Three senior leaders of Navy SEAL Team 7 were relieved of their positions “due to a loss of confidence that resulted from leadership failures,” Naval Special Warfare Command announced Friday.
The news came six weeks after a platoon within the unit was sent home from Iraq amid accusations that a female service member had been sexually assaulted. There were also reports that some SEALs had violated a general order prohibiting the use of alcohol.
Special Warfare Command spokeswoman Cdr. Tamara Lawrence said that Rear Adm. Collin Green relieved the team’s commanding officer, Cdr. Edward Mason; executive officer Lt. Cdr. Luke Im; and top enlisted leader Command Master Chief Hugh Spangler. The statement asserted that the men’s failures had “caused a breakdown of good order and discipline … while deployed to combat zones.”
Military.com reported that Mason, Im and Spangler will be reassigned within Naval Special Warfare Group 1. It was not immediately clear who would take their place in the SEAL Team 7 leadership.
Members of SEAL Team 7 included Eddie Gallagher, who was acquitted in July of war crimes charges but convicted of posing with a dead Islamic State fighter.
The removal of the platoon from Iraq was one of a series of scandals that have rocked the Navy Special Warfare community and led Green to tell his men “we have a problem” in a July 25 memo. Green ordered new rules to crack down on misconduct within the elite force, and told commanders “that a portion of this force is ethically misaligned with our culture.”
“Some of our subordinate formations have failed to maintain good order and discipline and as a result and for good reason, our NSW [Naval Special Warfare] culture is being questioned,” Green wrote. “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.”
The head of U.S. Special Operations Command last month ordered an ethics review of his commando forces, in the wake of a number of recent episodes of bad behavior and criminal allegations against troops. Army Gen. Richard Clarke said the review will focus on how the command recruits special operators, how it educates and trains the forces and how it addresses ethical failures when they occur.
Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin and Talia Kaplan contributed to this report, along with The Associated Press.