After going on a drunken bender in Russia, a U.S. general was fired for insulting his hosts and cavorting with "suspect" women, officials said on Friday.
Air Force Major General Michael Carey was removed from his position as commander of the military's land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles in October, over what officials at the time called "personal misbehavior," the Agence France-Presse reported.
Embarrassing details have now been revealed by the Air Force inspector general, which released the results of its investigation into Carey's conduct in a July trip to Russia.
Through much of his official four-day visit to Russia, the two-star general was drunk and a Pentagon employee filed a complaint regarding his "inappropriate behavior," the report said.
Carey "acted in a manner that exceeded the limits of accepted standards of good conduct" during the trip that included a nuclear security exercise and meetings with Russian officials, according to the investigation.
According to AFP, the general's drinking began during a stop in Zurich and continued during his three-day stay in Moscow. He showed up late for motorcades to meet Russian representatives, interrupting tour guides, slurring his speech and returning to his hotel room in the early morning hours, the report said.
During the stopover in Zurich, Carey - reportedly intoxicated - spoke loudly in a public area about his importance as commander of a nuclear force and "that he saves the world from war every day," investigators said.
Once in Moscow at a Marriott hotel, the general said over drinks that his unit "had the worst morale and that the leadership wasn't supporting him.".
Apart from losing his job as commander of the 20th Air Force, Carey received a "letter of counseling" for his actions, an Air Force official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP on Friday.
This is yet another setback for the U.S. military's nuclear forces, which has faced reports of persistent morale problems and mixed results from inspections, AFP reported.
General William Shelton, the chief of the Air Force's Space Command, said in a statement that it was "an unfortunate incident" and that Carey "has otherwise served the nation extremely well."
