The issue focused on his legal training.

"The issue is that he was not using the legal system to deal with the issues that he was facing at the time," said James Stavridis, a retired Air Force general and former NATO Supreme Allied Commander in Europe.

A study by the Center for Military Readiness, a research group in Washington, said that at the time, Stavridis was on the phone with his wife.

"It was an extremely sad day for me