Pope AFB, North Carolina--the military airfield that's part of the sprawling Fort Bragg complex--is still buzzing over Friday's firing of Colonel John McDonald.
McDonald, commander of the 43rd Airlift Wing at Pope, was relieved of his duties after "losing the confidence of his chain of command." Public announcement of the dismissal was made by a spokesman for Air Mobility Command (AMC), which controls the C-130 unit.
Colonel McDonald was stripped of his post by his boss, Major General Winfield Scott III, Commander of 18th Air Force at Scott AFB, Illinois. In an ironic twist, McDonald will now serve as a special assistant to General Scott, who retires in October.
Special assistant positions are often used as temporary billets for officers awaiting a new assignment, or for those--like Colonel McDonald--who have been fired from command positions.
AMC has not divulged why McDonald lost his job. But airmen and officers familiar with McDonald and his leadership style believe the dismissal was all-but-inevitable. They paint a picture of a commander who often ran roughshod over his troops, ignored his own directives, and punished subordinates for petty infractions.
Many of the complaints about McDonald surfaced during his tenure as Commander of the 386th Expeditionary Operations Group (EOG) at Ali Al Salem Air Base, Kuwait. As leader of the organization in 2005-2006, McDonald supervised airlift operations covering the Persian Gulf Region, Afghanistan and the Horn of Africa.
According to an unofficial website, the group moves an average of 44,000 passengers and 3,000 tons of cargo each month, much of it heading for Iraq. While C-130 aircraft and crews handle much of the mission, the 386th also includes C-17 heavy-lift transports, assigned to the group for two-week intervals.
While accomplishing the 386th's mission, Colonel McDonald implemented a number of rules and regulations that were described as "Mickey Mouse" by an aircrew member who served under him. The C-130 pilot, who still serves on active duty, said that many at Al Salem believed there was "something wrong" with their commander, based on his rigid discipline and inflexible personality.
As an example, the pilot cited McDonald's chow hall restrictions. Tired of bad food at the dining facility on the "USAF side" of the base, Air Force personnel began traveling to an Army chow hall (run by the defense contractor KBR) across the flight line. In response, Colonel McDonald banned all Air Force members from using the KBR facility. However, the restriction did not apply to the 386th EOG Commander. Personnel stationed at Al Salem say that McDonald frequently ate at the Army dining hall, in defiance of his own ban.
Veterans of his tenure at Al Salem also report that McDonald was obsessed with reflective safety belts, worn by flightline personnel after dark. Members of the group tactics shop report that the commander appeared in their office "like clockwork" every afternoon, to remind them to wear their reflective belts inside. His rationale? If personnel didn't put their belts on before dark, they might forget to wear them if they stepped outside. Never mind that the tactics team worked inside, and rarely strayed more than 100 feet from the building.
"What a s---head," one airman exclaimed.
McDonald was particularly tough on his aircraft commanders. If they were caught taxiing too close to a boundary line, or one of their crew members was caught without a reflective vest or other required gear, the aircraft commander was automatically demoted to co-pilot.
Other initiatives implemented by McDonald had an equally devastating effect on morale. In an effort to prove that "aircrews worked too," Colonel McDonald ordered them to participate in base clean-up sessions on Saturday mornings. In another instance, two enlisted crew members spent 12 hours in the desert sun policing the base perimeter because McDonald believed there was "too much paper" hanging in the barbed wire."
While C-130 crews working for Colonel McDonald logged dozens of sorties, the commander rarely put himself on the flying schedule. Another pilot who was stationed at Al Salem during McDonald's tenure said the "closest he came to the aircraft was standing on the flightline, looking for crews that violated his rules."
A graduate of the Florida State ROTC program, McDonald is one of the few navigators who have led airlift groups and wings--positions normally reserved for pilots. But for an officer in those command billets, Colonel McDonald has relatively little flying time.
Information in his official Air Force biography indicates that McDonald took an eight-year break from flying in the middle of his career, serving in staff billets at the Air Force Academy and AMC Headquarters, and as a student attending professional schools at Maxwell AFB, Alabama. McDonald has just over 2,000 hours in the air; most navigators who have served as long as the Colonel have 3-4,000 flying hours--or more--on their resume.
Civilian leaders in Fayetteville, North Carolina (and other towns near the base) remember McDonald as a tireless promoter of community-military relations. Most expressed shock at his sudden dismissal, but were quick to welcome McDonald's replacement, Colonel James C. Johnson.
