Wyden Places Hold on Three Military Officers Unfit For Promotions

Wyden Places Hold on Three Military Officers Unfit For Promotions

Wyden Objects to Two Officers Linked to War Crimes; Third Officer Appeared on Racist and Antisemitic Podcast

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., has placed holds on three officers who are unfit for promotion by the U.S. military, he announced today.

Wyden placed a statement in the Congressional Record late Tuesday, stating he intends to object to any unanimous consent agreement that would speed up consideration of promotions for three officers: Lieutenant Colonel Vincent J. Noble, Lieutenant Commander Thomas P. MacNeil, and Colonel Thomas M. Siverts.

Wyden objected to the nominations based on misconduct or concerning judgement by the three officers. Military investigations found that Lieutenant Colonel Noble's platoon fired indiscriminately on civilians in Afghanistan in 2007, and he was disciplined for filing a false report and asking Marines under his command to lie about the attack, according to military records.

While serving in Iraq in 2017, Lieutenant Commander MacNeil posed for a photograph with the corpse of a teen boy who was stabbed to death by Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher, according to the testimony of members of his SEAL platoon. The Navy sought to expel MacNeil from the SEALs, but dropped that effort after the White House intervened during the first Trump Administration.

In 2023, Colonel Siverts appeared on an episode of the podcast The Berm Pit, which frequently features antisemitism and racism. The Marine Corps has not provided Sen. Wyden's office with a copy of that podcast episode, which has been removed from major podcast platforms. Siverts has not apologized for his appearance on the show.

Wyden's full hold statement for the Congressional Record is below.

"Mr. President, I give notice of my intent to object to any unanimous consent agreement regarding Executive Calendar No. PN681-2, PN835-2, and PN793-2, the promotions of Lieutenant Colonel Vincent J. Noble, Lieutenant Commander Thomas P. MacNeil, and Colonel Thomas M. Siverts.

"When serving in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan in March 2007, Vincent J. Noble took part in the killings of 19 Afghan civilians, firing indiscriminately at civilian vehicles and bystanders. A military inquiry found that in response to a suicide bomb attack, Noble went on a rampage across a seven-mile stretch of highway, massacring unarmed civilians on sight. An investigation revealed that Noble asked Marines to lie, that he submitted a false version of events to his company commander, and violated an order from the commanding officer, which explicitly directed the battalion to not operate in or around Jalalabad. In June 2008, the Commander of Marines Forces Central Command found Noble guilty, in accordance with his plea, of violating Article 133, Conduct Unbecoming an Officer, of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Killing civilians indiscriminately is a serious war crime, and those who commit such actions should be held accountable, and certainly withheld from promotions within the military.

"Thomas P. MacNeil served in Mosul, Iraq in 2017 as part of Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher's platoon. Gallagher stabbed to death a wounded and captive teen boy, and held him by the hair in one hand and his knife in the other, as photos were taken. MacNeil also posed in certain pictures with the body. MacNeil was implicated in the court-martial of Gallagher when Gallagher was accused of committing war crimes in Iraq. The Commander of the SEALs at the time, Rear Admiral Collin Green, pushed for Chief Gallagher and others, including MacNeil, to be stripped of their Tridents. President Trump intervened multiple times to prevent the Navy from disciplining Gallagher, and in 2019, then-Acting Secretary of the Navy, Thomas B. Modly also intervened and decided to drop the Navy's review of MacNeil and others. While MacNeil was the junior member of his platoon and eventually testified against Gallagher, he exercised poor judgement as an officer and should not be promoted within the United States military.

"In March 2023, Thomas M. Siverts appeared on an episode of a podcast known as The Berm Pit, which is antisemitic and racist. Siverts's participation in a podcast whose hosts espouse such bigotry raises serious questions about his character and professionalism, which are both relevant to his promotion to Brigadier General. To date, the Marine Corps has not provided me with a copy of this podcast episode to verify the nature of his participation in this podcast, nor has Siverts publicly apologized or expressed regret for his association with this podcast."

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