The Document File 

To the Point
“It is unconscionable to ask people to fly in combat in 50-year-old airplanes.”
—Gen. Arthur Lichte, commander of Air Mobility Command, discussing the prospects of continued delay in the replacement of KC-135 tankers with defense reporters, Washington, D.C., Sept. 3, 2008.

Antidote Needed
“With the poisonous nature of all the comments that are out there right now, I don’t know how we make peace with everybody and say, ‘OK, let’s go forward.’”
—Gen. Arthur Lichte, head of Air Mobility Command, on getting past the partisan battle complicating the new KC-X aerial tanker contract, speaking with defense reporters, Washington, D.C., Sept. 3, 2008.