartridge into the chamber, and ordered him to back up 3 steps, off the protected zone.

The Lieutenant returned to the guard house, addressed the sergeant of that section of the guard watch, and demanded to know how he was to properly inspect that guard if he refused to let him within 20 feet. Sarg said "First, read the guard orders, he is required to shoot anyone within 10 feet of him. If you wish to examine him, you get his replacement out of his bunk, replace the guard on duty, and then inspect him.

Secure areas and equipment have some strange rules, and failure to know the rules is not an excuse to override them, no matter your rank.
 
Why’s a 4 star flying on a C-17? My *** would be on a C-37? Must be a man of the people. :p

Well he is a VIP (code 3) and should be treated as such. It’s common for those guys to be up ICS. Guess the AF crew didn’t get the memo.
 
Velocity173 said:
Why’s a 4 star flying on a C-17? My *** would be on a C-37? Must be a man of the people. :p

Well he is a VIP (code 3) and should be treated as such. It’s common for those guys to be up ICS. Guess the AF crew didn’t get the memo.
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Better countermeasure suite on a 17 plus it can go non-stop with AR support if need be.
 
Velocity173 said:
Why’s a 4 star flying on a C-17? My *** would be on a C-37? Must be a man of the people. :p

Well he is a VIP (code 3) and should be treated as such. It’s common for those guys to be up ICS. Guess the AF crew didn’t get the memo.
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Depends on what capsule/pallet is shoved in the back of the C-17. He may *not* have access or need to know for other things going on, but when SAP *might* be occurring, that could explain a thing or two.

Just because he’s head of CENTCOM doesn’t mean he has need to know about everything other combatant commanders or .gov agencies could be doing in his backyard.
 
tsts4 said:
Better countermeasure suite on a 17 plus it can go non-stop with AR support if need be.
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I suppose it’s possible he took that into consideration but I think it had more to do with aircraft availability. I’d still go with a dedicated VIP over “Globemaster Airlines.” C-37s used to fly generals / admirals in and out of Afghanistan all the time. Not exactly the safest place to be operating out of.
 
TCABM said:
Depends on what capsule/pallet is shoved in the back of the C-17. He may *not* have access or need to know for other things going on, but when SAP *might* be occurring, that could explain a thing or two.

Just because he’s head of CENTCOM doesn’t mean he has need to know about everything other combatant commanders or .gov agencies could be doing in his backyard.
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Generals are nosey like that though. I remember in Afghanistan we had Sec Def visiting and we couldn’t offer our standard C2 package for him for his AO tour. Our general (82nd) threw a fit in the back of the aircraft when we informed him the aircraft wouldn’t be available for later. He loved listening in on the action in the AO. It was funny, I was flying with my commander (CPT) and as a typical WO, I had excuses while my CO simply said “we’ll get it done sir.” Sec Def got his C2 bird even though they probably didn’t use the capabilities.
 
Bob Noel said:
What the heck is a four star doing shoving anyone?

Where was the general's aide?
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That’s what I was thinking. They don’t go anywhere without their aide. In my experience, a good aide makes all the difference. A good aide not only has the VIP’s schedule memorized, they know more about what the boss is doing then the boss does. And in a situation like this, they’ve already coordinated with the aircraft commander on what his boss needs. Just sounds like miscommunication to me.
 
Bob Noel said:
What the heck is a four star doing shoving anyone?

Where was the general's aide?
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Exactly. If someone needed shoving, the aide should have anticipated that and already be in the wide-brace position.

"Johnson! Get up here and shove this person for me. Roughly and with vim!"
 
I don't think some of y'all are clear on what the chain of command is concerning commanders of combatant commands. As CC of CENTCOM the only people above him are the SECDEF and President. He is the big cheese in his AOR and is probably really antsy when he's out of the loop of what's going on in his AOR. As for the possibility of a SAP that he doesn't have access to, if it's doing anything in his AOR, he has access to it. The top of the Air Force chain of command in CENTCOM, the CENTAF CC, kneels before the throne of CENTCOM CC. That C-17 was probably wholly dedicated to do one thing on that mission and that would be whatever General Kurilla wanted it to do.
 
Witmo said:
I don't think some of y'all are clear on what the chain of command is concerning commanders of combatant commands. As CC of CENTCOM the only people above him are the SECDEF and President. He is the big cheese in his AOR and is probably really antsy when he's out of the loop of what's going on in his AOR. As for the possibility of a SAP that he doesn't have access to, if it's doing anything in his AOR, he has access to it. The top of the Air Force chain of command in CENTCOM, the CENTAF CC, kneels before the throne of CENTCOM CC. That C-17 was probably wholly dedicated to do one thing on that mission and that would be whatever General Kurilla wanted it to do.
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I’m perfectly clear on where any combatant commander sits in the food chain. There’s plenty of SAPs and STOs that Combatant Commanders aren’t read in to for valid reasons.

I’m also plenty aware of the various ways those guys get around both for intra- and inter-theater movements.

All of that is besides the bigger issue of why a Flag Officer or General Officer is being investigated for their hands on any one.
 
Just because he’s CENTCOM Commander doesn’t give him absolute waiver authority. He might very well have waiver authority for seat belts. First 4 star in our CoC could waiver seat belt use but no idea about AF regs.
 
Is there something inherently wrong with our military when a shove from a general reaches this level and requires an investigation? God help us if we ever have to fight a real war.
 
Lndwarrior said:
Is there something inherently wrong with our military when a shove from a general reaches this level and requires an investigation? God help us if we ever have to fight a real war.
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Um, have you ever heard of a gen named Patton? Served a bit in EU theatre. Was investigated for abusing an EM and was forced to issue a public apology. He did 'ok' in his war effort.

As for the gen on the AF plane, sit down when told. If there's turbulence, and it's going to toss the meatsacks around, if the gen isn't in his seat with a belt on, the loadmaster, or the AF equiv of a flight attendant might be in serious trouble. I would have told him to sit and buckle too.

Now, my tangle with a 2 star when I was just a SP-5: I was a pro race driver at a small time track for a few years. Stationed in W Germany for a while, I got a Spezial Reisepass for the Nurburgring F1 race, as a sponsor got me one. I think it was Rothman cigs maybe. Anyway, I"m up in the suite with free drinks, and food, and rubbing elbows with some big name sponsors and the like. A 2 star comes in with a Col in tow. He can tell from my haircut and English I'm a soldier. The O6 takes me aside and asks for my mil ID, and I give it to him. He looks it over and looks me over and tells me to leave. Well, no I don't think so sir, have a nice day sir, please can I have my ID sir, thank you sir good day.

Natch, the two star didn't like this so he came over to me and asked WTF are you doing here, and I said I was invited. He wanted to see my invite, and I showed him. I asked for his, and he didn't have one. Our host sponsor made him leave the suite. I think the two officers were so embarrassed they never said anything to anyone about it. I left the army soon after that. But - Gen can be very pleasant, or very unpleasant.
 
Military discipline and Decorum is obviously not what it was some fifty plus years ago.

Sgt., US Army, 1968-1971
 
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