{"id":63264,"date":"2019-08-12T19:26:28","date_gmt":"2019-08-12T19:26:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/08\/12\/socom-boss-calls-for-another-ethics-review\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T10:20:05","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T10:20:05","slug":"socom-boss-calls-for-another-ethics-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/08\/12\/socom-boss-calls-for-another-ethics-review\/","title":{"rendered":"SOCOM boss calls for another ethics review"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

After a rough couple of months for special operations scandals<\/a> in the news, the head of U.S. Special Operations Command<\/a> is opening up a review into the entire command\u2019s culture and ethics, according to a memo released Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The review will begin immediately and conclude some time in the fall, Army Gen. Richard Clarke<\/a> wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRecent incidents have called our ethics and culture into question and threaten the trust placed in us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most recently, Naval Special Warfare has been under scrutiny, as an entire SEAL Team 7 platoon was sent home from Iraq in July after a debacherous July 4. That same month, a Navy Times report revealed that SEAL Team 10 had been investigated for cocaine use and fraudulent urinalyses<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And though he was acquitted of murder charges, Chief Special Warfare Operator Eddie Gallagher was convicted in July of posing for a photo with the corpse of an ISIS fighter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSome of our subordinate formations have failed to maintain good order and discipline and as a result and for good reason, our NSW culture is being questioned,” Rear Adm. Collin Green, the Navy\u2019s top SEAL, wrote in a July 25 letter to his command. \u201cI don\u2019t 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clarke is the second SOCOM chief to call his command\u2019s ethics and professionalism into question in less than a year. Before he handed over command late last year, former commander Army Gen. Tony Thomas publicly issued guidance to the force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA survey of allegations of serious misconduct across our formations over the last year indicate that USSOCOM faces a deeper challenge of a disordered view of the team and the individual in our SOF culture,\u201d he wrote in his own memo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clarke\u2019s review would be the second such assessment of the command this year, as the Defense Department in March fulfilled a requirement of the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act by reviewing compliance with ethics and professionalism training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DoD reported everything was all good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Overall, the report determined U.S. Special Operations Command and its components are full and active participants in the military services\u2019 and Department of Defense\u2019s ethics programs \u2014 meeting or exceeding standards in every area reviewed,\u201d Pentagon spokeswoman Cmdr. Candice Tresch told Military Times in March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though SEALs have been in the spotlight lately, the Army\u2019s Special Forces and Ranger communities have also seen damning headlines, as have the Marine Raiders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One Raider, along with a SEAL<\/a>, faces murder charges in the strangling death of a Green Beret in Mali in 2017. In recent years, Green Berets have been convicted of smuggling cocaine<\/a>, domestic abuse<\/a> and child sexual abuse.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Currently, Army Maj. Mathew Golsteyn<\/a> is fighting a murder charge that he broke rules of engagement and killed an Afghan national in 2010. And in 2018, a brand new Ranger <\/a>murdered a woman at a Washington state motel before taking his own life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Army Special Operations Command boss Lt. Gen. Frank Beaudette wrote a memo of his own in November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is incumbent upon our leadership down to the team-room level to intensify our emphasis on SOF values and character,\u201d he wrote. \u201cService is a privilege, and this privilege is grounded in a culture of accountability and professionalism that extends far beyond program compliance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those stories are on top of countless anecdotes and allegations swarming around the special operations forces community, of swashbuckling operators engaging in illicit substance use, sexual misconduct, financial schemes and war crimes, with little or no accountability brought down by their chains of command.<\/p>\n\n\n\t