In a highly unusual move, three senior leaders of a SEAL team were dismissed Friday from their positions only weeks after a unit was sent home from Iraq accused of sexually assaulting a female service member and the platoon chief of another unit was convicted for posing with a human casualty.
Naval Special Warfare Command said Rear Adm. Collin Green relieved them because their leadership failures caused a breakdown of order and discipline within two units while deployed to combat zones.
It did not name the units. The men will remain in the Navy and they are not accused of any misconduct themselves.
The Navy did not make clear which two units it was referring to but it named the team leaders who were relieved.
They are the unit's commanding officer, Cdr. Edward Mason; executive officer, Lt. Cdr. Luke Im; and the team's top enlisted leader, Command Master Chief Hugh Spangler.
The Navy did not respond to requests asking to reach the men, and The Associated Press was unable to contact them for comment.
SEAL Team 7 has had a series of recent problems.
The firings come only weeks after Green ordered new rules to crack down on misconduct within the elite force and told commanders "that a portion of this force is ethically misaligned with our culture."
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