Michael Wynne Michael W . Wynne ( born September 4 , 1944 ) is an American business executive and was the 21st United States Secretary of the Air Force . Secretary of Defense Robert Gates asked for and received his resignation ( and that of Chief of Staff T . Michael Moseley ) on June 5 , 2008 , in the wake of the 2007 United States Air Force nuclear weapons incident and the mistaken shipment of Minuteman III parts to Taiwan in 2006 , followed by an investigation by and a critical report from Admiral Kirkland H . Donald regarding the Minuteman incident . Michael B . Donley , Department of Defense Director of Administration and Management , was nominated to replace Wynne by President George W . Bush on June 9 , 2008 . Early life and family . Wynne was born in Clearwater , Florida , and raised in Melbourne , Florida . He is the younger brother of 1st Lt . Patrick Edward Wynne , call sign " Ozark " , - MIA August 8 , 1966 , in Vietnam , declared dead in 1974 , SRV returned remains to JPAC March 18 , 1977 . Military and business career . Wynne graduated with the United States Military Academy class of 1966 and served in the Air Force for seven years , ending his career as a captain and assistant professor of astronautics at the United States Air Force Academy . In 1999 Wynne had retired as Senior Vice President from General Dynamics , where his role was in International Development and Strategy . He had rejoined the company at the invitation of the Chairman to strengthen international activities . In between working with General Dynamics , he spent three years with Lockheed Martin , having sold the General Dynamics ' Space Systems Division to then Martin Marietta . He successfully integrated the division into the Astronautics Company and became the General Manager of the Space Launch Systems segment , combining the Titan with the Atlas Launch vehicles . Wynne spent a total of 23 years with General Dynamics in various senior positions with the Aircraft ( F - 16s ) and Main Battle Tanks ( M1A2 ) Divisions , and served on the corporate staff prior to becoming the President of Space Systems , including Launch Vehicles ( Atlas and Centaur ) , and a Corporate Vice President . Prior to joining the Bush Administration , Wynne was involved in venture capital . He nurtured small technology companies through their startup phase as a member of the NextGenFund Executive Committee , and served in executive positions of two of those companies . Government service . In July 2001 , Wynne was confirmed as Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition , Technology and Logistics , and in May 2003 he was appointed as acting Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition , Technology and Logistics . In this role , Wynne was the Principal Staff Assistant and adviser to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Defense for all matters relating to the Department of Defense Acquisition System , research and development , advanced technology , developmental test and evaluation , production , logistics , installation management , military construction , procurement , environmental security , and nuclear , chemical and biological matters . As Secretary of the Air Force he was responsible for the affairs of the Department of the Air Force , including the organizing , training , equipping and providing for the welfare of its nearly 370 , 000 men and women on active duty , 180 , 000 members of the Air National Guard and the Air Force Reserve , 160 , 000 civilians , and their families . Renewable energy . Wynne is a prominent proponent of renewable energy , and supported the Air Force ' s continued leadership in clean energy procurement . In a recent Air Force brochure on the topic , Wynne wrote : The reliance on imported oil continues to threaten the economic , financial and physical security of the nation while the use of domestic fossil fuels contributes to nationwide pollution problems . The Air Force believes that development of renewable energy sources for facility energy is one important element of our comprehensive strategy . The USAF is the nation ' s 16th leading user of electricity from renewables . Non - lethal weapons . Wynne advocated testing nonlethal weapons , such as high - power microwave devices , against American citizens before being used on the battlefield , saying " If we ' re not willing to use it here against our fellow citizens , then we should not be willing to use it in a wartime situation . " Resignation from the Department of the Air Force . On June 5 , 2008 , Robert Gates announced that he had accepted the resignation of Michael Wynne as Secretary of the Air Force because of " a decline in the Air Force ' s nuclear mission focus and performance " and " lack of a critical self - assessment culture " . Gates specifically cited two incidents in which the Air Force had lost track of nuclear weapons or parts ; in one incident , nuclear weapons fuses had been mistakenly sent to Taiwan when helicopter batteries had been ordered , and in the other , the 2007 United States Air Force nuclear weapons incident , a B - 52 bomber had been flown across the country armed with six nuclear - armed cruise missiles that no one realized were on board . Wynne responded that the report on the event was colored by the cultural differences of the Navy admiral who prepared it . Writing . Wynne has published numerous professional journal articles relating to engineering , cost estimating and contracting . Wynne has called on the United States to fund the development of both designs for the KC - X , a step that Dan Goure of the Lexington Institute says would even more delay to the long overdue project .