THE Navy confirmed the death of SEAL candidate Kyle Mullen, 24, in a statement on Sunday.
The statement noted that Mullen, of New Jersey, was not actively training at the time of his death.
His cause of death remains unknown, the statement said.
Mullen was a former football star at Manalapan High School, later playing at Yale and Monmouth University.
He was ALl-Shore Defensive Player of the Year in 2014 while attending Manalapan, leading the Braves to an NJSIAA sectional title.
At Yale, Mullen was a second-team All-Ivy League selection as a defensive lineman. During his postgraduate education at Monmouth, Mullen recorded 26 tackles for a loss in 2019, including 3.5 sacks and broke up five passes.
“We extend our deepest sympathies to Seaman Mullen’s family for their loss,” said Rear Admiral H.W. Howard III, commander of Naval Special Warfare Command in an announcement on Sunday.
“We are extending every form of support we can to the Mullen family and Kyle’s BUD/S classmates.”
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Mullen died on Friday after completing the initial phase of the training to become a SEAL, one of the nation’s most elite military units.
According to people who knew him, it was “unsurprising” that Mullen decided to join the SEALs.
“If you look at the traits he had, he was known for having a great motor, never slowing down, never getting tired,” said Ed Guerreri a former football coach at Manalapan High School.
“If you look at those teams, we had 100 guys on the teams and we rarely had anybody going both ways, but he was an exception to the rule. He played tight end and defensive end, never came off the field, never got tired.”
Mullen’s high school is planning on commemorating him. “Everyone will have a No. 44 sticker on their helmet this year,” said Guerreri, who said that more is being put in the works.
“We’re going to do something and it will be something significant.”
According to an official statement by Naval Special Warfare, two trainees were taken to the hospital “several hours after their Basic Underwater Demolition SEAL (BUD/S) class successfully completed Hell Week, part of the first phase of the Navy SEAL assessment and selection pathway.
“One candidate died at Sharp Coronado Hospital in Coronado, California, on Feb. 4. The other candidate is in stable condition at Naval Medical Center San Diego.”
The statement adds that the sailors were not in training when they reported symptoms.
‘HELL WEEK’
Hell Week is known for testing SEAL candidates’ limits, physically and mentally.
To become a SEAL, training begins with a 26-week workout program. “Each week of progressively harder workouts is designed to help you develop the strength and endurance to withstand the rigors of Navy SEAL,” reads the SEAL website.
Trainees are expected to complete high-intensity training while getting very little sleep.
The week involves “basic underwater demolition, survival and other combat tactics,” according to NavyTimes.com. “It comes in the fourth week as SEAL candidates are being assessed.
The Navy has said only about one in five make it through the training.
There are no official numbers on how many have died in SEAL training.
Back in 2016 trainee Derek Lovelace drowned during an exercise in what was ruled an accident by the Navy.
According to records, Lovelace was the fifth trainee to lose consciousness in the pool in four months.
