Gulf War air boss: U.S. military has slipped

	HORNER GALLERY
Lt. Gen. Charles A. Horner, commander, U.S. Central Command Air Forces, visits with members of the 609th Maintenance Squadron during Operation Desert Shield.

By Wayne Drash
CNN.com Senior Editor

SHALIMAR, Florida (CNN) -- In the recent presidential debates, Vice President Al Gore and Texas Gov. George W. Bush exchanged sharp words on military readiness and national security issues. Both candidates agree that the U.S. military is the world’s strongest, but they differ on foreign policy issues.

Gore said he will do "whatever is necessary" to make sure the military maintains its fighting edge; Bush said "we can’t be all things to all people. We can help build coalitions, but we can’t put our troops all around the world."

What does a retired general have to say?

Retired Air Force Gen. Chuck Horner knows all about military readiness: He commanded the United States and Allied air coalition in the 1991 Persian Gulf War against Iraq and served his country for more than four decades.

A former fighter pilot, Horner wore his wings on his chest, his pride in his heart.

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He's flown jets through enemy territory, seen ballistic missiles soar by. "I've been shot at by ballistic missiles," he said recently, a smile in his voice, "and I happen to believe they exist."

And, like many who practice war, he doesn't glorify it: He's seen too many friends die, observed the horrors of armed conflict.

"The problem with war is, war is about killing people," Horner, 64, said. "And so you better have some idealistic basis for what you do. I'm very anti-war, by the way."

But war and combat readiness were on his mind on a recent day. The general, who retired from the Air Force in 1994, burst out onto the porch of his waterfront home in Florida's panhandle -- moving, almost, with the deftness of the F-16s he once flew -- and said the military has seen better days. "I've seen the trends and they're not good," he said.

Administration to blame?

Horner is not happy about the current state of military readiness, and blames the current administration for not devising a cohesive national security policy. Not having such a policy has affected the combat readiness of U.S. forces, he said.

"We … have to have a president who has the will to conform to that policy or change that policy -- but he ought to let the American people know why he's doing it and what he's doing," Horner said.

"If we knew what our national security policy was, then from that we could define a national security strategy and from that we could define a force structure to meet that strategy and fund it," he said. "We did that in the Cold War."

Like many in the military, Horner said he was pleased to see Gore and Bush debating national security issues in front of the nation during the presidential debates.

"I was afraid it wasn't going to be debated, because neither candidate would gain anything from it, and they ran the risk of losing things," Horner said. "To me, the big issue is the lack of national security strategy to replace the Cold War strategy. … (W)ithout that, how are we going to organize, train and equip our forces so they have some coherence?"

The United States has the most powerful military in the world, said Horner, but that's no guarantee that the country is invincible.

"We were the most powerful when we fought in Vietnam," he said. "It didn't do us any good, did it?"

Money, morale, machinery

Other factors have impeded military readiness, he said. Among them: budgetary constraints, slipping morale among officers and enlistees, and an aging inventory of fighting machinery.

Chuck Horner at home in Florida

"It (military readiness) is quite low. I've seen it this way in the late '50s and the late '70s," he said. "So this is not a new phenomenon."

What is new, he said, is a growing leadership vacuum.

"(W)e've been in decline in retention. … What it does is leave gaps in needed leadership -- you know, captains, experienced people that are out there leading flights."

Aging aircraft and the lack of spare parts, he added, also has taken a toll. "What happens is that you get in a spiral," he said. "The other thing is, you're not developing anything (new), because you're using your research and development funds (for maintenance); so you're eating your seed corn."

What does an old warrior think is needed to keep military personnel?

He suggested the military keep its fighters honed and happy. Without training, "people feel they've lost their combat edge," he said. "They don't feel that sense of esprit.

"Pride is what keeps a military guy going. It's not money."

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