Brad Geary
| Brad Geary |
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Brad Geary (born c. 1972) is a retired United States Navy Captain and former SEAL Team One officer who served as Commanding Officer of the Naval Special Warfare Training Center, the institution that runs Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training. He became publicly known after the 2022 death of BUD/S trainee Kyle Mullen, in which Geary was made a scapegoat by the Navy chain of command in what he and his legal team describe as a coordinated campaign of evidence manipulation, charge fabrication, and FOIA obstruction.
Biography
Military career
Geary served as Commanding Officer of the Naval Special Warfare Training Center, the institution that runs Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training.
Kyle Mullen case
Kyle Mullen died at BUD/S in February 2022 following widespread use of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) by multiple candidates, including text messages recovered from Mullen's phone in which candidates actively discussed methods to mask drug use during testing. Navy leadership initially agreed the death was attributable to candidate drug use, with one admiral stating directly that the Line of Duty investigation had been "deliberately manipulative" — but after Secretary of the Navy intervention framed Kyle as a victim requiring an identifiable oppressor, the investigation was reversed and Geary and a fellow officer were charged.
A pattern of institutional behavior emerged in which exculpatory investigations — including a BUMED medical review finding no malpractice, and a safety investigation clearing his command — were completed, relayed to him verbally, and then denied to him in discovery under privilege claims while being used as the basis for charging him. A congressional letter described the proceedings as involving "grossly unethical practices" and "a lack of investigative integrity."
After appearing on the Shawn Ryan Show (#140, approximately mid-2024), Geary found his case elevated to national attention; charges were ultimately dismissed and the withdrawal letter was signed 13 December 2024. Ryan subsequently discussed the Geary case while interviewing Pete Hegseth, then Secretary of Defense nominee, describing how "they did three, I believe it was three separate investigations" and that evidence of candidates' performance-enhancing drug use — including "a cooler or some type of box full of vials of testosterone, human growth hormone, and Viagra from Pakistan" — was removed from the investigation. Kash Patel, appearing on the same program, endorsed the cause: "thanks for giving Brad a big podium. We need to back guys like that."
Public activities
Analysis of military suppression mechanisms
The military's prosecutorial authority being vested in the commanding officer creates a structural incentive for senior officers to defend bad decisions as personal honor; as officers rise in seniority, loyalty to the institution gradually supplants oath to the Constitution.
Several specific mechanisms were used by the Navy to conceal truth in the case:
- Evidence withholding: Multiple formal investigations producing exculpatory findings were denied to the defense on privilege grounds while charges based on their conclusions proceeded.
- Charge escalation: After public exposure of the case through media appearances, charges were escalated from general leadership failure to negligent homicide — administratively, outside a court of law, where rules of evidence and discovery protections would have applied.
- FOIA stonewalling: Geary filed multiple Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act requests at all levels including the Office of Legislative Affairs and SecNav. As of February 2025, not a single record had been produced; the most recent response was a blanket denial memo from the current Chief of Staff for the Navy.
- Press manipulation: An insider described Navy legal officers brainstorming ways to deny a journalist's FOIA request, including falsely claiming a completed investigation had never been finalized — a suggestion another JAG officer called illegal — with a senior officer responding: "Yeah, but can you imagine how bad it would be if this got out?"
- Administrative end-run around courts: By keeping proceedings administrative rather than judicial, the Navy avoided the requirement to produce exculpatory evidence, a protection that would have applied in a court martial.
These mechanisms connect to a broader psychology of institutional power, as described in a 2014 Atlantic article on "the power paradox" (also known as hubris syndrome) that describes how extended time in authority produces measurable cognitive changes — including reduced empathy, increased confirmation bias, and inability to receive honest feedback — in virtually all leaders.
Civilian Military Defense Fund
Following the resolution of the case, Geary's attorney Jason announced the founding of the Civilian Military Defense Fund, a Colorado-registered nonprofit intended to provide service members access to civilian legal counsel — ineligible for military-provided attorneys in administrative proceedings — and to support mental health resources for those going through military justice processes.