17 replies to this topic

[FlintyV]

BBC - Seven US Navy Seals have been disciplined for revealing secrets during work as paid consultants on a video game, officials say.

They received reprimand letters and had half of their pay docked for two months for work on Medal of Honor: Warfighter.

The active-duty troops reportedly include one member of the team that killed Osama Bin Laden in 2011.

The game, published by Electronic Arts, does not recreate the Bin Laden mission but purports to show realistic raids.

The seven troops worked for two days during the spring and summer on the recently released video game, according to CBS News.

The game's maker has boasted that real commandos, both on active duty and retired, were involved with the process of designing the game to make it as realistic as possible.

Source

[moloko]

Heard this on the army news this morning. Stupid of them to do this. They did it all for the money which is not what part of the Navy Seals COC is about.

[PGHammer]

moloko, on 09 November 2012 - 06:42, said:

Heard this on the army news this morning. Stupid of them to do this. They did it all for the money which is not what part of the Navy Seals COC is about.

And if they had used retired SOF forces (the only other option), there would have been complaints (partially justified) that the game was not realistic enough.

The issue (in this case) was not working for a video-game company, but revealing classified information to unauthorized persons - that's something you can't do even if you work for the military as a civilian. (Even though NO sources and methods as far as intelligence were revealed, for some weird reason, apparently certain aspects of SOF training - including that of SEALs - are the issue here. That has me going "What the *bleep*? This is after an entire BUD/S (Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL) class was followed - in its entirety - by a documentary film crew? Something smells here, and it's not Leon Panetta's aftershave.")

This is administrative punishment ("Captain's Mast" is the Navy term) - not a court-martial. Still, as I said above, something smells about this.

[Lamp0]

Is this team offcially known as the "Bin Laden Unit"?

[SPEhosting]

moloko, on 09 November 2012 - 06:42, said:

Heard this on the army news this morning. Stupid of them to do this. They did it all for the money which is not what part of the Navy Seals COC is about.

so? your argument is invalid .... they did nothing wrong all they did was say how they would raid a house.... oh no ... you can watch that online anyway...

[+Blank]

While i think people should be held to their oaths, and whatever contracts they agree to, these guys risked their lives, and got rid of one of the most dangerous people on the planet. They deserve to be able to make as much money as they want.
Great guys.

[ahhell]

SPEhosting, on 09 November 2012 - 14:49, said:

so? your argument is invalid .... they did nothing wrong all they did was say how they would raid a house.... oh no ... you can watch that online anyway...

It's against regs to talk about stuff like this, therefore, THEY DID SOMETHING WRONG.

The collective IQ on Neowin seems to be on the decline.

[z0phi3l]

This reeks of BS, first off the Navy knew they were helping with the game, how else did the game company get a hold of 7 real ACTIVE seals? Their being publicly scapegoated for something other than the game, just haven't heard rumors yet as to what it might actually be about

[FlintyV]

muggerfugger, on 09 November 2012 - 16:41, said:

While i think people should be held to their oaths, and whatever contracts they agree to, these guys risked their lives, and got rid of one of the most dangerous people on the planet. They deserve to be able to make as much money as they want.
Great guys.

Yup terrorism is now a thing of the past

[SPEhosting]

ahhell, on 09 November 2012 - 16:49, said:

It's against regs to talk about stuff like this, therefore, THEY DID SOMETHING WRONG.

The collective IQ on Neowin seems to be on the decline.

I was rated by Mensa as having "very superior Intelligence", please do not confuse my morality with intelligence you just make your self look stupid. Just tip for the future so you do not do it again.

Also on a side note, no it is not against regulations if they talked about missions as in actual missions I would understand it, but they did not I know loads of people in the services and who were in them (american, english, greek, indian ect....) they are allowed to talk about this... I know as one of my friends was an american solider being paid to as a consultant to aid in training the British

also Battle field had the same done....

[ir0nw0lf]

SPEhosting, congrats on possessing a "very superior Intelligence," but have you ever served in the military or in any position where you knew trade/corporate/military/etc. secrets or had access to them? Many of the aspects of how the Navy Seals/Rangers/Special Forces/Delta/etc operate are highly classified and can't be discussed *period* to those who are not cleared or have the need-to-know. What they did was not excusable. The military doesn't joke around with issues like this. Morality has no play in situations like this.

[moloko]

SPEhosting, on 09 November 2012 - 23:07, said:

I was rated by Mensa as having "very superior Intelligence", please do not confuse my morality with intelligence you just make your self look stupid. Just tip for the future so you do not do it again.

Also on a side note, no it is not against regulations if they talked about missions as in actual missions I would understand it, but they did not I know loads of people in the services and who were in them (american, english, greek, indian ect....) they are allowed to talk about this... I know as one of my friends was an american solider being paid to as a consultant to aid in training the British

I have served in the military even in war and sitting here in Afghanistan supporting troops in another war...and no you are not supposed to talk about some missions until a specific time has passed depending on what that clearance level of the mission was. This is why they are being only 2 months of pay taken. this is article 15 offense. now if they would of talked about NON specific missions....then they would of been alright.

[Raze]

"The active-duty troops reportedly include one member of the team that killed Osama Bin Laden in 2011."

Thread title is very misleading.

[ahhell]

SPEhosting, on 09 November 2012 - 23:07, said:

I was rated by Mensa as having "very superior Intelligence", please do not confuse my morality with intelligence you just make your self look stupid. Just tip for the future so you do not do it again.

Also on a side note, no it is not against regulations if they talked about missions as in actual missions I would understand it, but they did not I know loads of people in the services and who were in them (american, english, greek, indian ect....) they are allowed to talk about this... I know as one of my friends was an american solider being paid to as a consultant to aid in training the British

also Battle field had the same done....

I think you might want to talk to your "friend" again as you clearly have no clue.

Also, shouldn't someone of "very superior intelligence" have more than a third grade grasp on grammar? Just sayin'.

[PGHammer]

ahhell, on 09 November 2012 - 16:49, said:

It's against regs to talk about stuff like this, therefore, THEY DID SOMETHING WRONG.

The collective IQ on Neowin seems to be on the decline.

I stated as much - however, exactly how SOF forces would conduct a mission like this (and in particular exactly how SIX took down the bin Laden compound in Pakistan) is not only NOT classified, it's been splashed all over video and even no less than THREE DOCUMENTARIES! (The irony is that one was filmed ENTIRELY at NAVSPECWARGGRU ONE in Coronado, and covered an entire BUD/S class - from start to finish - with not merely the Navy's permission, but with their assistance.)