Stolen Valor - The Insider Threat... How do we stop this?

Perhaps it is time to reintroduce the concept of shaming as a punishment for offenses such as these. Who is willing to risk a charge of Stolen Valor if the punishment for the crime is to stand before a battalion, brigade, BCT, or division formation, be called before the the Commanding Officer, hear the charges and findings read aloud, and then be reduced in rank or stripped of rank and decoration altogether and then cashiered from the service; escorted off post or base by the MP or Security Forces?

Do that a few times, and the frequency of such behaviors may start to diminish!

Well, here we go again. my personal feeling is this: He is an idiot and is unfit and undeserving of standing front of ANY formation. My professional feeling: as a Senior NCO, he stands in stark contrast of the NCO Creed and deserves more than a reduction. "No one is more professional than I..." "...I will not compromise my integrity nor my moral courage..." What happened to that CSM? This is how indiscipline begins in the ranks. When the Top leaders are doing it, it must be ok. This leader failed his command, his troopers, and the Army.

COL Charles Williams
Badges do not make you a Soldier or a leader. Above all else you must have character!

Nobody is above the law, he was a CSM and knew that he was wrong...you reap what you sow.

My issue is the punishment...

https://www.rallypoint.com/answers/military-justice-is-it-fair-or-is-this-a-case-of-rankism

Approaching this from a different angle.

"Have we made the bait too enticing?"

Have we made the value of these items so high that it is putting people into a position where they feel they must have them to compete?

Keep in mind I come from the USMC side, and we have very little flair, or even schools for that matter. The items we do have are generally so exclusive (SCUBA bubble, Jump Wings, Aviator Wings, etc) that not having them doesn't affect your promotion chances. Our awards system is much "slimmer" as well. The idea of having 10+ Commendation or Achievement awards is unheard of, and having a Bronze Star for anything other than Valor just doesn't seem to happen. I don't think we even use a points system for promotion at the boards (though I can't speak directly to it).

Having these items directly tied to a persons career and livelihood seems like a great way to create ethical dilemmas. When you add in the respect that comes with visual awards, whether tabs, CIB/CMB/CAB, etc.. I can definitely see a case for "setting people up for failure" in that "you must have X to be a good soldier."

This isn't designed to excuse the stolen valor behavior. Far from it. But... Look at the Tour D'France fiasco. They couldn't even award it after stripping Armstrong of his, because the problem had become so prevalent. The parallels are there.

I thought being a Command Sergeant Major would have been adequately prestigious without the ranger tab or pathfinder torch.

Man! This really disappoints me. It being an active duty member.

I have to tell you, I find this topic interesting. When I was getting out, I had found that there were a couple of awards that were not listed on my DD-214. Imagine that. S-1 made another mistake. But anyways, I told them about it and they just went about putting my awards on my DD-214 without asking for any paperwork. I was appalled. I asked if they wanted to see my awards and they told me "The award section doesn't really matter anyway." I was like WWHHAATT??? 0.o I could have told this lady I had a purple heart and she would've just wrote it down. Unbelievable.

Now, as for this article, I mean, what a freaking embarrassment. I know civilians want to be cool like us service members, but for an active E-8 to do it?? Wants all the glory but has not guts?? How dishonorable is that?? I understand not kicking him out or anything, but for him to be "Honorably Discharged???" IDK. I hope he learns his lesson from this embarrassment, loss of rank and $5000 fine. I wouldn't be able to look at my soldiers in their eye. And The thoughts running thru their heads... Just wow. He was supposed to be setting a higher standard when in all actuality, he showed them HOW NOT TO BE.

You think his punishment was fair??? Should more have been done??? Like serving his remaining time and not getting a dishonorable but a less than honorable??

COL Charles Williams
MAJ (Join to see)
GySgt Wayne A. Ekblad
TSgt Hunter Logan

COL Charles Williams

I have been on a few officer promotion/command selection boards and, in every one of them, without exception, we have discovered cases of alleged unauthorized awards, badges, etc., doctored photos, forged documents (diplomas, OERs, etc.). The investigation/resolution was accomplished very quickly so as to be finalized before the board adjourned and, in most cases (90%+), the concern was validated.

In one particularly memorable board I was on, an LTC Promotion Board, I was reviewing the record of an active duty MAJ being considered for promotion to LTC. The MAJ had been assigned to the battalion I commanded when she was a CPT. I had given her a "2 Block OER" and remember the hub-bub that created, because she was a minority female and had a few "Godfathers" in my branch who were looking out for her. I was pressured to change the rating, but I refused to. Lo and behold, when I was reviewing her records years later for consideration for promotion to LTC, I noticed that the OER had been changed to a "Top Block" and even the words had been changed. I flagged the records and informed the President of the Board about the discrepancy. I am a pack-rat and I have copies of every OER/NCOER I have ever given. I obtained my copy of the report that I had submitted and provided it to the appropriate personnel. I never found out how the OER had been changed or who did it (although I have a pretty good idea). The MAJ was not picked up for promotion and was eventually put out of the Army. My understanding is that she denied any knowledge of the OER having been changed and it could not be proven that she did.

One thing I would NOT suggest would be a new, labor-intensive bureaucratic policy for everyone to follow so that these few idiots can't get their hands on badges they're not authorized. They will still get the badges, and the rest of us will feel the pain of the policy. Punish each and every one according to the UCMJ, and publish what happens so the next idiot will think twice.

http://thisainthell.us/blog/?p=29137

This winner, MSG Letutli (formerly SGM), was in my Brigade when we deployed to Iraq in 2009. He played the part. He found that in the National Guard there are few guys that have such credentials. In my battalion we about about 5 soldiers with ranger tabs. So you could imagine if someone fakes the funk and avoids the others they can get by for while. Now for having an SF tab we really didn't have anyone to question him about that. He got caught at a Joint meeting with full time staff from each guard unit in the State. We have SF unit in out state. They figured it out. A lot of people were pissed about it. I was. He used that to get promoted. There were other soldiers that were more deserving of that. I ran into a few times and all he did was yell at use for not having a ground guide on a road. the sign was knocked over but it was our fault anyway. Nonetheless, he is gone.

This is something we need to address and not let it slide. A lot of people don't want to call out a leader at that level. But if that were to happen we have to act and do something. It gives the wrong impression to other soldiers and is lacks integrity.

It is bad when a civilian dresses up with a bunch of medals and pretends to be a service member.
It is worse when a civilian dresses up like a service member to obtain free or discounted goods and services.
It is worst of all when a service member tries to claim badges that were not earned in a hope that A) it won't be noticed
B) it will help with promotion

I have a friend who I have to keep correcting because he knows I was on a Navy Surface vessel, but does not understand that ESWS and SWO are badges that earned for showing knowledge. Everytime the service is a topic of conversation he will make a comment like "You were SWO right?"
I will say "No, I was enlisted, ESWS is the badge I could have earned, but I was discharged before completing it."

Now with this trail blazing NCO, I call dibs on Navy Ranger. I know where I can get a dinghy for my flag ship.