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Navy SEALs air dirty laundry during war crimes trial

U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Abe McNatt

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The ongoing trial of Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher over alleged war crimes is shedding light on the Naval Special Warfare (NSW) community and its cultural practices.

With the trial in full swing, more details are emerging about SEAL Team 7’s Alpha Platoon deployment in Iraq in 2017. Chief Gallagher’s arrest seems to have originated by the allegation of a special warfare operator first class (SO1), who has to remain anonymous for Operational Security (OPSEC) reasons. The SO1 and some fellow Alpha Platoon SEALs, including the Assistant Officer in Charge (AOIC), a lieutenant junior grade, first reached out to their chain of command after the platoon had rotated back to the U.S. over Chief Gallagher’s actions during their combat tour. They spoke to a SEAL master chief, who in return confronted Chief Gallagher and encouraged him to address the situation with his men. It quickly became evident, however, that the rift was too deep to be mended. The master chief then reached out to his chain of command, and the legal process began.

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  • Stephanie M

    Good questions. I would like to know the answers.

  • Thomas G

    As lurid as this trial is, the next one regarding the murder of an Army Special Forces NCO by two SEALs
    is going to be worse.

  • Daniel

    Good point.

  • Andy T

    As noted in the article – the granting immunity thing raises questions. Something about having to grant immunity to 7 people that were eye witness and contemporary in time to some kind of thing just is a bit fishy. It can mean many things – but NCIS having to get testimony via immunity for UCMJ court martial proceedings just reminds me a lot of how the civilian DoJ and FBI handled the Hilliary Clinton classified info mishandling fiasco. In that case, the outcome of the prosecution was pre-determined and never made it to a judge and jury. This seems similar, not in that the prosectution outcome is predetermined – but it looks a lot more like a political prosecution than a criminal prosecution – and the judge has already cleared him of several charges. My guess is that he gets nailed for drug charges and the rest dropped. It’s hard to blame guys for going that route, spinning up the speedballs, but it leads to problems and you’re not supposed to do it.

  • Ron M

    Article 134 has been called the “catch all article”, they toss in when they stack charges.