Air Force Generals Call in Military Band for Drinking Party, Leading to Canceled Flight

[Anchor]

The Air Force has faced relentless criticism over slack discipline following a series of incidents since last year, ranging from a fighter jet mistakenly bombing a civilian area to an airborne control aircraft dropping a machine gun. Although the Air Force apologized and promised to restore discipline, footage obtained by SBS from an internal Air Force dinner gathering last April paints a completely different picture. At this "communication meeting" attended by Air Force generals, they not only drank and danced during duty hours, but military band soldiers were also mobilized. The following day, the wing commander's flight schedule was even canceled.

Bae Junu reports exclusively in our top story.

[Reporter]

Air Force officers wearing flight suits jump up and down with their hands in the air, while a military band soldier enlivens the atmosphere with a guitar, keyboard, and singing.

Officers also form a line moving around, playing what is known as a train game.

The two people dancing in the center are the commander of the Air Force Education and Training Command, a lieutenant general, and the commander of the 3rd Flying Training Wing, a brigadier general.

This footage captures the scene of a communication meeting with the Education and Training Command chief held on April 29 at a cafeteria of the Air Force 3rd Flying Training Wing in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province.

The event was originally planned to consist of a meeting, group exercise, and an encouraging dinner, but the group exercise was skipped, and the attendees reportedly enjoyed a drinking dinner for about three hours starting at 5 p.m.

An officer who attended the dinner stated, "Each officer drank about one or two bottles of soju, and we also drank a lot of beer and strong whiskey."

Voices within the Air Force point out that having a drinking party before official working hours ended and mobilizing military band soldiers for an officers' drinking dinner—which was not an official military event—could constitute a violation of service regulations.

In addition, it was revealed that the commander of the 3rd Flying Training Wing canceled an "on-site inspection flight" that had been scheduled for April 30, the day after the dinner.

Drinking is cited as the reason for the flight cancellation, but the Air Force has reportedly not conducted a separate investigation.

The Air Force stated, "The communication meeting was held to encourage service members whose morale had declined following a series of flight accidents."

Video by Choi Jin-hwa | Graphics by Lim Chan-hyeok
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.