The Pentagon is reviewing the special operations community after a series of high-profile scandals
Two decades of war with a very high optemp, growing SoF too fast each contribute to this sort of problem.
More at the link.This fall has been rough for headlines involving special operations troops. Two Navy SEALs and two Marine Raiders face murder charges in the death of a Green Beret last year in Mali. Meanwhile, a Navy SEAL is under investigation for murdering an Iraqi detainee, and a dozen of his colleagues could be called as witnesses.
Now, after U.S. Special Operations Command has been entrenched in the Global War on Terror for going on two decades, Congress is calling on a Defense Department review of the entire organization, from its operational load to ― notably ― the state of its professionalism and ethics programs.
The most recent National Defense Authorization Act points to “growing congressional concern with misconduct, ethics, and professionalism," according to a Congressional Research Service report published in late October.
“That review is ongoing right now,” a defense official told Army Times on Wednesday.
Senior leaders within the Army have also taken notice, pushing out guidance ahead of DoD’s official report back to Congress.
In a Nov. 29 memo to the force, Army Special Operations Command boss Lt. Gen. Francis Beaudette called on his troops to take a hard look at themselves.
“Recent incidents in our formation have called our ethics and professionalism into question, and threaten to undermine the trust bestowed on us by the American people and our senior leadership,” he wrote.