Navy to start testing special operators for performance-enhancing drugs
Mike Brest
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Naval Special Warfare Command announced it would start random drug testing for performance-enhancing drugs starting on Nov. 1.
Rear Adm. Keith Davids, commander of NSW Command, announced the policy shift on Friday, describing it as an effort designed to promote the “commitment to the health, safety, and operational readiness of every member of the NSW community.”
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“The unauthorized and unsupervised use of PEDs is what we are trying to identify and prevent,” he added. “Nevertheless, we realize that some of our teammates may have legitimate medical conditions that need to be treated with prescription supplementation. If that is the case, we encourage our teammates, who haven’t already, to speak with their medical providers to get diagnosed and properly treated.”
The PED testing will match the Navy’s long-standing urinalysis program that tests sailors for drugs such as marijuana, opiates, and methamphetamines. Fifteen percent of a unit’s population will be tested each month.
The announcement comes about a year and a half after the death of Kyle Mullen, 24.
He died on Feb. 4, 2022, after completing “Hell Week,” during Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training, and an autopsy attributed his death to bacterial pneumonia. “Hell Week” exposes candidates to extreme situations to simulate similar combat environments, including long periods of swimming in cold water and sleep deprivation, and is one of the toughest parts of becoming a Navy SEAL.
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Multiple subsequent investigations have found that there were multiple failures that contributed to Mullen’s death. PEDs were found among his possessions, but a report by the Naval Education and Training Command from May noted that he was not screened for some steroids because the required blood and urine samples were not available.
“At its core, the investigation finds that relentless and continuous self-assessment and self-correction within all departments of NSWC’s BTC is required,” Rear Adm. Peter Garvin, commander of NETC, said at the time. “This investigation identifies risks that aggregated as the result of inadequate oversight, insufficient risk assessment, poor medical command and control, and undetected performance-enhancing drug use and also offers actionable solutions to mitigate those risks going forward.”