Top Navy SEAL says allegations of misbehavior show 'we have a problem'

In the wake of several reports of alleged misbehavior, Rear Adm. Collin Green, the top Navy SEAL, sent a letter last week ordering commanders to let him know problems they see in the force and how they can be fixed, CNN reports.

"We have a problem," he wrote in a letter obtained by CNN. "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 gave them until August 7 to share their concerns.

His letter did not go into detail on any specific incidents, but in recent months it's been reported that a SEAL team was sent home from Iraq after allegations of sexual assault and an internal investigation found that some members of SEAL Team 10 allegedly abused illegal drugs while stationed in Virginia in 2018.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Earlier this week, Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Gen. Richard Clarke, head of special operations forces, met to discuss ethics violations in the military and the best way to handle them. "They discussed some of the recent cases that have emerged in the special operations community," Esper's spokesman, Jonathan Hoffman, told CNN. "They share the concerns."