{"id":41649,"date":"2018-12-05T19:15:12","date_gmt":"2018-12-05T19:15:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/12\/05\/the-pentagon-is-reviewing-the-special-operations-community-after-a-series-of-high-profile-scandals\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T03:32:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T03:32:27","slug":"the-pentagon-is-reviewing-the-special-operations-community-after-a-series-of-high-profile-scandals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2018\/12\/05\/the-pentagon-is-reviewing-the-special-operations-community-after-a-series-of-high-profile-scandals\/","title":{"rendered":"The Pentagon is reviewing the special operations community after a series of high-profile scandals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This fall has been rough for headlines involving special operations troops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two Navy SEALs and two Marine Raiders face murder charges in the death of a Green Beret<\/a> last year in Mali. Meanwhile, a Navy SEAL is under investigation for murdering an Iraqi detainee<\/a>, and a dozen of his colleagues could be called as witnesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, after U.S. Special Operations Command<\/a> 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 \u2015 notably \u2015 the state of its professionalism and ethics programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most recent National Defense Authorization Act points to \u201cgrowing congressional concern with misconduct, ethics, and professionalism,” according to a Congressional Research Service report<\/a> published in late October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat review is ongoing right now,\u201d a defense official told Army Times on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senior leaders within the Army have also taken notice, pushing out guidance ahead of DoD\u2019s official report back to Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRecent 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,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Staff Sgt. Logan J. Melgar was found dead of strangulation on June 4, 2017 in housing he shared with three other special operations forces personnel in Bamako, Mali. Two U.S. Navy SEALs have been listed as “persons of interest” by criminal investigators. No one has been charged in the crime. Source: U.S. Army<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Leaders need to set a tone in their units that enables soldiers and civilians to make the right decision \u201cleft of bang,\u201d before they\u2019ve done something they can\u2019t take back and have to face consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf we fail to meet the high standards expected of us, we fail in our duty to the nation,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blockbuster stories like murder and corruption abroad have gotten major press attention, but further down in the weeds, there are countless stories of individual misconduct in operators’ personal lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just this year, Army Special Forces soldiers have been charged with attempting to smuggle cocaine<\/a> back from Colombia, the murder<\/a> of an estranged wife, the sexual assault<\/a> of a family friend, and the rape of two young girls<\/a>. Three of those four cases came out of 7th Special Forces Group at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NDAA directs the office of the secretary of defense to study professional and ethics standards for SOCOM and its component commands, as well as those within each of the services available to their respective special operations troops.<\/p>\n\n\n\t