Navy SEALs Reprimanded For Role in Videogame, Medal Of Honor: Warfighter

SEAL Team 6 has been in the news since they killed Osama bin Laden on May 2, 2011. Bin Laden's death was a cornerstone of the Obama campaign and has also been featured in movies, talk shows, video games, and every other media you can think of. This is unusual for SEAL teams because they are supposed to be what David Martin of CBS called, "silent warriors." 

So, it came as a surprise when reports came in that they were going to be disciplined for revealing "secrets" of some kind for the recent Medal of Honor: Warfighter. 

Seven SEAL Team 6 members worked as consultants for EA for two days over the spring and summer. It is reported that the nature of the secrets that were revealed is not known but it is believed that they used material classified by the Navy as they helped EA with their game.

It is noteworthy that these secrets are not about the bin Laden raid because the game does not use this mission in the game itself. It does; however, use the other SEAL Team 6 raid on the Somali Pirates. So, perhaps the nature of these secrets can be discerned from the game itself. 

Electronic Arts reports that "real commandos…help make its games as realistic as possible." Perhaps this level of realism was more than the Navy had anticipated. 

As punishment, the seven members of the team have received official letters of reprimand and half their pay taken away for 2 months. This may not seem like a lot but the letters will most likely stop all upward mobility within the Navy. 

Interested readers can hear CBS's report here.