Retired General Returns With Recommendations

by Aero-News Senior Correspondent Kevin R.C. "Hognose" O'Brien

Retired General, former drug czar and sometime Democratic Party politician Barry McCaffrey recently returned from Iraq with a sheaf of notes, opinions and recommendations. One of his urgent recommendations is that the Iraqi forces receive 120 or more Sikorsky Black Hawk helicopters, presumably including spares and training on them.

Aero-News has closely followed the redevelopment of Iraqi air power. So far, Iraq has received obsolescent Bell 205 Hueys and Bell 206 Jet Rangers from friendly Arab powers, as well as a variety of fixed-wing utility and cargo aircraft, up to C-130s.

Prior to Iraq's defeat at the hands of the US-led Coalition in 2003, the Iraqi Air Force operated large numbers of Mil Mi-8/17 and Mi-24 helicopters. Those helicopters remain widely available and cost less to obtain and operate than Black Hawks (which run about $12 million each). The infrastructure that supported the Mils was destroyed in the war or subsequent looting, and the American trainers the Iraqis would likely want to employ know the Black Hawk.

The Iraqi Security Forces, McCaffrey writes in an email dated July 28th and obtained by Aero-News, "absolutely must have enough helicopter air mobility (120+ Black Hawk UH 60's)...." His reasoning behind equipping the new Iraqi forces with the helicopters and with armored vehicles is, "to lower casualties and give them a competitive edge over the insurgents they will fight."

McCaffrey's email was based on a visit he made to Iraq in early June. The email apparently is a summary of testimony he gave to a Senate committee in July. News reports at the time said little about his generally positive, upbeat testimony.

The retired general's penchant for helicopters and armored vehicles may be a result of his service in armored, mechanized and aviation units as a relatively junior officer.

Could this be a windfall for Connecticut-based Sikorsky? It would be premature to say that. The retired general's recommendation carries no official weight. Even if the helicopters were provided, they might come out of Army units which are replacing older machines with new. The oldest Black Hawks are about 25 years old. This would be a wash for the manufacturer, which is already providing the new copters.

Elsewhere in the document, while McCaffrey praises the leadership of the key CENTCOM commanders, Generals Casey, Vines, and Petraeus, calling them a "a collective national treasure," he suggests that the military should adopt Vietnam-era personnel policies, including freezing those generals in their commands, and setting up their families somewhere near enough that they have frequent visits.

His most controversial suggestion is likely to be his call for an end to the policy of rotating entire units, and a return to the Vietnam policy of rotating individual soldiers as replacements. Conventional wisdom in the military is that this policy in Vietnam was an unmitigated disaster, eroding unit cohesion and effectiveness.

He also chides "[m]ilitary leaders on the ground" for preferring to talk to reporters that they trust, rather than to reporters for more prominent media, whether trustworthy or not. His point is that such organizations as the Associated Press and New York Times, widely derided by soldiers as pro-enemy, reach great numbers of Americans, and the war will be won or lost by the will of ordinary Americans to support the effort; therefore it's critical for soldiers, especially junior commanders and NCOs, those "leaders on the ground," to be accessible to the reporters.

General McCaffrey served in the military from Vietnam to Kosovo, and has since held a variety of responsible positions, was extremely highly decorated, even among generals. He was awarded two Distinguished Service Crosses and two Silver Stars for valor in combat, and three Purple Hearts for combat wounds, not to mention scores of decorations for distinguished and meritorious service.

He served as drug czar in the second Clinton administration, with cabinet rank.

FMI: www.centcom.mil