Posted on 07/10/2012 7:55:27 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
The Army has revoked the Special Forces military occupational specialty of an Arkansas political candidate who claimed he served as a Green Beret in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Kenneth Aden, a Democrat running against incumbent Rep. Steve Womack for Arkansas' 3rd District, has said in interviews he served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan as a Green Beret, though a DD-214 and other documents he released to substantiate the claim only raised questions.
In a statement Tuesday, a spokeswoman for the Special Warfare Training Center at Fort Bragg, N.C., said Aden was dropped from Special Forces training in April 2008 "after failing twice to pass the Light Weapons Exam and Hands-on Mortar Exam."
Nevertheless the center in June 2008 erroneously issued an order awarding him the 18 B MOS – Special Forces Weapons Sergeant – and then failed to catch the mistake. When told last week that the Army called Aden's MOS order a mistake and had revoked it, campaign spokesman Vincent Leibowitz said Aden never received orders pulling the MOS.
That turns out to be true, since the Army only noticed and corrected its mistake after media attention focused on Aden's military background, according to training center spokeswoman Janice Burton.
Retired Special Forces Master Sgt. Jeff "JD" Hinton, who has exposed many phony veterans or troops who embellished their records, says Aden had to know all along that he never was Special Forces.
"He knew, just as we knew, that you don't get the award of the 18-series MOS unless you complete the entire" training program, Hinton said. "Somehow he held onto those orders and wore them like a king's crown."
Aden had already backpedaled on claims that he served as a Green Beret in Iraq and Afghanistan, saying he misspoke. He did deploy and serve a combat tour...
(Excerpt) Read more at military.com ...
I live in this district and word has gotten out.
Give this jerk the John Murtha POS award with turd clusters.
Jeez, how could you fail a weapons test? I’ve never been in the military, and I could probably pass basic proficiency with everything in their arsenal given a minimum of training.
Hey, hey; ho, ho;
Kerrty: Sign the one-eight-oh
In this day and age, with the Internet and all, how do these clowns think they can get away with this crap?
Last one I was in was a counter-terrorism train-the-trainer class.
The instructor, who knew me, asked why a cook was there. I told him someone signed me up for the class and it was a mandatory formation kind of thing. I was on the student list. ;)
I've got the certificate and the background CD info. And I missed out on a few days of herding young and stupid airmen around.
/johnny
The USSC just gave them the green light by knocking down the "Stolen Valor" law. If you are free to claim any award you want, you're also free to invent any military background you want.
We're free to question any of that, but are aware that certain people should not be asked, just for our own sake.
As someone who was nothing but a run of the mill sailor, I guess I was really a hero in VN, what with all the VC I killed and the Christmas I spent in Cambodia. Not to mention the seven purple hearts I have in my hero box. WOW! I can say anything I want to and get away with it I guess.
I could have fun with this whole thing, except for all the friends I lost who were true heroes.
I was detached to SF after a tour in civvies.
Authorized a full flash in the field.
Lost the flash upon discharge but still have the patch on cammies (which still fit), wings, and the beret.
My job was to train, debrief, and do MI stuff.
I don't tell war stories, pretend at heroism, memorialize being a spook, or use one assignment for leverage.
But De Opresso Liber sticks with you.
I was wondering my self what it takes to pass the Light Weapons Exam and Hands-on Mortar Exam. Can’t be THAT difficult.
I was a regular “leg” intelligence analyst (96B), as I wasn’t about to jump out of an airplane.
I knew an OJT Special Forces soldier, and he was verified by a Special Forces historian who was our operations NCO.
The SF soldier and author said he would not have believed it, but he verified it himself as a part of his unit duties.
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