The Navy has fired the top leader of San Diego-based SEAL Team 7. The Naval Special Warfare Command announced Friday that Rear Adm. Collin Green had removed SEAL Team 7’s senior commander, Commander Edward Mason, as well as its executive officer, Lt. Col. Luke Im, and its top commander, Commander Hugh Spangler.
The removals stem from a loss of confidence due to leadership failures that caused a breakdown in good order and discipline in two subordinate units while deployed to combat zones, according to a statement from Navy spokeswoman Commander Tamara Lawrence.
In August, SEAL Team 7 made headlines when one of its platoons was sent home from Iraq amid allegations of drinking and sexual misconduct. A month later, the allegations are still under investigation and no decisions have been made on the charges, Lawrence said.
RELATED: San Diego-Based SEAL Platoon Pulled Out of Iraq Over Discipline Issues In July, a San Diego court-martial acquitted Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher of the most serious war crimes charges stemming from his platoon’s time with SEAL Team 7 in Mosul, Iraq, in 2017. Gallagher was convicted of posing with a corpse on the battlefield. During the trial, it was revealed that the group operated a rooftop bar in a country where alcohol is banned.
Brigadier General Green issued a four-page letter to Navy special operations commanders on Aug. 19 calling for an end to the moral drift in special operations. The letter outlined a plan to improve ethical standards in SEAL units.
