Head of US Central Command being investigated for getting physical with an airman on plane to Israel

One of the Pentagon’s top generals is under investigation for allegedly getting physical with an airman on a flight in early September. 

Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla, head of U.S. Central Command [CENTCOM], allegedly shoved the airman on a C-17 flight to Israel after getting frustrated with access to logistical and communications issues aboard the flight. 

The four-star Army general is now under probe by the ​​Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID).

After an airman asked the general to sit down and buckle his seat belt, he allegedly lashed out and shoved the airman aside. 

“The Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division is aware of an alleged incident and is currently looking into it. No additional information is available at this time,” CID spokesperson Mark Lundardi said in a statement to Fox News Digital. 

Central Command oversees troop operations in the Middle East and Asia, including much of the U.S. military’s role in Israel and in Iraq and Syria.

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Kurilla has been critical of the Biden administration’s longtime defensive approach to the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea. He allegedly wrote a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin claiming U.S. defensive policies “failed” to have the desired impact, according to the Wall Street Journal. 

Kurilla called for a “whole of government” approach to the issue, which would include economic and diplomatic pressure in addition to stronger military pressure to dissuade the terrorist group from its campaign against shipping vessels in the region.

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The tone of the letter shocked some members of the defense department, one official told the Journal, particularly Kurilla’s insistence that “U.S. service members will die if we continue going this way.” 

Kurilla has been in charge of CENTCOM since April 2022. The job typically operates on a three-year term, meaning Kurilla is expected to relinquish command in April 2025. 

Before leading CENTCOM, Kurilla commanded the 75th Ranger Regiment, the 82nd Airborne Division and the XVIII Airborne Corps. He was also assistant commanding general of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). 

He was shot multiple times in a battle in Mosul, Iraq, in 2005, but continued fighting, an act that earned him a Bronze Star.