Details from a just-released Inspector General’s report show that a U.S. general who was in charge of nuclear weapons stocks, but was suspended because of unbecoming behavior, actually chased “hot women” in Moscow, drank large amounts of alcohol and generally made a fool of himself in front of foreign delegates.
Maj. Gen. Michael Carey was in charge of the 20th Air Force, which oversees three nuclear wings, CNN reported. He was relieved of duty in October, after Air Force authorities said he suffered a loss of confidence in leadership — without elaborating. But a new Air Force Inspector General report released Thursday now sheds some light on why he was relieved.
It highlights a July trip Maj. Gen. Carey made to Moscow that included heavy drinking and a layover in Switzerland that found him stating loudly in the airport, CNN said: “[I] save the world from war every day.”
The boorish behavior went on in Moscow, the report said.
There, he and another man walked to a hotel to meet “two foreign national women,” after which he returned to his own hotel in the early morning hours. He was then 45 minutes late for a planned delegate meeting in Moscow the next day, CNN reported.
At that meeting, he drank heavily and offended his Russian hosts with talk about Syria and Edward Snowden, the report said.
He also proclaimed that he had “met two hot women the night before,” all the while interrupting a female guide who was trying to speak to the delegation, CNN said, citing the Inspector General’s findings.
In the report: “At one point, he tried to give [the guide] a fist bump. She had no idea what he was trying to do. It was again, very, very embarrassing.”
Then on to dinner — where he drank alcohol heavily once again and tried to perform with the live band, CNN said.
The report concluded that his conduct was unbecoming and unprofessional, CNN said.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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