Rear Adm. Collin Green, the top U.S. Navy SEAL, wrote a letter calling out reports of recent alleged misbehavior and giving commanders until next week to outline problems and recommendations for addressing them, CNN reported Thursday.
In the letter, dated July 25, Green, the commander of Naval Special Warfare Command, imposed a deadline of next Wednesday for their analysis and recommendations, writing “we have a problem” in boldface type.
{mosads}“I don’t know yet if we have a culture problem, I do know that we have a good order and discipline problem that must be addressed immediately,” Green wrote.
The letter comes on the heels of several high-profile allegations against SEALs, including an entire team sent home from Iraq amid a scandal involving alleged sexual assault and drinking alcohol on their downtime. Another internal investigation found members of SEAL Team 10 allegedly abused drugs, including cocaine, while stationed in Virginia.
“Some of our subordinate formations have failed to maintain good order and discipline,” Green wrote, leading to doubt being cast on SEAL culture, “as a result and for good reason.”
A senior Navy official told CNN that after these recent allegations, the Pentagon’s Navy leadership may step in to issue updated directives on ethics standards on top of any criminal military charges those involved may face.
“There is a cultural and ethics issue in the SEAL community,” the official said. “Senior Navy leaders are keenly interested in how this problem is going to be addressed.”
Congress has also questioned military officials on their plans to address the recent incidents, questioning Vice Adm. Michael Gilday, who has been nominated to serve as chief of naval operations, about the reports at his confirmation hearing this week.
“It’s especially important in combat that those values be maintained for all the reasons that we understand so well,” Gilday told the Senate Armed Services Committee.