Administrative actions stemming from the 2022 death of a Navy SEAL trainee are over, the Navy said Monday, after two boards of inquiry into former Naval Special Warfare Training Command leaders were canceled.
Seaman Kyle Mullen died in February 2022 after completing "Hell Week" at the Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL school in Coronado, better known as "BUD/S."
Navy investigations into Mullen's death blamed, in part, poor medical oversight of trainees at BUD/S. Mullen had been ill prior to Hell Week and was seen coughing up blood upon finishing, witnesses told Navy investigators.
The Navy's autopsy found he died of acute pneumonia and an enlarged heart.
The investigation recommended BUD/S leaders face administrative punishment, including the training command's commanding officer, Capt. Brad Geary, and its senior medical officer, Cmdr. Erik Ramey.
This summer, the pair were ordered to face boards of inquiry. Military boards of inquiry are similar to trials, with prosecution and defense attorneys, and both sides can call witnesses. But instead of judges and juries, the boards feature a panel of officers who decide whether alleged offenses occurred and, if they did, whether the service member should be forced out of the military.
In August, during a six-hour interview on the Shawn Ryan Podcast, Geary criticized the Navy, saying the service ignored evidence that performance enhancing drugs might have also contributed to Mullen's death.
Geary said investigators found large amounts of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) in Mullen's vehicle — more than one person might use.
According to the Navy's investigation, Mullen's body was not tested for PEDs during his autopsy.
Geary also refuted the accusation that they weren't monitoring trainees' health, saying there was diligent oversight due to the pandemic.
In memos sent to Geary and Ramey Friday, Chief of Naval Personnel Vice Adm. Rick Cheeseman said issues raised by the officers and their attorneys led him to reconsider the boards.
"I have reviewed your case again, and after careful consideration, determined that you are no longer required to show cause for retention," Cheeseman wrote in a memo to one of the officers obtained by KPBS.
Cheeseman did not specify what issues led to his decision.
Jeremiah Sullivan is Ramey's San Diego-based attorney specializing in military law. Sullivan said Monday he also didn't know what information moved Cheeseman to act, but that he'd raised several issues.
"We never stopped fighting," Sullivan said in an emailed statement. "We retained top forensic experts to litigate the case. We cannot say exactly what evidence convinced the Navy to backtrack their position. We do know that the Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery found that CDR Ramey met the standard of care."
Attorney Tim Parlatore represents Geary. He said in an emailed statement Monday there are no winners in this case.
"While Captain Geary is certainly happy to put these proceedings behind him, unfortunately there are no winners here," Parlatore said. "A mother lost her son, two fantastic officers lost their careers, while the Navy and NCIS took a further hit to their credibility by their failure to conduct a proper investigation in the first instance and thereby avoid these unnecessary proceedings."
Parlatore has been critical of the Navy and NCIS before. While representing former Navy SEAL Chief Eddie Gallagher at his 2019 war crimes court-martial, he frequently criticized Navy investigators and their methods.
Regina Mullen, Kyle Mullen's mother, told her hometown newspaper, the Asbury Park Press, Friday she thinks politics might have played a part in the Navy's decision.
As president during his first term, Donald Trump intervened several times on behalf of Gallagher, eventually leading to the resignation of then-Navy Secretary Richard Spencer.
Parlatore went on to represent Trump in the Jan. 6 probe and the classified documents case. He's also the longtime attorney of Fox News host Pete Hegseth, Trump's nominee for Secretary of Defense.
A Navy spokesperson Monday declined to offer specifics on the decision.
"Following the investigations into the oversight and management of BUD/S Class 352 and the surrounding circumstances of the death of Seaman Mullen, the Navy pursued administrative actions for accountability," the spokesperson said in an email. "The process for determining those actions has concluded."
The spokesperson said they couldn't provide more information due to privacy concerns.
