Air Force Removed General Over Drunken Acts in Russia

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/21/us/air-force-removed-general-over-drunken-behavior-in-moscow.html

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WASHINGTON — An Air Force general who oversaw some of the nation’s nuclear weapons was dismissed for drunken antics during an official trip to Moscow last summer, according to a new investigative report.

Maj. Gen. Michael J. Carey, who was removed this year as commander of the 20th Air Force, which maintains and operates the nation’s intercontinental ballistic missiles, is accused of drinking heavily, insulting his guests and other behavior “unbecoming of an officer and gentleman” during a four-day visit to Moscow in July, according to the inquiry. It was first reported by The Associated Press and The Washington Post.

After drinking for hours in bars, with people including someone identified in the report as “cigar shop lady,” General Carey was slurring his speech and stumbling through Red Square, “pouting and sulking.” The report said he tried to force a bar band to let him play with them.

The inquiry comes at a time when a large number of senior military officers have been investigated, penalized or fired over sexual improprieties, sexual violence, financial mismanagement or poor judgment.

General Carey is also accused of interrupting speakers and correcting a Russian translator, and otherwise behaving “in a manner that exceeded the limits of accepted standards of good conduct,” according to the investigation, which was conducted by the Air Force’s inspector general. General Carey’s unit was responsible for 450 nuclear missiles.

According to The Post, General Carey received a “letter of counseling” and has been reassigned as a special assistant to the commander of the Air Force’s Space Command. An email to the Air Force public affairs office was not immediately returned.

The problem of bad behavior in the military’s top ranks has become so acute that Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, this year ordered an overhaul of training and development programs for generals and admirals. He has said that one of his major priorities is examining the impact of more than a decade of war on the volunteer force’s professionalism.

“You can have someone of incredible character who can’t lead their way out of a forward operating base because they don’t have the competence to understand the application of military power, and that doesn’t do me any good,” General Dempsey said in an interview this year. “Conversely, you can have someone who is intensely competent, who is steeped in the skills of the profession, but doesn’t live a life of character. And that doesn’t do me any good.”

He added: “We’ve been living with unconstrained resources for 10 years, and, frankly, we’ve developed some bad habits. It’s those bad habits we are seeking to overcome.”

Senator John McCain of Arizona, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, echoed General Dempsey’s frustration and said that even a single case of malfeasance in the top ranks was a problem. “One is too many,” he said in an interview on Friday. “It hurts the reputation of the military.”

In fact, Pentagon officials say the Defense Department’s inspector general has not investigated an unusually high number of cases of malfeasance this year. But officials say the cases are more noticeable because of the more prominent role the military has played in the nation’s life since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.