Gates in recent months has criticized Air Force officials for speaking out about the need to prepare for future threats by building high-tech fighter planes. He also has urged the Air Force to increase the number of unmanned aircraft in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Gates has criticized Army and Marine Corps officials for their hesitancy about buying mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles, commonly referred to as MRAPs. Gates pointed to the lifesaving abilities of MRAPs and countered arguments that they would have little use after Iraq.
In some ways, Gates shared concerns voiced by his predecessor, Donald H. Rumsfeld, who complained that the military was too slow to change from its Cold War-era stance.
But Gates has cast himself as a Defense secretary different from Rumsfeld, and he offered a veiled criticism of his predecessor during a question-and-answer session after his speech.
Gates said the next president should be sure to appoint a national security team whose members get along. Gates enjoys a close rapport with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, but Rumsfeld had a poor working relationship with Colin L. Powell, Rice's predecessor.
"It is relations among people that make government work," Gates said. "They don't have to agree all the time; they just have to get along."
The speech is available on
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julian.barnes@latimes.com
