<p>^^^^
And now for the rest of the story:</p>
<p>NOTE: This is not to disparage the late LT Murphy nor his SEAL team mates. </p>
<p>LT Michael Murphy and his two other team mates would have survived their surveillance mission had they not made the fatal decision of releasing the shepherds who stumbled across them in the mountains of Afghanistan. </p>
<p>Did LT Murphy make the correct decision when he decided to release the Afghan shepherds instead of killing them when his mission was compromised? Did he have the proper training to make the correct decision? If LT Murphy had decided to kill the shepherds, would that action have been moral and lawful? LT Murphy had to make a fatal decision without assistance or guidance from his superiors because they were incommunicado.</p>
<p>The professional development program at USNA prepares future naval and marine corps officer to deal with difficult situations such at the one encountered by LT Murphy.</p>
<p>LT Murphy’s failed mission fall into the “No Excuse, Sir” category. One of the tenets that midshipmen are taught is that when officers screw up people, can and do, get killed.</p>
<p>Neither OCS nor Navy ROTC offers the same professional development program as USNA. The same can be said about West Point.</p>
<p>There is a reason that most MOH winners receive the award posthumously.</p>