{"id":13974,"date":"2025-12-02T18:04:30","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T10:04:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=13974"},"modified":"2025-12-02T18:04:36","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T10:04:36","slug":"who-is-adm-frank-bradley-commander-who-issued-second-boat-strike-order","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=13974","title":{"rendered":"Who is Adm. Frank Bradley, commander who issued second boat strike order?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The White House placed the decision to launch a second, follow-up Sept. 2 strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean Sea at the feet of the commander overseeing the operation from Fort Bragg, N.C., Navy Adm. Frank M. \u201cMitch\u201d Bradley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bradley \u2014 who was authorized by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to carry out the attack that killed two people who were hanging onto the burning vessel after an initial strike \u2014 at the time was head of Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In charge of the U.S. military\u2019s most sensitive and dangerous missions, JSOC falls under U.S. Special Operations Command, which Bradley was promoted to lead in October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Monday that Hegseth authorized the second strike, which Bradley then ordered, as described in a bombshell report from The Washington Post that claimed the Pentagon chief verbally instructed the military to \u201ckill everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAdm. Bradley worked well within his authority and the law to ensure the boat was destroyed and the threat to the United States of America was eliminated,\u201d Leavitt told reporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lawmakers from both parties, however, have questioned the second strike\u2019s legality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s what to know about Bradley:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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He reportedly saw survivors as legitimate targets
According to the bombshell report from the Post, two people with direct knowledge of the operation said Hegseth gave a spoken directive \u201cto kill everybody\u201d shortly before the first missile launched from the Trinidad coast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The missile struck the boat and set it on fire, with commanders watching from a live drone feed. Officers discovered two survivors clinging to the wreckage after the smoke cleared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using a secure conference call, Bradley ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth\u2019s order to leave no survivors, sources told The Post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They also said that Bradley viewed the survivors as legitimate targets as they could possibly call other traffickers to come get them and their cargo. The Trump administration has said 11 people were killed in the attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\u2019ll brief lawmakers next week
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) said Bradley next week is set to brief the Senate Intelligence Committee on the September follow-up strike, which has drawn significant bipartisan scrutiny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Warner said he and Senate Intelligence Chair Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) are speaking on the issue and that he expects to have a preliminary conversation this week with Bradley, CNN reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got to get to the bottom of this,\u201d he said, while calling on the Trump administration to release an unedited video of the strike to help determine \u201cwhether these individuals were in the water, on the boat, still combatants or not.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is not the way the system is supposed to work,\u201d Warner said, adding that he needs to know if any of his constituents being deployed from Norfolk, Va., to the Caribbean are being put in \u201cunsafe or illegal positions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\u2019s a Navy Seal with a long resume
A graduate of the United States Naval Academy, Bradley has been a U.S. Navy SEAL officer since 1992 and has commanded at all levels of special operations, according to his Navy bio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the first service members to deploy into Afghanistan following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, he has served multiple tours in command of joint task forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He has also served as the assistant commander of JSOC; as the J-3 Technical Operations division chief and the deputy J-3; the vice deputy director for global operations for the Joint Staff J-3; the executive officer for then-Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford; and the deputy director for CT Strategy for the Joint Staff J-5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bradley also boasts a master\u2019s in physics from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump keeping his distance from him
President Trump seemed initially unaware of the incident and appeared to give Hegseth cover for the order while at the same time distancing himself from it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo. 1, I don\u2019t know that that happened,\u201d Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday when asked whether a hypothetical second strike would be illegal. \u201cAnd Pete said he did not want them \u2014 he didn\u2019t even know what people were talking about. So, we\u2019ll look at, we\u2019ll look into it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also said the initial strike \u201cwas fine,\u201d but that he \u201cwouldn\u2019t have wanted\u201d a second strike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe first strike was very lethal, it was fine, and if there were two people around. But [Hegseth] said that didn\u2019t happen. I have great confidence in him,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to find out about it,\u201d he added. \u201cBut Pete said he did not order the death of those two men.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hegseth defended Bradley in a social media post late on Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLet\u2019s make one thing crystal clear: Admiral Mitch Bradley is an American hero, a true professional, and has my 100% support,\u201d he wrote on the social platform X. \u201cI stand by him and the combat decisions he has made \u2014 on the September 2 mission and all others since. America is fortunate to have such men protecting us. When this [Department of War] says we have the back of our warriors \u2014 we mean it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The White House placed the decision to launch a second, follow-up Sept. 2 strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean Sea at the feet of the commander overseeing the operation from Fort Bragg, N.C., Navy Adm. Frank M. \u201cMitch\u201d Bradley. Bradley \u2014 who was authorized by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to carry out […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":13975,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[3824,1728,1912],"class_list":["post-13974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","tag-bradley","tag-strike","tag-was"],"yoast_head":"\nWho is Adm. 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