Need opinions on military back ground

[Stormfeather]

Sorry I didnt see this earlier, Im actually coming from Fort Jackson and Im currently at Fort Lee dropping off my son from Boot Camp to AIT here at Fort Lee.

Since we havent really talked, let me be the first to say hello, and very nice to meet you. Im also going to give you a very brief bio so not as to toot my horn, but to give you and idea that possibly, myself and a few others here may know a thing or two about military stuff besides all the porn we watch overseas, bad tattoos we got and ex-wives we have to show for it.
I joined the Marines in 1986, took the Recon Indoc 9x before I passed, yea, you read that right, 9x. At one point I actually learned to swim. Who knew that the word "Marine" was synonymous with water?... Jarheads need to know how to swim apparently. I was a Marine for 14 years, saw action in South American doing Drug Interdiction, Philippines in 1989 (Operation Classic Resolve, bet ya never heard of that one have ya?) during the coup in Desert Shield/Storm, operation Restore Hope in Somalia, Operation Joint Endeavor in Bosnia as a UN Observer, From there I left the Marines and was a government contractor from 2003 to 2008 in Iraq and Afghanistan. I specialize in Counter IED operations and Humint (Human Intelligence Collections) Then I rejoined the military iin the Army and I participated as a soldier in Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan) and Operation Freedom Eagle (back to the Philippines again) I currently work in the special operations community but now I work as a Psychological Operations Tactical Detachment. If you dont know what that is, we're those guys that go out with ODA's, Seal Teams, MarSoc, JSOC, ect..dressed as the local population and convince bad guys to become good guys.. or convince good guys to act like bad guys so we can find other bad guys, We do some off the wall shit. When I say we play mind games, we have more games than Milton Bradley... and none of them are fun for the players when we always win. So, that being said, I AM NOT saying im all that and a bag of chips, Im just saying that the military offered me a chance to travel, and do what I was trained to do, as with many here.

I can tell you with pretty solid authority, that the there was no "Secret Deployments" anywhere from Korea, from ANY Cav unit, 4/7 or 5/7. Now.. if he wants to talk about people he knew, ask him names. The reason I say this, I knew the PRT (Provincial Reconstruction Team) group that got killed by that IED (It wasnt in a HumVee, it was a MRAP) SSgt. Christopher Ward, Sgt. Delfin Santos Jr., and Cpl. Wilbel Robles Santa. The three were part of the PRT’s security detail who was Anne Smedinghoff, she was a 25-year-old Foreign Service Officer. (dont ask, its a long story how I know this) Anyways, Just throwing that out there. Tell him this little nugget, the Army is a very small community, we all know somebody who knows somebody who knows somebody. He may have known them, he may have not, but if he knew them, he sure as hell knows their names. Just Sayin.

Respectfully,
SFx3

[slowz1k]

Wow!
That's a HELL of a resume'
Thanks for the input. Though he rattled off the names of the guys that he was with, the only one I remember was Fleak, or Fleaker, (SP?) Something like that. He says that Fleaker just passed in a TX hospital after dealing with the IED injuries for over a year.
I get the feeling that he may have actually known the guys he mentions, but just not sure if they were actually hit, or he was with them if they were.
I'm going to let it ride, unless it gets obvious. My biggest fear is that I call him out and it turns out to be true. I don't want to disrespect him or the guys he was with.

Thanks again for the input, and thank you for your service.

[ElevenBravo]

My biggest fear is that I call him out and it turns out to be true

1) If you werent there, its hard to prove yes or no. People can say all kinds of things, some may be true... some maybe not. Without personal observation, can you really, I mean really... debunk the claims? Just food for thought to chew on.

2) Doing nothing is still an option. Again, food for thought to chew on.


Allow your gut to guide you, sometimes the brain dont work as well as the gut!

EB


Side note on point 1:
I try to teach my daughter to question everything... She has said before.. "They say so and so is true..." Ill ask "were you there?"... of course she says no, I ask how do you know this to be true then? I usually get "Hmm... you got a point". I dont want her to accept all things presented by media, news, other people to be the gospel truth. People lie, skew the truth, omit truth, etc.. You are free in your thoughts to meditate on the matter and make a decision later.

