Democrats and Republicans said Tuesday that two nominees for top Air Force positions need to rebuild the service’s credibility following a series of missteps and scandals in which it was embroiled for months.

The Senate Armed Services Committee was considering the nominations of Michael Donley to become secretary of the Air Force and Gen. Norton Schwartz to be Air Force chief of staff.

In his opening statement, panel Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., reviewed the litany of problems the service has encountered, including the accidental flight of nuclear bombs over the midwestern portion of the United States, a stalled competition to purchase new refueling tankers, huge cost overruns for the Joint Strike Fighter program, and the award of an inflated contract to a friend of high-ranking officials.

“The next secretary and chief of staff will have their work cut out for them to address these problems and restore public confidence in the ability of the Air Force leadership to handle its critical national security and fiscal responsibilities,” said Levin.

Donley acknowledged the Air Force’s credibility problem in his written responses to questions submitted before the hearing.

“The immediate challenges are to restore confidence in the Air Force among those to whom we are responsible  . . .  and undertake actions to address the issue — such as re-establishing focus on the nuclear enterprise — that brought us to this point,” Donley wrote.

Schwarz was even more direct in his written responses to senators.

“The most serious problem facing our service is the restoration of trust and confidence in the U.S. Air Force,” Schwartz wrote.