WASHINGTON – The Navy will begin randomly testing its special operators for performance-enhancing drugs following the death of a SEAL trainee in February 2022, the service’s Special Warfare Command (NSW) announced Friday.
Beginning in November, the command will test SEALs and other special operators for PEDs in addition to the Navy’s regular random testing for illegal street drugs.
The move comes after a series of exclusive stories by The Post highlighting the potential role of PEDs in the February 2021 death of SEAL trainee Marine Kyle Mullen.
“My intention is to ensure that every [Navy Special Warfare] teammates operating at their best while maintaining the distinguished standards of excellence that define NSW,” command chief Admiral Keith Davids said in a statement.
“Unauthorized use of PEDs – including steroids, human growth hormone, and SARMs – without a military medical prescription in accordance with DoD protocol, remains dangerous and poses a significant risk,” NSW said in its announcement.
The Navy will begin randomly testing its special operators for performance-enhancing drugs after an investigation into the death of a SEAL trainee in February 2022.AP
Each month, the command will randomly select units to participate in the test, and 15% of those units will undergo urinalysis, according to the service.
“We recognize that some of our teammates may have legitimate medical conditions that need to be treated with prescription supplements,” Davids said. “If that happens, we encourage our teammates, who haven’t already, to talk to their medical providers to get properly diagnosed and treated.”
Mullen, 24, died after he was found unresponsive after he completed the grueling Navy SEAL training program “Hell Week.” Medical examiners found that Mullen died of pneumonia, with a contributing factor being an enlarged heart – a condition that can be caused by prolonged PED use.
Beginning in November, the command will test SEALs and other special operators for PEDs in addition to the Navy’s regular random testing for illegal street drugs. Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
After Mullen’s death, officers found syringes and illegally obtained PEDs — including various forms of human growth hormone, testosterone and other drugs, according to NCIS photos obtained by The Post.
However, Navy investigators have largely ignored the role that PEDs may have played in the deaths, instead blaming SEAL training leaders. In a highly critical investigative report on Mullen’s death, they described the program’s commander at the time, Capt. Brad Geary as an out-of-touch leader where his cadre of trainers push SEAL candidates too hard, creating an unsafe environment for the trainees.
Friday’s announcement shows that NSW, at least, is taking the influence of PEDs more seriously. A command spokesman confirmed to The Post that a Naval Education and Training Command investigation into the safety and medical oversight of SEAL Mullen class inspired the change.
Noting that the investigation “identified examples of performance-enhancing drug use among [SEAL] candidates,” the spokesperson said that “by embarking on this comprehensive new approach, we are ensuring all our staff – not just candidates – are operating at their best, preserving the distinguished standards of excellence that define NSW.”
“While we only have anecdotal evidence of PED use among our ranks, and PED use among our candidates is much lower than some media reports suggest, we firmly believe that any number above zero is unacceptable,” he said. explained that “.69 percent or 3 out of 434” trainees have tested positive for PEDs since March.
Each month, the command will randomly select units to participate in the test, and 15% of those units will undergo a urinalysis, according to the service. Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
“We have an obligation to take care of the health of our teammates, and that’s what this new testing process is all about,” he added.
Still, the heat remains on the SEAL training staff. Earlier this month, the Navy notified Geary, former training center commander Capt. Brian Dreschler and former program chief medical adviser Cmdr. Erik Ramey, that they will face non-judicial punishment as a result.
Geary told The Post on Friday that he was glad to see the command begin random PED testing — something he and other SEAL leaders had advocated for long before Mullen’s death.
“If this policy had been implemented earlier, Kyle Mullen might still be alive today,” he stressed. “This is good policy and confirms the collective knowledge that PEDs can be harmful (even fatal) to one’s health, especially if taken outside the knowledge/prescription of a licensed physician.”
On Monday, The Post revealed that three Republican congressmen had been quietly pressing the Navy for months to review its findings, with Reps. Nick LaLota (R-NY), Morgan Luttrell (R-Texas) and Cory Mills (R -Fla.) wrote the Navy’s chief of legal affairs in June with concerns of possible bias in the service’s investigation of the case.
“It has come to our attention that the Navy’s investigation into the death of Seaman Kyle Mullen was potentially misdirected and mismanaged,” the lawmakers wrote in a congressional inquiry obtained exclusively by The Post, which questioned the service’s lack of consideration of the possible effects of PEDs. have on Mullen’s health.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
