{"id":15124,"date":"2019-08-23T19:46:55","date_gmt":"2019-08-23T19:46:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/08\/23\/for-seals-its-back-to-regulation-haircuts-and-uniform-inspections\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T18:48:56","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T18:48:56","slug":"for-seals-its-back-to-regulation-haircuts-and-uniform-inspections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/08\/23\/for-seals-its-back-to-regulation-haircuts-and-uniform-inspections\/","title":{"rendered":"For SEALs, it\u2019s back to regulation haircuts and uniform inspections"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Stung by a string of scandals starring SEALs behaving badly, Naval Special Warfare commander Rear Adm. Collin Green<\/a> on Tuesday issued a four-page \u201cback to basics\u201d directive designed to shore up shoddy conduct, restore moral accountability and create better leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Released to senior leaders and then obtained by Navy Times, Green\u2019s guidance returns the SEAL and boat teams to standards expected of service members across the fleet, with a mandate for leaders to conduct \u201croutine inspections of your units and strictly enforce all Navy grooming and uniform standards, including adherence to all Navy traditions, customs and ceremonies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within popular culture, SEALs often are depicted as bearded commandos with a shaggy pirate bravado but Green\u2019s memo echoes former Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson\u2019s May advice to the sea service\u2019s leaders, telling them that they will be judged by the character and performance of their teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Green\u2019s guidance clearly puts character first and adopts steps that will anchor SEALs not only to their own storied history but to the larger institution of the Navy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Commanders will inspect their officers and sailors during uniform shifts, establish \u201cweekly battle rhythm events\u201d to include quarters, unit physical training and zone inspections, with Green personally holding leaders \u201caccountable for all substandard issues related to your personnel on and off duty.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are U.S. Naval Officers and Sailors first and foremost and we will realign ourselves to these standards immediately,\u201d the WARCOM boss wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was merely one reform in a series of ordered changes Green identified in his \u201cCall to Action\u201d memo, an extraordinary document that Green conceded was triggered by a force that \u201chas drifted from our Navy core values of Honor, Courage and Commitment\u201d and an ethos \u201cdue to a lack of action at all levels of Leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without quantifying their numbers, Green told his subordinates that \u201ca portion of this Force is ethically misaligned\u201d with traditional SEAL culture because of those \u201cwho fail to correct this behavior\u201d and instead \u201cprioritize this misalignment over the loyalty to Navy and Nation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis drift ends now,\u201d Green said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Members of Alpha Platoon, SEAL Team 7, pose in front of the body of a dead Islamic State prisoner of war in Iraq in 2017. Only Gallagher was convicted for appearing in the image. (Navy)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Green recently completed a review<\/a> that explored potential ethical, health and cultural problems dogging a special operations force that\u2019s consistently rotated overseas since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. However, leaders at U.S. Special Operations Command two weeks ago demanded he submit a second version<\/a> following more glum headlines about his SEALs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following a boozy July 4th party in Iraq, SOCOM superiors booted Foxtrot Platoon, SEAL Team 7, back to Naval Base Coronado, with ongoing investigations for sexual assault, fraternization and other allegations of misconduct trailing in their wake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prosecutors also say a pair of Navy SEALs<\/a> are linked to the June 4, 2017, death of Army Special Forces Staff Sgt. Logan Melgar at his residence in Bamako, Mali.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout August, admirals have dismissed five prosecutions involving SEALs linked to either war crimes or their cover up in Iraq and Afghanistan, including the botched court-martial of Special Warfare Operator Chief Edward \u201cEddie\u201d Gallagher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A military panel of his peers cleared the SEAL of murdering an Islamic State prisoner of war, obstruction of justice and other serious specifications, finding him guilty only of the minor charge of posing with the dead detainee\u2019s body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although other SEALs posed with him, they weren\u2019t charged and the investigation and trial of Gallagher were dogged with allegations of misconduct by Naval Special Warfare leaders, prosecutors and Naval Criminal Investigative Service agents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And before they were caught last year, several SEAL Team 10 special warfare operators snorted cocaine or spiked their drinks with the banned substance, often defeating military drug tests<\/a> they termed \u201ca joke,\u201d according to an internal investigation obtained by Navy Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s also the ongoing prosecution of Special Operator 1st Class Aaron Howard<\/a> for allegedly using chat messages to catfish three women, who sent him racy photos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The military judge in his case has determined that it appears SEAL Team 6 leaders wielded unlawful command influence to deny him a fair hearing but prosecutors are expected to file a rebuttal to the ruling.<\/p>\n\n\n\t