A respected U.S. Navy admiral is set to face Congress as questions mount over a ‘double tap’ strike on a suspected drug boat in the Caribbean.
The U.S. launched the first in a series of deadly strikes in waters near Venezuela on September 2, in an operation that killed 11 people. Since then reports have emerged that the vessel was hit again despite survivors clinging to the wreckage after the initial hit.
With defense secretary Pete Hegseth facing accusations of ‘war crimes’ over the incident, the spotlight has now fallen on Admiral Frank “Mitch” Bradley, the commanding officer who oversaw the mission.
Bradley will address members of Congress Thursday, after Republicans and Democrats alike raised serious questions about what happened.
Who is Admiral Frank “Mitch” Bradley?
Admiral Bradley’s career in special operations spans more than three decades and has been marked by military and academic success as well as significant frontline leadership.
A native of Eldorado, Texas, and father of four, he graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis in 1991 with a physics degree.
Already known at this point for his academic rigour and athletic prowess as a gymnast, Bradley was considered a strong candidate for Navy SEAL training, which he completed the following year.
Once established as a Navy SEAL officer in 1992, Bradley quickly distinguished himself serving with two SEAL teams based in Virginia Beach before undertaking an exchange tour with Italy’s naval special forces.
He then joined the Naval Special Warfare Development Group – the elite counterterrorism unit better known as SEAL Team 6 – where he commanded an assault unit, according to The New York Times.
Bradley was among the first American personnel deployed to Afghanistan after the September 11 attacks, leading multiple joint task force missions during the early years of the conflict.
Though he reportedly considered pursuing a career as an astronaut in the mid‑1990s, the events of 9/11 cemented his commitment to special operations.
In the mid‑2000s, Bradley left the SEAL Team 6 to study at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, where he completed his master’s degree in physics.
In October, this year, he was appointed commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, the parent organization of Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). In this role, he now oversees the U.S.’s most elite military units across all branches of service.
Widely respected among his peers, one senior military officer who served alongside him told CNN “they simply don’t make better people”.
“He is a leader of courage, integrity, professionalism and unmatched skill,” the officer said of Admiral Bradley. “He is also smart as hell and a master communicator. He’s the gold standard not just for the Navy and Naval Special Warfare – but for the military profession of arms.”
What do we know about the boat strike?
On 2 September 2025, a night time drone strike on an alleged “drug boat” in the Caribbean Sea, marked a major escalation in the U.S. government’s crackdown on vessels said to be bringing narcotics into the country.
The same day, President Donald Trump posted aerial footage of the attack to his Truth Social platform, which showed a small craft picking up speed before a sudden explosion turns the vessel into a fireball.
Eleven people were killed in the strike, all of whom Trump claimed were members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, who he said were transporting drugs bound for the US across international waters.
“Please let this serve as notice to anybody even thinking about bringing drugs into the United States of America. BEWARE!” he posted.
Since then, more than a dozen more U.S. strikes on alleged drug-running boats have killed more than 80 people in just three months, sparking concerns about the legality of the strikes.
But last week reports emerged that moments after the first strike, two men had survived the fireball, and were seen clinging to the wreckage of the destroyed boat. At that point, a second command was given and a second missile was launched.
The two men were then “blown apart in the water,” according to a Washington Post report citing officials with direct knowledge of the operation.
The Post report claimed that Hegseth had given an order to “kill everybody”, which he quickly claimed was “fabricated, inflammatory and derogatory”.
What has the White House said?
Amid heightened scrutiny of a incident experts have said could amount to a war crime, a political blame game appears to be underway.
According to the Pentagon’s own Law of War Manual, people who are “wounded, sick, or shipwrecked” on the high seas are supposed to be “respected and protected in all circumstances” by U.S. forces, even during hostilities.
The White House has said Bradley, Special Operations commander, ordered the second deadly strike on the boat. The Trump administration’s stance shifts responsibility for the second strike away from Hegseth.
When questioned about the incident, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One he “wouldn't have wanted” the second strike while also claiming Hegseth had denied ordering that the two survivors from the first hit be targeted.
On Monday, Hegseth gave the admiral his backing.
“Let’s make one thing crystal clear: Adml Mitch Bradley is an American hero, a true professional, and has my 100 per cent support,” he said.
On Wednesday a Pentagon source said Bradley would have known the second strike was illegal, and accused Hegseth of using him as a scapegoat.
“I am disgusted that Hegseth is trying to shirk all responsibility,” the source told The Telegraph. “That guy doesn’t have an honourable bone in his body.”
Hegseth has maintained the airstrikes are compliant with “U.S. and international law” and under rules of armed conflict, “approved by the best military and civilian lawyers, up and down the chain of command”.
“As we’ve said from the beginning, and in every statement, these highly effective strikes are specifically intended to be ‘lethal, kinetic strikes,’” he wrote on X. “The declared intent is to stop lethal drugs, destroy narco-boats, and kill the narco-terrorists who are poisoning the American people.”
