In the past few years, the American media and society have often discussed cases that are associated with the moral character of the American special forces and the crimes they commit. The special forces are accused of using and transporting drugs, violence against civilians, violations of discipline and regulations. High-ranking generals also talk about problems with discipline and criminality. The situation reached the point that General Richard Clark, the commander of the US Special Operations Forces, ordered a morale check of the military formations entrusted to him. The official newspaper of the US Department of Defense "Stars and Stripes" wrote about it.
According to the general, the latest news casts doubt on the cultural and moral values of the special forces fighters and may cause loss of public confidence. The loss of confidence in their defenders on the part of ordinary Americans is unacceptable, says Richard Douglas Clark. That is why the high command will soon visit the special forces units with a check. According to the Stars and Stripes newspaper, the check in parts should be completed by November 2019.
High-profile incidents with American special forces
The news that appeared at the end of July 2019 caused the greatest resonance in the American press. The American command was forced to take a very rare step. A platoon of the elite Navy SEALs was sent back home from Iraq ahead of schedule. The reason was the deterioration of order and discipline in the unit in their free time from performing tasks. According to CNN, the command has lost confidence in the team's ability to carry out combat missions. As a result, the special forces platoon set off ahead of schedule back to San Diego. As noted in the US Department of Defense, this decision is due to the fact that seals abused alcohol in their free time, and the fighters are also accused of sexual violence. At the same time, the Special Operations Command emphasizes that there is no evidence that the special forces fighters used drugs or drank alcohol during combat missions. Currently, this fact is being checked.
This news in the United States was superimposed on another high-profile incident with the military, in which 19 people were immediately involved. The day after the withdrawal of elite special forces from Iraq, 18 Marine Corps fighters and one sailor were arrested at Camp Pendleton, California. According to CNN, the detained servicemen are accused of various crimes - from human smuggling (transporting illegal migrants in order to obtain benefits) to drug-related cases. Eight more Marines were questioned about possible involvement in drug crimes unrelated to the arrests that occurred.
Just a few days before the news, a US court acquitted the commander of one of the SEALs, officer Eddie Gallagher. The jury acquitted the defendant, who was accused of murder and attempted murder. Eddie Gallagher was accused of killing a wounded captive ISIS fighter (a terrorist organization banned in Russia) with a knife, and he was also accused of shooting civilians in Iraq. At the same time, Gallagher was found guilty in one episode, he posed for a photograph with a killed captured militant. For this, the officer was sentenced to 4 months in prison, but he will not serve the term, since he had already been in prison for 9 months. An additional punishment for Gallagher was the fact that the jury called for a demotion of the officer in rank, as well as a reduction in the amount of pension benefits.
Another high-profile case involving the SEALs was the 2017 assassination in Mali of US Army Staff Sergeant Logan Melgar, who is a Green Beret (Army Special Forces). The murder took place in the capital of Mali, Bamako. Four people are charged with the crime: two seals and two marines. All of them, including the victim of the crime, provided security for the American embassy in Mali. All four persons involved in the case were charged with manslaughter, conspiracy and attempted cover-up, hazing and burglary.
Other incidents in which American special forces have been implicated in the past few years and which have made it to the media include cocaine use, numerous cases of sexual aggression and rape, and drug trafficking on military transport planes. Commenting on the increasing news coverage of elite US Special Forces soldiers, Rear Admiral Colleen Greene said: “I don’t know yet if we have problems with morale and culture, but I know that we have problems with discipline and order. which need to be addressed immediately."
What's going on with the American special forces?
Currently, the Special Operations Command, which directs all special forces units of all branches of the US Armed Forces, has 72 thousand people, including 6, 7 thousand civil servants. Although most of the American special forces are behaving appropriately, high-profile scandals and criminal cases attract huge public attention and undermine popular confidence in elite special forces, which American generals consider a serious problem.
In addition to various crimes, the American special forces faced another serious problem - an increase in suicides. In February 2019, CNN published an article that over the year the number of suicides among US special forces fighters tripled from 8 cases in 2017 to 22 cases in 2018. This may be evidence of the emerging crisis of psychological health among the special forces soldiers. These figures do not include suicide data among fighters who have already completed their military service. At the same time, only in the state of Montana, up to 20 percent of all suicides are among the retired military. Most often, these are citizens who do not need anything financially with a good social package and a pension from the state.
At the same time, quite serious requirements are imposed on candidates for the "Navy Seals" in the United States. Only male members of the US Navy under the age of 28 can become fighters of this elite special forces. The IQ of those selected for service must be at least 104 points. According to statistics, only on the intelligence test, up to 30 percent of candidates for privates and non-commissioned officers and up to 20 percent of officers are eliminated. In addition to high mental abilities, candidates for the "Navy Seals" during the year should not have any penalties in the service. They are also checked by a serious medical commission. Serious requirements are imposed on the physical training of candidates: to do 50 squats in two minutes, push up in the support 42 times in two minutes, swim 450 meters in 12.5 minutes, pull up on the bar at least 8 times and run 2400 meters in 11.5 minutes or faster. In conclusion, all candidates must also pass psychological tests, one of the selection criteria, among other things, is the presence of a "positive mentality".
The selection of candidates is quite serious, random people simply cannot end up in the special forces, why then such a large number of negative news that directly relate to the soldiers of the special forces? Experts say that the reason for the increase in drug use, the commission of various crimes and suicides is a complex of reasons, in which the general overstrain of the soldiers plays the main violin.
Currently, US Special Operations Forces fighters are present in half of the 54 African states. Another area where American special forces are active is the Middle East. All these points on the world map can hardly be called calm places. The problem is that the American army is constantly waging war of varying degrees of intensity; today the American army is the most belligerent on the planet. Journalists counted 133 countries of the world in which the fighters of the American special forces are involved, this is more than 70 percent of all states on the planet.
Some American generals believe that special forces have long been unable to maintain the intensity of operations that are observed today. Members of the Special Operations Forces are worn out by decades of incessant warfare, which ultimately leads to a drop in moral standards of behavior and an increase in the number of suicides. At the same time, experiencing some personnel shortage, the Pentagon is developing incentive programs for special forces fighters and slightly lowering the selection bar, which ultimately leads to a decrease in the quality of personnel with all the ensuing problems.
A huge role (especially in the suicides of special forces) is played by exhausting hostilities, in which servicemen are constantly faced with the death of not only enemies and their comrades, but also civilians, whom, according to the generally accepted theory, they are called upon to liberate and protect from unwanted regimes. The American army fights with aviation and artillery: no matter how high-precision such strikes are, they always lead to the death of civilians, no matter how the military tries to minimize such incidents. All this does not lead to the improvement of the mental health of servicemen who take pictures with the bodies of the dead, use alcohol and drugs, commit sexual crimes, and, having returned home, cannot get rid of the accumulated stress and depression, which in some cases leads to tragic consequences for themselves. and their loved ones.
