Robert Gates in Afghanistan

Equipment
In Afghanistan, Gates has had to face numerous challenging bureaucratic obstacles. The issue of drones is a case in point: while the Air Force has been slow to use their pilots to guide the drones because they are trained to fly real planes (and they cost $1 million apiece to train) the army uses staff sergeants to operate them at one quarter the price. "If the army is doing it safer and cheaper and able to produce more pilots faster why aren't we doing it to that standard?" he asks.

• The War in Afghanistan Up Close