My deep dive on Navy SEAL training in Rolling Stone
The Navy has taken the rare step of moving to punish three senior officers involved in SEAL training
Rolling Stone last night published my investigation into what led to the death of SEAL trainee Kyle Mullen last night.
Mullen, a former Yale football star, died after completing Hell Week, five days of training that push candidates to their mental and physical breaking point.
I had been working on this story for a while, but the story moved last night because of a big development: The Navy is moving to punish three senior officers following an investigation (actually multiple investigations) into Mullen’s death.
Capt. Brad Geary, former commanding officer of Naval Special Warfare’s Basic Training Command; Capt. Brian Drechsler, the former commanding officer of the Naval Special Warfare Center; and Dr. Erik Ramey, the former head of BUD/S medical, face charges of negligent dereliction of duty.
The three officers have been recommended for an admiral’s mast, a form of non-judicial punishment that dates back to the days of sailing ships when captains meted out discipline under the mast.
This is a rare step. Eleven trainees have died since the Navy began putting people through eight weeks of training compressed into seven days since the middle of World War II. Few, if any, of those deaths have had the impact of Mullen’s death. That’s in large part due to the relentless efforts of Mullen’s mother, Regina.
One of the things that has kept me in this crazy journalism business for 30 years is the chance to tell the stories of those who feel they can’t speak out. I got to do that in this story. Former trainees told me of the abuses they suffered during training:
As the instructors ratcheted up the pressure, former trainees say that they began to turn on each other in a win-at-all-costs scenario straight out of Lord of the Flies. “We were told by class leadership that if we could get certain people to quit over the weekend, we’d have an easier Monday,” said one former trainee, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “On one occasion, we were running boats and we’re told we could secure our boat (put it away and rest) if we could get one guy to quit. I’m not proud of this but, during a brief break, we beat him when no one else could see us.”
A second trainee tells Rolling Stone he lasted until Monday night of Hell Week when one of his teammates stomp-kicked him in the back while running in the dark with boats on their heads. “I had been putting out with them,” he said. “My neck started bothering me and I needed to switch. No one would switch with me.” He rang the bell. “The whole thing of your brotherhood, I wish I didn’t care as much, but I do. They were begging me to quit. I didn’t want to be the teammate that was bringing
Please give the story a read, which you can find here:
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/navy-seal-death-kyle-mullen-investigation-1234820349/
I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.