{"id":324685,"date":"2025-12-04T11:10:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T11:10:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/324685\/"},"modified":"2025-12-04T11:10:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T11:10:11","slug":"adm-bradley-respected-navy-seal-leader-under-scrutiny-for-double-tap-strike-set-to-brief-lawmakers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/324685\/","title":{"rendered":"Adm. Bradley, respected Navy SEAL leader under scrutiny for double-tap strike, set to brief lawmakers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n As lawmakers demand answers over reports<\/a> that the US military carried out a follow-up strike that killed survivors during an attacked on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean, a career Navy SEAL who has spent most of his 30 years of military experience in special operations will be responsible for providing them.\n <\/p>\n

\n He\u2019s also no stranger to strikes and the legal requirements surrounding classified operations, several sources who served with him told CNN.\n <\/p>\n

\n Adm. Frank \u201cMitch\u201d Bradley, a Navy SEAL officer who now leads US Special Operations Command, heads to Capitol Hill on Thursday to brief members of Congress on what happened as part of that September 2 strike as well as the way the military is carrying out its campaign that has destroyed more than 20 boats and killed 83.\n <\/p>\n

\n In recent days, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has pinned responsibility for the follow-on strike on Bradley, who was the commander of Joint Special Operations Command at the time of the strike.\n <\/p>\n

\n Bradley is broadly respected by Republicans and Democrats alike, and sources who served alongside him or under him praised him as a quintessential Naval officer.\n <\/p>\n

\n A source familiar with Bradley described him as stoic, meticulous, and \u201cvery level-headed.\u201d He has largely approached the idea of speaking with Congress positively and with an understanding that this is what the job requires, the source said.\n <\/p>\n

\n For much of his career he has avoided the spotlight, consistent with the approach taken by most special operators who undertake highly classified missions. But ultimately, he would rather it be he who bears the responsibility for answering questions about military strikes to Congress than someone more junior, they said.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cHe\u2019s a guy who has done thousands of strikes over his career,\u201d the source familiar said. \u201cThis was his 37th month at [Joint Special Operations Command] \u2014 he knew what he was doing.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\u2018Gold Standard\u2019<\/p>\n

\n Bradley is likely to face a slew of questions over the legality of the September 2 strike, as well as the more than 20 other strikes carried out against alleged drug boats.\n <\/p>\n

\n He is intimately familiar with maritime law given his experience as a SEAL commander, the source familiar with him said. A source who served under Bradley in the military said that he consistently consulted with the command\u2019s lawyers during operations like hostage rescue and counter-terrorism missions.\n <\/p>\n

\"This<\/p>\n

\n A senior military officer who served alongside Bradley told CNN \u201cthey simply don\u2019t make better people\u201d than him.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cHe is a leader of courage, integrity, professionalism and unmatched skill,\u201d the officer said. \u201cHe is also smart as hell and a master communicator. He\u2019s the gold standard not just for the Navy and Naval Special Warfare \u2013 but for the military profession of arms.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n A 1991 Naval Academy graduate, Bradley has commanded Joint Special Operations Command; the command responsible for special operations in the Middle East, Special Operations Command Central; and Naval Special Warfare Development Group, or SEAL Team Six. He also \u201cworked counternarcotics missions across South and Central America,\u201d according to testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee earlier this year, and served as the executive officer for former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford.\n <\/p>\n

\n Bradley and his wife are both from military families; she the daughter of a Vietnam veteran and infantry officer, and he the son of an Army Air Corps Master Sergeant and World War II veteran, according to his opening statement at his confirmation hearing this summer. The two have four children, including one son who is also a SEAL.\n <\/p>\n

\n The source familiar with Bradley told CNN he\u2019s \u201cnot one of those people that has bad relationships or bad blood with people,\u201d and he generally puts people at ease.\n <\/p>\n

\"Admiral<\/p>\n

\n The source who served under Bradley described him as \u201ccool, calm, and deliberative\u201d when in command, not overly talkative or someone who sought praise and attention for his actions.\n <\/p>\n

\n That\u2019s a reputation that extends to lawmakers.\n <\/p>\n

\n Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said Tuesday he is \u201ca highly decorated, highly respected\u201d officer. Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly said Bradley has a \u201cstellar reputation\u201d and said any decision to carry out a follow-on strike is the fault of the culture fostered by Hegseth and Trump.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cThis is the kind of thing that happens when you have a president who says we\u2019re going to go out and kill people. It\u2019s not what presidents normally say,\u201d Kelly said. \u201cAnd when you have an unqualified secretary of defense, a guy who has basically zero qualifications for this job that runs around on a stage you know, talking about lethality and warrior ethos and killing people, and we\u2019re going to hunt and kill people.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n While little known to the public for most of his military career, Bradley\u2019s name and image have suddenly become ubiquitous as the Trump administration tries to explain what happened during the attack on September 2.\n <\/p>\n

\n CNN previously reported<\/a> that a source familiar with the strikes said that Defense secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the military to ensure everyone on the boat was killed, but it was not clear if he knew there were survivors before a second strike was carried out.\n <\/p>\n

\n Hegseth and his spokespeople railed against reporting of the second strike, with Hegseth calling it \u201cfabricated, inflammatory, and derogatory reporting.\u201d Just days later, however, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt confirmed the second strike occurred, and said Bradley was the one who ordered it.\n <\/p>\n

\"Secretary<\/p>\n

\n Hours after Leavitt\u2019s comments, Hegseth appeared to shift responsibility for the strike, posting on social media that he stands by Bradley \u201cand the combat decisions he has made \u2014 on the September 2 mission and all others since.\u201d And on Tuesday, during a cabinet meeting<\/a> at the White House, Hegseth said he saw only the initial strike live before leaving to attend to other meetings. He said he learned about the second strike hours later.\n <\/p>\n

\n Some officials, including Republican and Democrats alike, have seen Hegseth\u2019s comments as an attempt to distance himself from the decision to strike again, placing the responsibility solely on Bradley amid questions around the operation\u2019s legality.\n <\/p>\n

\n Bradley will face lawmakers who will expect him to provide an honest accounting of what occurred during the September 2 operation, and who will undoubtedly grill him in the classified briefings on the orders he both received and gave as part of the strikes.\n <\/p>\n

\n A personal friend of Bradley\u2019s described him to CNN as someone who \u201cexemplifies honor and integrity.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cAdmiral Bradley is an exceptional human being,\u201d the friend said.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As lawmakers demand answers over reports that the US military carried out a follow-up strike that killed survivors…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":324686,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[49,48,75,348],"class_list":["post-324685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=324685"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324685\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/324686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=324685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=324685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=324685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}