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The Navy is ordering a full unbiased assessment of the Navy SEALs’ grueling choice program for brand new members. Investigators have 30 days to report again on how the coaching course, Fundamental Underwater Demolition SEAL (BUD/S for brief), is performed and to see what shortcomings there are, in response to a letter from outgoing Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. William Lescher, one of many officers stated. The New York Times obtained a copy of the letter and first reported on it on Sept. 9.
Lescher retired on Sept. 2.
The letter, dated Aug. 31, calls on Naval Training and Coaching Command to look at Naval Particular Warfare Command, which the varied SEAL groups are part of and which oversees the choice course of. The rear admiral given the duty by Lescher should look into the instructors and medical personnel’s {qualifications}, in addition to how the choice course is performed. It additionally calls on a assessment of the insurance policies round drug testing insurance policies. It’s a sweeping examination of the SEALs and their operations, with Lescher’s orders being clear to maintain a lot of the examination outdoors of Naval Particular Warfare Command.
The brand new investigation comes after the death of Seaman Kyle Mullen. Mullen was a Navy SEAL trainee who accomplished the “Hell Week” portion of choice hours earlier than his dying on Feb. 4. He was 24. The Navy ordered an investigation into Mullen’s passing. That was presupposed to be launched in August, however the New York Occasions, citing an unnamed Navy official, stated that was pushed again after the Navy thought it put an excessive amount of of the blame on Mullen himself. As an alternative, Lescher ordered Naval Particular Warfare Command to easily report if Mullen’s dying was within the line of obligation or not, leaving every thing else to the surface investigators.
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Hell Week, the primary a part of choice performed at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado near San Diego, closely challenges the trainees’ bodily talents, throughout which they cope with sleep deprivation and excessive situations.
A day earlier than Lescher’s letter, the New York Occasions printed an investigative report outlining abuse and neglect inflicted on trainees and the bodily toll that took on them, together with sickness. It’s unclear if that impacted Lescher’s choices.
As a part of Lescher’s orders, the investigation should report what, if something, has been up to date with the course since Mullen’s dying in February. That should even be accomplished inside 30 days.
Mullen was the eleventh SEAL applicant to die within the BUD/S course because it began in 1953. Previous to him, the latest case was in 2016. Coaching incidents have additionally killed lively obligation Navy SEALs. Two months previous to Mullen’s dying, SEAL Workforce 8 chief Cmdr. Brian Bourgeois died from injuries sustained in a fast-rope coaching train.
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