{"id":24066,"date":"2019-11-21T00:14:57","date_gmt":"2019-11-21T00:14:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/11\/21\/navy-two-star-outlines-how-his-command-might-take-seal-tridents\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:12:49","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:12:49","slug":"navy-two-star-outlines-how-his-command-might-take-seal-tridents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/11\/21\/navy-two-star-outlines-how-his-command-might-take-seal-tridents\/","title":{"rendered":"Navy two-star outlines how his command might take SEAL tridents"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Paperwork provided to Navy Times Wednesday reveals that Rear Adm. Collin Green has personally ordered at least two Navy SEALs to go before a Trident Review Board, which will determine their fitness for remaining in the sea service\u2019s elite unit and sporting its distinctive warfare pin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dated Tuesday and marked \u201cfor official use only-privacy sensitive,\u201d the letters were addressed to Special Warfare Operator Chief Edward \u201cEddie\u201d Gallagher and his former officer in charge of Alpha Platoon, SEAL Team 7, Lt. Jacob X. \u201cJake\u201d Portier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Aug. 1, shortly before he retired as the chief of naval operations, Adm. John Richardson withdrew charges against Portier<\/a>, less than a month after Gallagher\u2019s case collapsed in court. He had been accused of helping Gallagher cover up crimes that a military jury said were never committed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gallagher had been charged with murdering an Islamic State prisoner of war, plus a string of other alleged war crimes, but the case collapsed in court and a panel of his peers acquitted him of all but one minor charge \u2014 posing for a photo next to a dead detainee, an allegation Gallagher never denied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although at least a dozen other SEALs, including a commissioned officer, also appeared in images next to the body, they were never charged with the crime. However, Gallagher was convicted and demoted to petty officer first class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exercising his power as the commander in chief of the armed forces, however, President Donald J. Trump on Friday advanced Gallagher back to chief, telegraphing that he thought the punishment was unfair on the eve of the highly decorated SEAL\u2019s retirement after more than two decades in uniform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rear Adm. Green apparently disagreed and has convened a review board for Dec. 2 at Naval Special Warfare Command headquarters in Coronado, California, to \u201cevaluate your operational ability, ethics, judgment, potential and motivation for continued service” as a SEAL, according to the notification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Naval Special Warfare officials have yet to respond to a list of questions sent by Navy Times about Wednesday\u2019s revelations, but this story will be updated if they do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey cheated. We played fair,\u201d said defense attorney Marc Mukasey<\/a>, who represents Gallagher. \u201cThey covered up corruption. We exposed it. They lost at trial. We won the trial. They want Eddie to suffer. We want him to retire in peace. They\u2019re retaliating. We\u2019re not shutting up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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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

Master Chief Special Warfare Operator David Goode will chair a panel that includes a commissioned officer, Cmdr. Peter Logan, alongside three other SEAL master chiefs \u2014 SOCMs Craig Thomas, Daniel Schroeder and Timothy Ige.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s unclear why an enlisted SEAL will preside over a commissioned officer, but that\u2019s how Naval Special Warfare set up the board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Green\u2019s letter indicates that Gallagher will be allowed to appear before the panel at 8 a.m. on Dec. 4 but a recommendation must be made to Green two days later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gallagher isn\u2019t allowed to be represented by legal counsel. He\u2019s allowed to review the evidence against him in a room set aside for his use, but he can\u2019t copy it or take pictures of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He must submit a list of witnesses to Green by Nov. 27 but the rear admiral will determine if the witness is relevant or reasonably available before greenlighting an appearance before the panel, according to the letter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The proceedings will be closed to the public and even other witnesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s nothing Rear Adm. Green is doing here to preserve good order and discipline in the SEALs,\u201d said Gallagher\u2019s defense attorney, Timothy Parlatore<\/a>. “He\u2019ll say that he\u2019s trying to make an example of Gallagher for the rest of the force. But the real message he\u2019s sending is worse than that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRear Adm. Green likes to talk about the \u2018Gallagher Effect<\/a>\u2019 on the SEALs, but what he\u2019s really saying is that if you invoke your constitutional rights, if you dare to hold government accountable, if you force them to make a criminal case against you, and it all falls apart, Rear Adm. Green will personally retaliate against you.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although he won\u2019t be allowed to defend Gallagher before the panel, Parlatore already has started collecting \u201ctrophy shots\u201d of SEALs, including active duty commissioned officers, next to enemy bodies in Iraq and Afghanistan and compiling a potential list of those witnesses for Green to review.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the meantime, Parlatore, a former surface warfare officer, continues to warn Navy leaders that they\u2019re forcing a dangerous breach in traditional civil-military affairs by apparently punishing SEALs in defiance of the president\u2019s direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On March 30, a tweeting Trump ordered the Pentagon to release Gallagher from pretrial confinement in San Diego\u2019s Naval Consolidated Brig Miramar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Gallagher\u2019s court-martial case collapsed, Trump tweeted congratulations<\/a> to the SEAL, his wife Andrea, and his entire family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On July 31, the president nixed Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals doled out to prosecutors in the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then on Friday, he restored Gallagher to chief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPresident Trump absolutely could and probably should step back into the case, after intervening three or four times already,\u201d said Parlatore. “I take this position as a former officer. If you correct a subordinate officer once, you expect him to change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe second time? OK, maybe you give him a second chance. But then you correct him a third time? At a certain point, you\u2019ve demonstrated that you no longer can do the job and the only question left to be asked is how many second chances does the Navy get to get with the commander in chief on this?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t