Colonel Johnson previously served as Vice Commander of the 19th Airlift Wing at Little Rock AFB, Arkansas. Johnson was reportedly on duty at Pope Monday morning.
An AMC spokesman said that McDonald will not face additional disciplinary action as a result of his firing. Details on the Colonel's new job at Scott were not released.
Comments
Dude...you should double your dose and take a nap.
I'm serving at Al Salem right now, and those restrictions seem no more "mickey mouse" than anything else that happens here. Aircrew had to be in the sun for 12 hours? Welcome to the desert- plenty of personel here spend that much time in the sun every day. They had to wear reflective belts? My god! "According to personel" AKA rumours.... This is just a laundry list of petty complaints, backed with little fact, and hardly qualifies as an article, much less an insight as to why McDonald was relieve of command.
I'm a former Marine who flew aircrew in C-130's from 1968-71. These sound like really petty complaints (typical of military life). Not sure they have anything to do with his being dismissed... it could be more about a bias against him for not being a fellow pilot. And why should a general fly as much as the average pilot (or navigator)? Aren't his General duties more important than doing something any Captain can handle?
I served under Col Mcdonald's command during his 2005-06 tenure at Ali Al Salem. I recall him being a visible leader that was very involved throughout the wing. To me he was a leader who wanted the best and didn't settle for less from those under his command. Reasons for relieving him of his command at Pope must be bigger than the general public is priviledge to.
I served with Col McDonald at Salem and found him to be a good person. I am sorry to see this has happened but trust there must be some good reason
I'm an aircraft maintainer at pope and i'm familiar with desert life. Every asinine detail this article describes is typical of EVERY deployment, regardless of who is in command. Some here on the base speculate he was removed because of the current BRAC and transition from active to reserve has been a mess.
Travis--your comments serve no purpose and show immaturity. I agree with some of the others that McDonald was probably removed for something other than what went public. Finally, beware of reporters and sensationalism. They're synonymous.
I served under him at Salem in 2006. He was a piece of work. He was a complete asshat. I honestly think that there WAS something mentally wrong with him. I can excuse his behavior on the basis of neurosis, but what is harder to overlook are the people that took his wacky policies to heart and enforced them blindly. I will always remember those squadron CCs and DOs who did nothing to stop his reign of terror. Thank gooodness I only had to put up with him for 4 months.
I have been stationed at Pope for the last 2 years and have lived through his reign. I will tell you in 15 years of service and 8 assignments, he is the worst commander I have ever worked for. Pope felt like a High School, with cliques and popularity being at the forefront. If you were not in his clique, he would not even talk to you. AF teaches teamwork, while he uses jargon like I AM meaning Individual Actions Matter and Popetastic. It even got so bad that he created his own Popetastic T-shirts and handed them out to people like Michelle Obama and others. All rumors aside, he was not a good wing commander and when the other O-6s throughout the wing are voicing that, it makes it hard to follow him. My hope is that this will knock him back down to earth and make him realize that he does not walk on water, that his stuff does stink and that he should take better care of his people instead of always concentrating on himself.
sounds to me that Col Mac was hard on his people and those people were a bunch of cry babies. no wonder the other braches look at us like we are a bunch of wimps. I had no problem with him and from the sounds of this article makes it seem like all the people under him were a bunch of pansy. Who cares if you have to wear a stupid belt. SF squadrons have plenty of dumb rules out there but you dont see or commanders getting fired.
I never thought he would get what was coming to him this soon, but everything finally caught up to him. He was the biggest POS out there. If you unfortunately carried male anatomy on your frame, he wouldn't have anything to do with you. He knew every female on Pope AFB . . . he knew every female at LRAFB, he knew and positioned near him every desert queen at Ali. This guy chased skirts his entire career and he finally got caught. He always seemed to be running from "problems" while leaving a wake of ruined careers behind him as he continued to use good people as his stepping stones during his career. Pope AFB Commander fired . . . now that's POPETASTIC!!!
I served under Col Mac for 3 years at Pope and enjoyed every minute of it. The problem that everyone had with him was that he embraced perfection and no one is perfect. As many of the comments above stated...no one of our pay grade will know exactly what happened but as some one who worked with him occasionally I can say I will miss him.
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