Army Finds ‘Systemic Failures’ Led to Drowning Deaths of Navy SEALs

Two U.S. Navy SEALs died off the coast of Somalia in January following a series of “preventable” “systematic failures,” according to a military investigation released on Friday, Oct. 11.

Special Warfare Operator 1st Class Christopher J. Chambers and Special Warfare Operator 2nd Class Nathan Gage Ingram died after both were conducting a nighttime raid of a ship illegally transporting advanced lethal aid from Iran to resupply Houthi forces in Yemen, PEOPLE previously reported.

During the Jan. 11 incident, Chambers was reaching for the handrail of the Houthi ship from his team’s combat craft when he lost his grip and fell into the water as the seas shifted, said the report, which was obtained by CBS News, Newsweek and ABC News.

Ingram jumped in the water after seeing Chambers “struggling,” per the report. Both men then sank beneath the Arabian Sea in less than a minute, according to the outlets.

“Encumbered by the weight of each individual’s gear, neither their physical capability nor emergency supplemental flotation devices, if activated, were sufficient to keep them at the surface,” wrote Rear Admiral Michael DeVore, per the reports.

The flotation devices either failed to inflate, were too wedged by other gear to fully inflate or were detached from the men, CBS News reported, citing the report.

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According to ABC News, the report even suggested colleagues seeing the men overboard assumed Chambers and Ingram wouldn’t be able to sink. But SEAL Team 3 did respond “within seconds,” per the Associated Press.

Airborne and naval platforms from the U.S., Japan and Spain searched more than 21,000 square miles before the search concluded on Jan. 21. But the report reportedly concluded the men floated straight down.

Another factor that might have contributed to the deadly incident, according to ABC News, was there was “little to no” training on how to trigger the tactical flotation device in an emergency. 

“The root cause of these drownings was a lack of a fail-safe and layered defense to provide buoyance … whether to overcome the weight of equipment, fatigue from extreme physical exertion and resultant inability to tread water, or an injury suffered during the boarding process,” the Navy found, per ABC News.

According to Newsweek, the Navy has recommended changes to its trainings, as well as a review of flotation equipment policies and man-overboard procedures.

Chambers and Ingram were assigned to SEAL Team 3, based in Coronado, Calif. They were remembered as “exceptional warriors, cherished teammates, and dear friends to many within the Naval Special Warfare community” by Capt. Blake L. Chaney, commander of Naval Special Warfare Group 1, in a statement after their identities were released on Jan. 22.

Following the incident, the Associated Press reported that two Iranian brothers were charged in August in the alleged smuggling operation that led to Chambers and Ingram’s deaths. The two men have also been posthumously promoted by the Navy, according to CBS News and ABC News.

The report praised Ingram as a hero, per ABC News. “He ultimately gave his own life, demonstrating heroism and bearing witness to the best of the SEAL Ethos,” according to the report.