- Seaman Kyle Mullen died this year after completing the Basic Underwater Demolition/SEALs course.
- Mullen’s death exposed drug abuse, physical abuse and medical negligence among employees, the NYT reported.
The Navy has ordered an independent review of its SEAL training course after it found widespread drug use, physical abuse and medical neglect among recruits at the time of the sailor’s death, The New York Times reported.
Seaman Kyle Mullen, 24, who died this year in a fall, had just completed the Basic Underwater Demolition/SEALs, or BUD/S, course, which is known for underwater handcuffs exercises, handling heavy sticks and grueling training methods. Inflatable boats glide across the sand, and through punishing spots and cool surf.
The New York Times reported that Mullen was bleeding for several days following the grueling “Hell Week,” a grueling training regimen that included more than 200 miles of cold swimming and running in hot sand and only five hours of sleep over five days.
The sailor’s official cause of death was ruled to be bacterial pneumonia, The New York Times reported, but his family believed that medical negligence played a role in his death. him.
“They killed him,” his mother, Regina Mullen, a nurse, told The New York Times. “They say it’s training, but it’s torture. And they don’t even give them proper medical care. They treat these people more than they are allowed to treat prisoners of war.”
Mullen died later that afternoon, after another Hell Week survivor had to go in, The New York Times reported. Two more people were hospitalized that night.
So few recruits go through the BUD/S course that sailors often rely on illegal drug use to push them through. Syringes and stimulant drugs were found in Mullen’s car, The New York Times reported, prompting the Navy to launch a preliminary investigation into nearly 40 candidates who tested positive or admitted to using steroids or other drugs. Making their way through the course.
A day after The New York Times published its first report on Mullen’s death and alleged abuse, outgoing Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. William K. Lesher ordered a rear admiral high school out of SEALs. Independent investigation.
Lesher’s letter ordered a review of the course’s safety measures, faculty and medical staff qualifications and student drug policies, The New York Times reported, and gave investigators 30 days to present their findings.
The US Navy did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
