Faked drug tests and scandals: Navy SEALs have "order and discipline" problem
Washington — A letter from the commander in charge of the Navy SEALs warns "we have a problem." In his letter, Rear Adm. Collin Green said an "order and discipline problem" must be addressed immediately, so the SEALs can "recalibrate our culture and regain our credibility."
It was the SEALs who killed Osama bin Laden, but respect for their heroism has been undermined by a series of high profile scandals. Most recently, a SEALs platoon was kicked out of Iraq after a drunken Fourth of July party and allegations of sexual assault.
Those seals were from the same team as Eddie Gallagher, who was found not guilty of murder in the stabbing death of an ISIS fighter, but convicted of unlawfully posing with an enemy corpse.
Two SEALs were implicated in the hazing death of special forces Sgt. Logan Melger and cocaine and other drug use was found in SEAL team 10.
CBS News obtained an internal Navy investigation that revealed SEALs passing drug tests by swapping out their urine with clean samples and calling the drug testing program "a joke."
"The problems that we're having now isn't just in the last year or two," retired Navy SEAL Erik Deming told CBS News.
He is one of several who have come to CBS News over the past two years with complaints about corruption.
"I got two boys that are old enough, I wouldn't even let them be part of it," he said.
Deming and other retired and active duty SEALs met with Green on Monday to detail their concerns. The admiral told the audience "heads are going to roll" and one of them might be his.