At a Pentagon press briefing Thursday, Defense Secretary Bob Gates would not commit to staying the course to see his “overhead cutting” plan cemented in the 2012 budget rather than having it “rope-a-doped” until he leaves, replying simply, “We’ll see.” Gates emphasized, though, that he is not attacking “the overall defense topline” or “core military functions,” rather he wants to target “excess management structure.” Gates wants a reduction in numbers of both senior military (flag officers) and senior civilians, and, although Gates said that “we would proceed with care on this,” he maintained, “We have to figure out a way to try … and make this department more agile.” Can we rule out further major cuts to weapons programs? No. Pressed, Gates reiterated, “I’m talking about ruling out a cut to the topline,” but, he continued, “there are some [programs] that are still being looked at.” (Press briefing transcript)
The Air Force Personnel Center announced that just 14.8 percent of eligible tech sergeants were selected for promotion to master sergeant in the 22E7 promotion cycle, marking the service’s lowest E-7 promotion rate since at least 2010. All told, 4,040 technical sergeants were selected to become master sergeants out of…