Retiring Chief of Naval Operations blames deployment fatigue for Navy SEAL controversies

Throughout nearly two full decades of combat, the special operations community has seen a dramatic shift in employment and operational tempo. Unlike in traditional wars, where special operations troops might be reserved for very specific mission parameters, the War on Terror has brought with it unique challenges that America’s Special Operations war fighters are uniquely suited to face. Complex environments, complex relationships with locals, and high risk mission sets all conspire on the battlefields of Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, and even Africa to place SOCOM troops consistently at the forefront of the fight.

Now, departing Chief of Naval Operations John Richardson is ready to place the blame for a recent slew of high profile incidents involving Navy SEALs on this dramatic uptick in the SEALs operational tempo. Richardson, who has served in the Navy’s top spot since 2015, oversaw the branch during a particularly trying era that has included not only a series of crimes and allegations levied against the Special Operations community, but also a handful of deadly collisions between American warships and civilian vessels that claimed the lives of 17 sailors. These incidents, like the allegations of war crimes and regulation violations littering the SEAL community, have been the subject of heated debate within the Navy and beyond — with some seeing all of these issues as a byproduct of the nation’s longest stretch of active warfare in history, and others seeing all of these issues as a failure of Navy leadership.

“Your character is like a muscle. It sort of gets stronger when you train it, and then it gets fatigued when you strain it and you use it a lot,” Richardson told the Washington Post.