Air Force general lost job over ethnic slur

Maj. Gen. Michael A. Keltz is Commander, 19th Air Force, Joint Base San AntonioâRandolph, Texas Maj. Gen. Michael A. Keltz is Commander, 19th Air Force, Joint Base San AntonioâRandolph, Texas Image 1 of / 54 Caption Close Air Force general lost job over ethnic slur 1 / 54 Back to Gallery

A two-star general resigned his command in San Antonio last week after making a racially-charged comment during a lower-ranking officer's disciplinary hearing, the Air Force said Monday.

Maj. Gen. Michael Keltz, then commander of the 19th Air Force at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, told an accused officer that he appeared “drunker than 10,000 Indians” in a photo of him and another airman. The Air Force confirmed that Keltz made the remark, which initially was reported in a blog.

“I’ll confirm those were the words spoken,” said Col. Sean McKenna, chief spokesman for the Air Education and Training Command. “I just can’t confirm what happened in the Article 15 (disciplinary) hearing.”

The AETC, the parent organization of the 19th Air Force, said last week Keltz resigned after he “inadvertently made an unfortunate comment” during the hearing.

About 75 people attended the Article 15 hearing, held April 9 in a Randolph conference room, with many coming from the airman’s home installation, McKenna said. The officer had accepted a finding of wrongdoing in a previous hearing, but Keltz was asked to reduce the punishment.

Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Tony Carr provided a detailed account of the Randolph hearing that the training command said likely was from someone who had been there. Carr, a former C-17 pilot and author of the John Q. Public blog, said Keltz “began a series of berating comments in which he criticized the officer’s life choices and relationships.”

In the blog, Carr said the officer was stationed at Laughlin AFB in Del Rio. Carr said Keltz produced a photo of the officer and a friend and said in the hearing that they appeared to be “drunker than 10,000 Indians.”

Keltz, a decorated combat pilot who led task forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, had led the 19th Air Force since Oct. 1, supervising all flight training operations in AETC. He is serving as a special assistant to Gen. Robin Rand, who heads the training command, until his retirement is final.

Another disciplinary hearing will be held, starting a new appeal of the Laughlin officer’s punishment from scratch.

sigc@express-news.net