The Trump administration is considering bringing in a self-described “Harley riding, tequila-drinking Navy SEAL” to lead the Department of Defense’s special operations as the military continues to address recent problems within the SEAL community.
Lou Bremer is under consideration to be the next assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict, according to Politico. The position would make him the top civilian leader overseeing units like the Army Special Forces, Marine Raiders, the Navy SEALs, and Delta Force.
Bremer once described himself on his Instagram profile, which is now private, as a “Harley riding, tequila-drinking Navy SEAL and White House fellow who buys companies on occasion. For God and country.” Following his eight-year stint in the SEALs, Bremer was a homeland security aide during the George W. Bush administration and is now a private equity investor with Cerberus Capital Management. Stephen Feinberg, the company’s billionaire founder, is head of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board.
Owen West, a former Marine and banker who is the son of military author Bing West, resigned from the assistant secretary role in June after about a year and a half on the job, citing family reasons.
Should Bremer take the position, he will be responsible for addressing a series of scandals that have rocked the special operations community, in addition to reorienting the elite units from a counterterrorism mission toward competition with adversaries China and Russia.
The SEALs have been embroiled in recent scandals. Members of SEAL Team 7 were sent home from Iraq over the summer following allegations of sexual assault against one member and drinking throughout the platoon. Rear Adm. Collin Green, who oversees the SEAL community, removed the team’s three senior leaders earlier last week.
Team 7 was under the spotlight during the trial of Eddie Gallagher, a senior enlisted SEAL who was accused of war crimes. While Gallagher was found not guilty of all but one relatively minor charge, his unit was discovered to have taken pictures with the corpse of a dead Islamic State fighter and to have engaged in rampant partying while on deployment to Iraq in 2017.
SEAL Team 10 has also come under scrutiny following revelations that members used cocaine while stationed in Virginia. Some admitted to cheating drug tests, while others said they rarely got tested at all.
Green responded to these problems by sending a letter to SEAL leadership, telling them: “I don’t know yet if we have a culture problem, I do know that we have a good order and discipline problem that must be addressed immediately,” Green wrote.
