In February, Navy Seaman Kyle Mullen died from cardiac arrest and acute pneumonia during SEAL training. He had just completed what is known as Hell Week, one of the most grueling parts of the program.
A new report with more details about Mullen’s death was released on Wednesday, the New York Times reported.
Naval Special Warfare had ordered the report to determine whether Mullen, 24, had died while performing his naval duties. The report concluded that he had.
The report also said that Mullen’s heart was found to be enlarged more than two times the size of a normal male’s heart. This played a role in his death as well, the New York Post reported.
In the months since Mullen’s death, three officers were reprimanded — but not blamed or fired. That’s not good enough for Mullen’s mother, the Post reported.
“I don’t understand how, eight months later, no one has been held accountable,” Mullen’s mother, Regina Mullen, told the Asbury Park Press.
“I told them, they killed a good man. He would have gone out on the battlefield and protected anybody. Now they’re not protecting his reputation, and that concerns me,” she added.
Regina Mullen met Tuesday with Navy officials who told her that her son’s death occurred in “the line of duty,” she told the Press.
“Which means there’s no misconduct on his part,” she added.
“I told them, ‘You already killed my son, you don’t need to tarnish his character,’” Regina said.
With investigations into the 24-year-old Mullen’s death, five other SEAL candidates reportedly told investigators that Mullen had been having breathing problems long before his death, the Times reported.
One other candidate said that he had taken Mullen to get medical aid part way through Hell Week, but an instructor told Mullen to return to training.
According to the report, other members of the training told investigators that Mullen was swollen up “like the Michelin Man” and incoherent.
The report also found that Mullen’s blood oxygen level had dropped and medical staff had to give him supplemental oxygen, the Times reported.
A few hours after the end of Hell Week, Mullen succumbed to cardiac problems and pneumonia and died.
Mullen’s death has raised questions and concerns related to how the Navy conducts its SEAL training, the Times reported.
The training, commonly known as “BUD/S” (Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training) has been criticized for perhaps being abusive and not giving candidates proper medical care, the Times reported.
In light of this, Navy commanders have ordered yet another investigation to look into the training and selection course itself, the Times reported.
That report is expected to come out later this fall.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
