In an exclusive interview with the New York Post, Navy SEAL Captain Brad Geary responded to the Navy’s recent report into the investigation of the death of one of his SEAL candidates last year.
In late May, the US Navy released a report on its investigation into the February 2022 death of Seaman Kyle Mullen who died just hours after completing the Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) course’s grueling “Hell Week.”
In its 200-page report, the Navy identified failures in “multiple systems” which “led to a number of candidates being at high risk of serious injury.” It found “inadequate oversight” and “insufficient risk assessment,” as well as “poor medical command and control” leading to the “undetected” use of performance-enhancing drugs.
Geary, his immediate superior, then-commander of the Naval Special Warfare Center in Coronado, Captain Brian Drechsler, and the program’s senior medical officer are singled out in the report for their lack of oversight during “Hell Week.”
Geary told the New York Post that he had told the Navy about his concern over the increasing number of SEAL candidates that were dropping out of the training program when he first took over command in 2020. He said he conducted his own study to determine the cause of the drop-out rate, adding that the Navy wasn’t interested in what he learned until after Mullen’s death.
While Geary is portrayed in the Navy’s report as a callous, out-of-touch commander who let his trainers push the candidates too hard, the former commander vehemently denied the allegation.
He told the Post that the words attributed to him in the report are things he would never say because they are the opposite of his leadership philosophy.
Geary also denied the report’s claim that under his leadership, candidates were discouraged from seeking medical attention and that Geary refused to listen to the retired SEALs who were brought in to advise.
Geary expressed disappointment in the Navy’s report, telling the Post that his team of trainers “deserved to be trusted” and the report “unjustly undermines that trust.”
