Gates picks new leadership for Air Force

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Monday recommended senior Pentagon official Michael Donley to be secretary of the U.S. Air Force in a shake-up triggered by mistakes in handling nuclear weapons and parts.

Gates also said he recommended Gen. Norton Schwartz as the new Air Force chief of staff.

Gates' recommendations to President George W. Bush come after the Pentagon chief last week forced Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne and Chief of Staff Michael Moseley to resign over errors in the handling of nuclear weapons and parts.

In announcing the resignations, Gates said two incidents -- the shipment of nuclear missile fuses to Taiwan and the cross-country flight by an Air Force bomber wrongly armed with nuclear weapons -- exposed a systemic problem in the Air Force and an erosion of nuclear standards.

"I am confident that Mike Donley, General Schwartz and the new Air Force leadership team have the qualifications, skill and commitment... to guide the Air Force through this transition and beyond," Gates said in a statement.

Donley, who would become the top civilian in charge of the Air Force, is currently director of administration and management for the Department of Defense.

He has previously served as both assistant secretary of the Air Force and as acting secretary of the Air Force.

Schwartz, who would become the service's top general, is commander of U.S. Transportation Command.

He has held a series of jobs working closely with other military services and his appointment may signal that Gates wants to see the Air Force take that approach more broadly.

Gates said he had also recommended Gen. Duncan McNabb, the current Air Force Vice Chief of Staff, to replace Schwartz at Transportation Command.

"General McNabb has spent most of his three-plus decades in the Air Force in the areas of lift, refueling and logistics -- making him an ideal candidate to assume the helm of this command," Gates said.

Gates picked Lt. Gen. William Fraser III as the next Air Force vice chief of staff. General Fraser is currently assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.