3 Navy officers reprimanded in death of SEAL trainee
Navy officials and a new report say the Naval Special Warfare Command has reprimanded three officers in connection with the February death of a SEAL candidate
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The Navy’s Special Warfare Command has reprimanded three officers in connection with the February death of a SEAL candidate who collapsed and died of acute pneumonia just hours after completing the grueling Hell Week test, according to Navy officials and a new report.
Commanders did not directly blame the officers for the death of SEAL candidate Kyle Mullen, and no one has been fired. But a Navy investigation into his death has triggered a number of changes in how sailors are monitored during the physically and mentally exhausting test, and has prompted the command to seek and conduct expanded testing for performance-enhancing drugs.
A new report released by the command concluded that Mullen, 24, from Manalapan, New Jersey, died “in the line of duty, not due to his own misconduct.” It said he had an enlarged heart that also contributed to his death, which came soon after he successfully finished Hell Week, the five-and-a-half-day test that comes during the first phase of assessment for SEAL candidates striving to get into the Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL, or BUD/S, class. The training was at the Naval Special Warfare Training Center in Coronado, California.
