Air Force Secretary Michael Donley began his speech at AFA’s Global Warfare Symposium in Los Angeles by reiterating that “the Air Force is accountable to our teammates” in terms of treating the remains of fallen US military personnel with the utmost of dignity and respect. He added that Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz and he take “personal responsibility” for fixing what he called a system that was “broken” at the Air Force’s military mortuary at Dover AFB, Del., and resulted in the mishandling of several service members’ remains. The Air Force is changing policies at the mortuary and a new commander is in place there, said Donley. He noted that, in the days to come, a new independent panel will be reviewing the “corrective actions” that the Air Force already has taken. Donley spoke on Nov. 18.
Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, held meetings with defense leaders from the Philippines, Japan, and South Korea during a trip to the Indo-Pacific this week.