[slowz1k]

Side note on point 1:
I try to teach my daughter to question everything... She has said before.. "They say so and so is true..." Ill ask "were you there?"... of course she says no, I ask how do you know this to be true then? I usually get "Hmm... you got a point". I dont want her to accept all things presented by media, news, other people to be the gospel truth. People lie, skew the truth, omit truth, etc.. You are free in your thoughts to meditate on the matter and make a decision later.

That thought process should be taught in every school across America!

[ANEURYSM]

saw action in South American doing Drug Interdiction

Did you know a fellow marine by the name of Don Vermillion while you were down there ?

[Stormfeather]

Slowz1k, the easiest way to ascertain if he was where he says he was, would be to consult his DD214. It basically tells the story of a persons military career, where theyve been, what schools they attended, deployments, injuries, ending rank, dates of service and locations. Believe me when I say, there are no "secret operations" unless you are on a ODA, JTAC, Seal Team, CAG, ect. Those are considered Tier 1 assets, and they are the secret squirrel monkeys who get the secret missions. Myself, I work with Tier 1 guys all the time, and fall under Tier 1 command, but my job is actually listed as Tier 2/3 depending on where you go in the world. Just food for thought. I always tell people to go with their guts, most common sense folks know when their BS meter is getting pegged, and can know it. If this is something you just want to let ride, then by all means, do that. I would consider watching your son and keeping an eye on him, and watch over time if the details change, as this is a sure sign that stories are fabricated. Most of those who are dumb enough to have been in the wrong place at the wrong time, remember those events extremely vividly, and those memories dont change with time. Im sure many fellow veterans here can substantiate this claim. Anyways, best of luck with it, and please, feel free to ask anything else if it comes up!

Respectfully,
SFx3

Did you know a fellow marine by the name of Don Vermillion while you were down there ?

Nope, name does not particularly ring a bell. (But I was a very young and impressionable Marine who was on his very first deployment outside of the country!) Funny story about down south, I got chosen based on my skin tone, not on my language skills, we had 2 mexicans, 2 white guys, all of whom spoke conversational spanish. Myself, I was the last choice, because of the other 3 guys and myself, I was the darkest complexion!

[slowz1k]

Hey guys,
I was really hoping that this horse was dead, but here I am, once again, asking for some insight.
Taking the advice offered above, I was able to "obtain" my Son's DD214. To my untrained eye, it looks as though he never stepped foot in Afghanistan under Army leadership. He also said he qualified as Marksman while in Basic and wore what I believe is the "Sharp Shooter" designation on his dress blues. (The photo is from a wedding he attended while on leave.)
Wouldn't the marksman or sharp shooter achievement show up on the DD214?
Below is an image of his actual DD214. Can anyone tell me with reasonable certainty that he's full of $h1t when he says that he saw combat or was even in Afghanistan?

Again... I do apologize for dragging you guys in on this witch hunt... This whole thing honestly makes me sick.

[ElevenBravo]

I got more fruit salad in the National Guard, and I never left CONUS. Though, I was an outstanding soldier for 16 years and earned several AAMs...

EB

[ElevenBravo]

General Discharge, less than honorable. Something wrong there...

Appears he was overseas for a period, but no indication of awards that normally go with combat soldiers.
He got the AAM twice, so he was a good boy on two occasions. All the other awards you automagically
get for being in uniform, and some may be unit service ribbons just for being in the unit.

JFV is a medical related discharge, maybe or maybe not goes with the general discharge, but I was always under the impression you would still get an honorable with a medical problem. Appears the medical problem is NOT LINE OF DUTY related. If it was, I either missed it or dont know what Im seeing.

He wasted his time in the service, the only class or school he attended was combat lifesavers class, kinda a toned down EMT.

Observations: Just another flunkie in/was uniform. There are millions just the same..

Thats all I see...
EB

[Sniper-T]

I know nothing of military... especially not AMERICAN military... but that write up seems as wishy washy as wishy washy can be. It looks to me, like he achieved a 'participant' ribbon in grammar school, just for being there. Hopefully Stormy, or someone else active can chime in with current info. No offence, but I think he's... he's... Well shit... he's a shit! No offence. I don't envy you IF you chose to call him out... It will be dramatic, to say the least. Best wishes, bud!