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The Navy Commander of a SEAL candidate who died after completing California’s notoriously grueling “Hell Week” training confessed he doesn’t feel responsible for the sailor’s death, but reports say he will always carry the weight on his shoulders .
Good Morning America (GMA) interviewed US Navy Capt. Brad Geary — a commander of Naval Special Warfare’s Basic Training Command — in a report aired Tuesday in which the captain defended himself as he distributed a nearly 200-page report that delved into SEAL training.
Undated image shows Regina Mullen with her son, Kyle Mullen, who died during SEAL training. (Facebook/Regina Mullen)
Last month, the Navy published its investigation into the death of deckhand Kyle Mullen, which found that Basic Underwater Demolition/Sea, Air, and Land (BUD/S) “operated with a previously unrecognized accumulation of risk across multiple systems,” including a lack of medical supervision.
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“The entire report mischaracterizes, misrepresents, and miscites our organization and Naval Special Warfare because it was built on a bias that was inappropriate and spouted falsehoods that simply don’t exist,” Geary told the reporter.
In February 2022, Mullen collapsed and died in a San Diego, California hospital after he and another SEAL trainee reported experiencing symptoms of an unknown illness.
FILE – U.S. Navy SEAL candidates, participate in “surf immersion” during Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training at the Naval Special Warfare (NSW) Center in Coronado, California, on May 4, 2020. (MC1 Anthony Walker/US Navy via AP, file)
The Navy announced in October that Mullen died of acute pneumonia with a contributing factor of an enlarged heart, ruling his death was “in the line of duty, not because of his own misconduct”.
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Mullen died at the end of “Hell Week,” a five-and-a-half-day test considered one of the most grueling periods of SEAL training.
After collapsing, Mullen’s lungs were found to be abnormal and his legs were so swollen that he had to be wheeled to the barracks in a wheelchair.
Geary said Mullen’s vitals were actually “very clean” and the wheelchair was used for his comfort. He added that it was common for SEAL candidates to have abnormal lungs or swelling after “Hell Week.”
But once Mullen arrived at the barracks, the report said he was struggling to breathe and there were no medical personnel at the site. It also found that the medical staff was poorly organised, poorly integrated and poorly managed, putting candidates at “considerable risk”.
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Geary was asked if, as a commander, he felt responsible for Mullen’s death.
DOSSIER – The fourth week of training for US Navy SEAL candidates is known as “Hell Week.” (Petty Officer 1st Class Abe McNatt/Naval Special Warfare Command)
“There is a burden on the shoulders of every commanding officer who has served, and I don’t think that burden can be reduced to one term of responsibility,” he said. “I will always carry the weight of Kyle’s death on my shoulders. What I feel responsible for is speaking the truth to make sure it never happens again.”
Geary holds no one responsible for Mullen’s death, instead saying his death was a “tragedy”, something he agreed on in the report.
“It was a perfect storm of factors that all came together at the wrong time and resulted in the tragic loss of Kyle,” said Geary.
In response to Mullen’s death, the Navy said several improvements were made to its training program, including increased supervision and training by instructors; more thorough medical screenings for heart disease; updated medical policies and standard operating procedures; and a new expanded authority to test candidates for PEDs.
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Mullen, from Manalapan Township, New Jersey, joined the Navy in March 2021, according to his Navy biography. He reported to SEAL training in Coronado in July of that year.
Vice Admiral Keith Davids, commander of the Naval Special Warfare Command, said the Navy has a duty to learn of Mullen’s death and ensure similar events don’t happen again.
Fox News Digital’s Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
Greg Wehner is a breaking news reporter for Fox News Digital.
