Clinton Air Force Nominee Takes Flak

President Clinton may be wishing the White House had done better homework on its Air Force secretary nominee: "Daryl Jones has a lot of enemies for a 42-year-old man," says TIME Pentagon correspondent Mark Thompson. "Many of his colleagues contend that he cut corners, and they don't want to seem him promoted to civilian head of the Air Force. If the White House had checked, they might not have nominated someone who was carrying this kind of baggage."

Jones's former commander Thursday accused the nominee of lying about voluntarily giving up flying F-16s -- Col. Thomas A. Dyches told the Senate Armed Services Committee that Jones was ordered to stop flying on the grounds that he was a danger to himself and other pilots. Jones had earlier been called on the fact that his resume claimed he was still an F-16 pilot. "The issue is not about being a bad pilot; it's about his credibility," says Thompson. "Although it's too early to say whether he'll make it, right now it doesn't look very good for him."