US President Donald Trump apparently just found out the Navy Special Warfare Command had changed its ethos and creed statements to include women – though none are serving in the SEALs – and vowed to revert it right away.
“I will be overturning this ridiculous order immediately!” Trump tweeted on Thursday evening, reacting to a post by the conservative outlet Columbia Bugle.
Interestingly, the Bugle had quoted another Twitter news outlet, which in turn cited American Military News – the outlet that published the original report about the changes at Naval Special Warfare Command, on Monday.
According to AMN, the Navy has removed gendered words such as “brotherhood” and “man” from the official SEAL ethos – replacing them with “citizen” and “warrior” – and made changes to the creed of Special Warfare Combatant Crewmen (SWCC), whose name is presumably also subject to revision itself.
Also on rt.com You’re not that man: US Navy SEALs’ ethos becomes gender-neutral, despite team having no women in its ranksNSWC spokesman, Lieutenant Commander Matthew Stroup, confirmed the changes in an email to AMN and said that they were made to comply with laws opening the potential for women to join the SEALs.
“The previous versions of the SEAL Ethos and SWCC Creed were written prior to the law allowing women to serve as operators in Naval Special Warfare,” AMN quotes Stroup as saying. “The changes do not in any way reflect lowering standards of entry, rather they ensure that all those who meet the requirements to train to become a SEAL or SWCC are represented in the ethos or creed they live out.”
While Trump might have just found out about the changes, they were outlined in an August 3 memorandum signed by Rear Admiral Colin Green, head of the Naval Special Warfare Command. The memo was posted on Instagram last week by retired SEAL Chief Eddie Gallagher, who accused the admiral of altering the ethos to fit “whatever political agenda is being put out.”
Gallagher was the SEAL who retired after being accused – and acquitted – of war crimes. Trump personally intervened last year to reverse his demotion and expulsion from the elite commando unit, and the controversy ended up costing Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer his job.
Also on rt.com Pentagon chief fires US Navy chief over SEAL scandal, says Gallagher to keep his Trident pinLike this story? Share it with a friend!