“Terry Houin can’t say what he and a small band of SEALs were doing in Africa. But as the closest operators to Somalia, they were the ones in free fall just a few hours later.”
After War Zone Scandals, Special Operators Are Curbing Deployments and Investing in Ethics Training
A U.S. Army Special Forces soldier qualifies at a stress shoot range at Ft. Carson, Colorado, Mar. 10, 2016. (U.S. Army/Sgt. Connor Mendez)
12 Apr 2021
In the world of special operations, the moral choices troops must make are definitely not black and white, Robert Mitchell, associate dean for Joint Special Operations University, acknowledged.
But in recent years, some special operations forces have pushed the envelope on gray area behavior, acting in ways that are clearly unethical or illegal, and in cases, even committing war crimes. These high-profile scandals prompted U.S. Special Operations Command to launch a major review to get at the root of the problems plaguing the SOF community.