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Let airmen tell Air Force’s story

A contract to publicize the Thunderbirds flight demonstration team was intended to boost the Air Force’s image.

Instead, the now-defunct contract has smeared a former chief of staff and damaged morale among current service leaders.

Moreover, all of this has happened without anyone asking why the contract was considered in the first place.

Air Force Secretary Michael Donley issued a letter of admonishment to retired Gen. T. Michael Moseley for what Donley described as a violation of ethics and “misconduct” in the awarding of the contract.

No one has alleged that Moseley misbehaved for personal gain. He is a respected combat pilot and leader.

Many in top Air Force positions today wonder if the disciplinary action in the Thunderbirds case amounts to “piling on.” Moseley was fired last year allegedly for mistakes in the handling of nuclear materials. The admonishment adds hurt to damage already done. Any officer still in uniform could easily look at this case and hesitate the next time a difficult decision needs to be made.

Many are wondering why no one is asking the obvious question about the Thunderbirds contract: If the purpose of the Thunderbirds is to publicize, why pay to publicize the Thunderbirds?

Since the first time the Thunderbirds took to the skies in 1953 — in straight-wing F-84G Thunderjets — they have been “ambassadors in blue,” telling a positive story about the Air Force to taxpayers, troops and overseas audiences.

The whole point of the Thunderbirds is to show the world, especially potential recruits, what American airmen can do — not what contractors can do.

Showing — rather than merely telling — the achievements of America’s airmen isn’t something that can be outsourced.

If the purpose of the Thunderbirds is to provide public relations for the Air Force, why — under any circumstances — should a contractor be hired to handle public relations for the Thunderbirds?

And the amount, $49.9 million! With the federal government drowning in debt, how could any public relations effort justify that expenditure?

Air Force leaders who sought the Thunderbirds contract did something wrong, all right: It was an error of common sense. They were dead wrong to even contemplate hiring a contractor to bring the Air Force’s face to the nation.

If the Thunderbirds are going to represent the Air Force, airmen should perform every aspect of their work — just as they did in the flight team’s early years.

If the story of America’s airmen is worth telling to the public, America’s airmen should tell it.

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Dorr is an Air Force veteran. His latest book is “Hell Hawks,” a history of an American fighter group in World War II. Send e-mail to robert.f.dorr@cox.net.