'Never held anyone accountable': Kyle Mullen's mom fears no Navy SEALs Hell Week changes

On Thursday, a Congressional provision designed to improve medical care and oversight for military trainees — one named after Manalapan’s Kyle Mullen, who died during Navy SEAL training earlier this year — took a big step closer to becoming law.

That should provide Kyle’s mother, Regina Mullen, with at least a little solace.

But there’s a bigger issue looming on Regina’s radar, one that has the longtime Manalapan resident’s stomach in knots. The result of the Navy’s chain-of-command investigation is due to be reported this month. She’s convinced that the commanding officer in charge of Mullen’s SEAL training, Capt. Brad Geary, will not only escape any discipline beyond the reprimand he’s already received, but will remain in line for a promotion by the review board that handles such matters.

“What I expect them to do and what I want done are different things,” Regina told the Asbury Park Press. “I want people court-martialed and dishonorably discharged, starting from the top.”

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Kyle Mullen, a former football and basketball standout at Manalapan High School who later played football at Yale and Monmouth universities, died Feb. 4 in San Diego hours after completing the grueling portion of SEAL training known as “Hell Week.” A military autopsy revealed the cause of death as pneumonia and indicated that the 24-year-old went untreated until it was too late.

“This sailor had completed Hell Week and was being looked after by nonmedical personnel to help him tend to his basic needs,” the autopsy report read. “He was in a wheelchair most of the time, unable to stand and walk on his own. He had reportedly been coughing/spitting up red-tinged fluid which had nearly filled a 36-oz. sports drink bottle.”

Over the course of several interviews with the Asbury Park Press, Regina Mullen has repeated her concern that this was not an isolated tragedy but the product of a systemic failure — that the lack of medical attention for SEAL candidates is a built-in part of the training process. That concern was echoed by another Navy SEAL candidate who told the Press he also nearly died due to lack of medical attention after he dropped out of Hell Week.

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In July, U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, whose district includes Manalapan, authored an amendment titled “Kyle Mullen Naval Safety Enhancements” for addition to the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2023. The amendment “directs the Secretary of Defense to conduct an appraisal of and provide recommended policies for improved medical care and oversight of individuals in the Navy engaged in high-stress training like the Navy SEALs to better ensure sailor safety and prevent related long-term injury, illness and death,” as Smith explained in remarks on the House floor.

The measure has been accepted by the Senate as part of the finalized version of the defense bill, which passed the House Thursday for a second time and should be signed into law in the coming weeks.

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“Inspired by his tenacious mother Regina — a nurse who knows her son’s death could have been prevented if he had received timely medical attention — this legislation will help protect the lives of courageous men and women like Kyle who aspire to serve our great Nation in some of its most perilous missions,” Smith said in a statement.

Regina Mullen is grateful for the amendment, but said she is incensed to learn through her connections in the SEAL community that Geary — who was reassigned in the spring from his post as commanding officer of Naval Special Warfare’s Basic Training Command and issued a reprimand in October for the death of Kyle Mullen on his watch — could still be promoted. To her, that doesn’t bode well for the push to reform SEAL training.

“They’ve never held anyone accountable,” she said. “This is why this escalated, not only to my son’s death but also with serious, long-term injuries to some other young men.”

Jerry Carino is community columnist for the Asbury Park Press, focusing on the Jersey Shore’s interesting people, inspiring stories and pressing issues. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Navy SEALs Hell Week: Kyle Mullen's Manalapan mom fears few changes