Should VA Secretary be relieved from duty?

2015-02-24T01:32:48-05:00

VA Secretary McDonald made a claim that he was Special Forces, why is he still in office?
Why isn't he held to the same standards as everyone else?
I believe he should be gone!

There is no excuse for that! A formal apology should not be enough, he should be dismissed immediately.

Response by SFC Mark Merino made Feb 24 at 2015 1:39 AM

2015-02-24T01:39:36-05:00

Do you have a source for that? This is the first I heard of this.

Response by SFC Mark Merino made Feb 24 at 2015 1:41 AM

2015-02-24T01:41:00-05:00

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/02/24/va-secretary-robert-mcdonald-reportedly-admits-lying-about-special-forces/

VA Secretary Robert McDonald admits lying about Special Forces service, apologizes

Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald reportedly admitted Monday that he had lied about serving in the special forces in a conversation with a homeless veteran that was caught on camera earlier this year.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 24 at 2015 1:53 AM

2015-02-24T01:53:18-05:00

Just another example of a long line of former servicemembers (or even non-servicemembers) that embellish their former glory for attention and praise. Should he resign? Absolutely! Will he? Eh, probably not. Between people misremembering, misspeaking, "temporary lapse of judgement", or any other sorry ass excuse they can think of, integrity and accountability aren't considered as important as they used to be.

Response by SGM Mikel Dawson made Feb 24 at 2015 6:36 AM

2015-02-24T06:36:13-05:00

If I read the article right, he graduated West Point in'75, then retired in 1980? Boy, wish I could have retired with 5yrs of service! If it was a medical retirement, why not say so?

I think VA Secretary Walter Mitty, oppppssss, I mean McDonald should be held to the same standard as our esteem News Anchorman Walter Mitty, Opps again, Brian Williams!!!

Response by Cpl Jeff N. made Feb 24 at 2015 6:49 AM

2015-02-24T06:49:29-05:00

You have to wonder what is wrong with these people, especially those in the public eye. It is just too easy to verify/validate service and/or assignments. Apparently for many of them, their real life just doesn't measure up so they lie to make themselves feel better about who they are.

Will the VA Secretary resign. I'm betting no. He will try to use the "I was trying to connect with a homeless vet and embelleshed so I could connect with him" story. You see, he was just doing public service work while he was lying. That makes it all better.

Response by PO2 Mark Saffell made Feb 24 at 2015 7:02 AM

2015-02-24T07:02:25-05:00

Yes he needs to go

Response by SSG Selwyn Bodley made Feb 24 at 2015 8:16 AM

2015-02-24T08:16:37-05:00

He should be fired immediately.
"What years did you serve? I served in Special Forces too". Not exactly sure how this accidentally misspoken.

Response by SGT Jim Z. made Feb 24 at 2015 8:29 AM

2015-02-24T08:29:28-05:00

Found this on Facebook and had to share

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 24 at 2015 9:51 AM

2015-02-24T09:51:30-05:00

His standard of trust has been deleted. He cannot function in such a high level of authority w/o the trust of those he is serving. Wasn't it just a few days ago that he reprimanded a Congressman during a committee hearing on the VA when asked what he (the Secretary) is doing to fix the issue by telling said Congressman, "I ran a large company (paraphrase), what did you do?" It just so happens that the Congressman is a vet.

Response by SPC Neil Hood made Feb 24 at 2015 9:55 AM

2015-02-24T09:55:59-05:00

Yes he should resign and he needs to submit a formal apology since he belongs to the DoD. Poser a-hole.

Response by CW5 Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 24 at 2015 6:44 PM

2015-02-24T18:44:31-05:00

What I don't get, SSG Sean Garcia, is how this can be described as a "mistake." That's what I heard the Secretary say ... That he was trying to connect with a homeless vet and he embellished a little to try to make that connection.

I ask myself, "What's with these senior folks and TV personalities and their 'mistakes'?" I just don't get how a person "forgets" what they did earlier in life, especially as regards military training and assignments.

