Posted on Feb 8, 2022
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On Sunday, Navy officials announced SEAL candidate, 24-year-old Kyle Mullen, died after the highly demanding training session known as 'Hell Week' and left another sailor hospitalized. This isn't the first incident during or connected to Hell Week.

Hell Week is meant to test the physical and mental determination to perform in the most difficult conditions; it's why Navy SEALs are recognized as some of the highest trained members of the U.S. military special operations forces.

Do you think 'Hell Week' needs to be reconsidered or is it a necessary risk?
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Responses: 50
Maj Robert Thornton
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Should we stop flight operations at sea because an F-35 crashed? Risk is inherent to the military life style.
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A1C Medrick "Rick" DeVaney
A1C Medrick "Rick" DeVaney
1 y
LTC George Morgan -
If We'd Only Take: "the final weeding by which only the greatest graduate",
That Would Be One Hell Of A Small Group ~ Hardly Enough To Form A Game
Of Gin And Drink A 6 Pack... WTF Ya Talking About?
How Would That Work If We Only Took The Best Out Of The Basic Training Programs?
~F 'Kin Idiots.~
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LTC George Morgan
LTC George Morgan
1 y
A1C Medrick "Rick" DeVaney - Reading accurately is a job requirement.
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A1C Medrick "Rick" DeVaney
A1C Medrick "Rick" DeVaney
1 y
LTC George Morgan
- "HELL WEEK" Is A Part Of The "Routine Training" ~~ "A Job Requirement"?
Then Out Of The Entire Group Of Trainees, How Many Would "Make The Cut",
If "Only The Greatest Graduate"?~~ I've Always Been Of The Belief: "The Greatest" Was "ONE PERSON" Out Of An Entire Group......Such As Muhammad Ali ~~ NOT Any Of The Other Competitors HE Kick The Sh*it Out Of.... It's Not A Group Effort
. ~ SERIOUSLY ~ Please Explain ~ It's WAY Over My Head.
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PO2 David Hendrick
PO2 David Hendrick
1 y
Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer school may start out with 10 recruits and when the class ends, maybe 1 or 2 will graduate. At times NO one graduates. A rescue swimmer may have to stay with a survivor for 30 minutes to one hour treading water, so the swimmer must be the best of the best. Water polo players and surfers make good candidates. Like a Navy SEAL the rescue swimmers has to be highly motivated to graduate and make the cut.
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CWO4 Terrence Clark
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No. Complete a sitrep and get back to training warriors. We have too many soft handshakes as it is.
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Sgt Field Radio Operator
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Training has to be hard because combat is harder.
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Should Navy SEAL 'Hell Week' practices be reconsidered after the recent tragedy?
MSG Intermediate Care Technician
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Should Airborne operations cease because someone burns in?
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Lt Col Scott Shuttleworth
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Absolutely not. This training is designed to be the way it is because the ones that make it have the will and mindset to do the job. If their body gives out during training then that is just life but the body count will be much higher if we lower standards. This is no different than Green Berets, Rangers, Air Force Combat Controllers/Pararescue or any other spec ops pipeline. They all have their version of hell week and it works. Lower the standards and you will raise the body count not only for them but the ones that they are paving the way to come in and assault behind them.
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SFC Marc W.
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Several years ago a 32 year old major died after running the 2 mile run on an APFT. Pushing our own bounds of physical limits is part of what we take on. I think the exact circumstances need to be reviewed carefully by those who know the program best and determine if there was something over looked either by cadre or the candidate.
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SFC Ralph E Kelley
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Edited 3 y ago
No - Stuff happens in training. Its not something that is ever going to change. We can limit the risk, but without that risk it would quickly become MORE dangerous to other troops when crunch-time comes if someone was unable to step up due to their being unfit to meet the mental and physical challenge required by our profession of arms.
Only once did I take a soldier that was forced into my unit because he was 'expected' to succeed because of who his father's position was in the US Army.
He was a fine individual but was unable to understand his place (we had several conversations about it) about how an officer relates to the leader/soldier dynamic. His lack of discipline and more specifically his poor enforcement of discipline, led to his, though an officer, and another private soldier being grievously injured. Another soldier, the specialist whom which he had bonded and talked him into the situation, died.
All this came out in the 15-6 investigation, so my answer is, "NO!". The officer avoided following the training that have been given, conducted himself poorly and thus was unable to enforce his supervisory position vs the soldier's position.
This was also my failure to properly train the officer. The worst mistake I ever made as a PSG. I learned the lesson I needed and never allowed it again.
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SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL
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Thanks for sharing
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CW5 Roberto Longu
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I think is a necessary risk
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SPC Elijah J. Henry, MBA
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One candidate out of how many? Not just this class, but all of them? Maybe one in ten thousand die? Is that worth it to make men who are that much better at killing and surviving and saving lives? Seems likely. If they screwed up their safety procedures, then that needs to be addressed, but SOF training is inherently risky.
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SPC Elijah J. Henry, MBA
SPC Elijah J. Henry, MBA
4 y
PO1 Todd McMillin - excellent information, thank you for sharing.
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