Two former Navy SEAL leaders filed a complaint with the Pentagon inspector general alleging they were unjustly fired from their posts partly due to a so-called “Gallagher effect” they did not address within the team.

Cmdr. Edward Mason and Master Chief Special Warfare Operator Hugh Spangler filed the complaint after Rear Adm. Collin Green, the head of the Navy’s Special Warfare Community, removed them from their posts. Green has recently come down hard on the SEALs in response to several scandals, and Mason and Spangler believe Green scapegoated in order to protect him. Officially, Green fired Mason and Spangler due to “a loss of confidence that resulted from leadership failures,” but the complaint alleges they were also fired due to what Green called the “Gallagher effect.”