Response by SPC(P) Jay Heenan made Feb 24 at 2015 7:39 PM

2015-02-24T19:39:54-05:00

He also lied about the number of people fired...

He has lied twice (at least), but I guess that is not important when working for liars.

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 24 at 2015 8:29 PM

2015-02-24T20:29:36-05:00

I don't have much faith in politicians who come out of Chicago. There is a different brand of politics there.

I kinda had a gut feeling about this guy...

No offense to the "O-corps" guys out there, but I would like to see a VA Secretary who was a former Command Chief, CSM, or the Navy/ USMC equivalent.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 24 at 2015 8:52 PM

2015-02-24T20:52:10-05:00

Here's the thing: We are all prone to embellishment... No, we don't claim to be SF, when we weren't, or that we did door kicking missions when we really just sat on a FOB, or that we were shot or blown up, when in reality, the closest you came to a round was on the range... But there are a lot of people who do. We all embellish little things to make them seem more important, and this is natural...

HOWEVER, when someone claims one of the above scenarios that I gave as examples, there is usually something deeper... often, it is because someone just wants to be that much better than what they know in reality they are not. Sometimes, someone just wants attention. Other times, that person may have a real disorder - NPD (Narcissistic Personality Disorder) is a very real disorder, that actually has no treatment. Embellishing is common - though, to what degree does vary depending on the person. Other disorders could be someone who is a pathological or compulsive liar, someone who has a self-esteem problem (which many compulsive and pathological liars also suffer from), and even schizophrenia...

All that being said: I took a minute to really watch the video of Secretary McDonald. My take is this:

A homeless vet says: "I was in Special Forces"... Secretary McDonald, being a politician (of sorts - you can't get the position of Secretary of the VA without being very politically astute/aware) is VERY aware of the cameras on him filming him, and the FIRST thought through is political mind is: "How can I leverage this to make it look like I REALLY CARE about veterans, and also connect WITH THIS GUY???".

Well, to establish a connection, you show that you have something in common with someone - to show that you have something in common, you declare that you went through a trial/tribulation that that person went through, or that you worked for the same unit/organization... something - anything... So, McDonald says "You were Special Forces? I was Special Forces!" thereby, showing that he and the Veteran are BROTHERS...

Now, this was a big mistake - especially for him... because the cameras were on him, and his "lie" could be exposed - which it was.

What McDonald SHOULD have done, is said: "You were in the Army? I was in the Army! 82nd! Were you at Fort Bragg? I was at Bragg!"... That would have established the SAME level or nearly the same level of brother kinship as making the false statement.

It is important to note this. I don't think that Secretary McDonald was deliberately trying to embellish the way a poser or a stolen-valor idiot does... I think he was trying to be a politician. I'm not excusing him for this, not entirely, but I am explaining the thought process he had.

He needs to publicly apologize. He needs to swear to NEVER embellish like that again. He needs to apologize to every veteran for this. That much for sure. Resign or fire him? I'd say not yet... let's see how he does as the Secretary of the VA. Let's see IF he really means he's sorry - and if he does this again, then kick his rear out... I think I've seen a distinct improvement in the VA since he took over, and I don't think that a few words is worth causing even more issues at this point with an organization that is just NOW starting to get itself straight, esp. since it's doing so because McDonald is leading the organization.

If we weren't all prone to telling fish stories - then yeah, I might say he's due to be fired - but none of us are perfect, and we ALL tell fish stories, even if it is only about the little fish we caught that we swear was 3' long...

Let he who is without sin (or embellishment in this case), cast the first stone...

Response by SrA Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 25 at 2015 1:04 PM

2015-06-25T13:04:50-04:00

That and the fact that the VA Hospital Administration is still the same mess are reasons alone to fire him. Making statements like that are dishonorable. What's more dishonorable is that out of the entire VA scandal only one low level employee was ever fired. No amends we're made. The VA health system is still so complex and foncusing that it barely functions. If lying about the special forces wasn't bad enough than why don't we just fire him for incompetence? He hasn't fixed the VA Health System, which is why he was given the job, and he's been given plenty of time to start.