Washington – A Navy investigation has concluded that inadequate medical examinations and uninformed medical personnel contributed to the death of a US Marine Corps candidate hours after he completed a brutal portion of the training course known as “Hell Week.”
The investigation prompted an overhaul of how the Navy monitored one of the military’s most brutal and demanding operations.
Admiral Peter Garvin, commander of the Naval Education and Training Command, wrote that he found medical support for the basic underwater/sea-air-land demolition course to be “poorly organized, poorly integrated, and poorly led.” The lack of proper medical care “puts candidates at great risk.”
Garvin also said additional accountability measures are necessary in the wake of the failures that contributed to Mullen’s death. According to a Navy official, Garvin has recommended that impeachment proceedings be considered against approximately 10 people. The official said a Navy Territorial Legal Services office is reviewing the investigation and will make recommendations on accountability, after which the command will decide what action to take.
The training and selection course is designed to push SEAL candidates to the limit and beyond, creating an environment where only the most qualified and capable will end up, but Garvin said there is still “effective risk management” to prevent injuries and illness during high-risk training.
In February 2022, Navy SEAL candidate Kyle Mullen is from New Jersey He just finished Hell Week and underwent a final medical before going to rest in his barracks. The investigation found that Mullen had experienced breathing problems during the strenuous training, but information about the symptoms had not been passed on to the Navy medical clinic, leading them to conclude that he was not in danger.
Eight hours later, Mullen was pronounced dead.
In the hours leading up to his death, Mullen had been coughing up an “orange-red liquid” and had difficulty breathing, according to the inquest. Even as he was repeatedly denied advanced medical attention, he seemed to choke on his words and gasp for air as if he was drowning. But the individuals assigned to verify Mullen and the other SEAL candidates, known as observers, had no medical training or emergency care.
Candidates who are going through hell week are usually given a form of penicillin called bicillin at the start of their cycle to reduce the risk of bacterial pneumonia. But the investigation found that Mullen had not received the preventive medication, likely due to a shortage at the time.
Ultimately, the investigation found “failures across multiple systems” that put the candidates at risk of serious infection, Garvin wrote.
“Our effectiveness as a Naval Special Operations Force requires very serious training,” Admiral Keith Davids, commander of Naval Special Warfare Command, said at the conclusion of the investigation. “While our training is intensely rigorous and demanding, our training must be conducted with an unwavering commitment to safety and methodological rigor.”
In October, after a separate investigation focused specifically on Mullen’s death, the Navy took administrative action against the former officer of Basic Training Command, Captain Bradley Geary. Naval Special Warfare Center Commander, Capt. Brian Drechler; And senior medical staff under their command. The administrative action is usually in the form of a letter to the service member instructing them to correct the defective performance.
Earlier this month, Drechsler was fired from his job two months ago.
After Mullen’s death, the Navy revamped its approach to the medical examination during the training and selection process. The Navy enhanced medical supervision during and after the Hell Week course, requiring medical examinations every 24 hours.
Candidates are now recovering from the course at a center very close to the medical clinic, allowing for more thorough monitoring at a critical time. The lead observer is a qualified high stakes instructor. In addition, the medical officer must be in the Naval Special Warfare Center Medical Division during the whole hell week evaluating candidates who are pursuing the course.
The investigation also looked at how the use of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) during the cycle was handled. In September, a senior Navy SEAL officer who spoke to CNN on condition of anonymity said there was “beyond reasonable doubt that a significant portion of the candidate population is using a wide variety of performance-enhancing drugs.”
A search of Mullen’s car after his death found packages labeled “recombinant human growth hormone large genes” and “testosterone cypionate,” a type of steroid. But Mullen was not posthumously tested for PEDs due to the need for a blood and urine sample.
Other members of Moline’s class told investigators that they felt there was tacit endorsement of the use of PEDs after an instructor told candidates, “Don’t use PEDs, it’s cheating, and you don’t need it. Whatever you do, you don’t get caught up in them in your barracks room.”
After Mullen’s death, the Navy received from the Department of Defense expanded authority to test Navy Special Warfare candidates for PEDs. All candidates who take the SEALs course and the Special Warfare Combatant-Craft Crewman course undergo a random drug test.
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