Gary McCollum, Virginia State Senator candidate called out on military service
Democrat Gary McCollum, a Virginia State Senator candidate in the critical district of Virginia Beach has been challenged on his campaign claims that he’s a currently-serving major in the Army. According to the Virginian Pilot, he left the service in 2001.
“Today Gary was informed that his understanding of his current military classification was not correct, and as a result will be adjusting the characterization of his time in the Army Reserves on the campaign website to reflect that information.”
McCollum said in a phone interview that he “was as surprised as anyone else. I’m sitting here thinking I’m still in the Reserve.”
He said he had no contact with the Army Reserve since 2002.
“I just assumed I was still in the Reserves,” he said. “It was a misrepresentation on our part. We’ve made the fix on the website.”
The Republican Party of Virginia released a statement;
House of Delegates member Scott Taylor, a former US Navy SEAL and Iraq War veteran, added, “One’s time in Army service is enough. It appears that that the news about Mr. McCollum being separated from the Army since 2001 is true. I’m disappointed and disgusted that McCollum would claim to be in the Army, during war, currying favor in business and politics on the backs of those who really did serve since 9/11. Those in Virginia Beach and elsewhere do not look kindly on stolen valor.”
McCollum has also claimed to be a Ranger, and I’m trying to get verification of that now. But it seems to me that he would have changed that website straight away, but that’s not the case. I’ve been sitting on the story for a couple of hours and the website still reads “he is currently a major in the Army Reserves”;
Category: Phony soldiers, Valor Vultures
Uh, Uh oh….
Hasn’t had any contact with them in 13 years but still thinks he’s in?
WTF?
I retired in 2007 but because I visit military blogs and other sites, I characterize myself as still active duty, because well, no one is going to question it.
So what your saying is you never retired?
I’m sure he served with “Honor and Distinction”.
“di-stink-tion”
This could quickly get very interesting, I wonder if he’ll threaten to “lawer up”?
How, exactly, does someone not realize that they’re no longer in the Reserves and persist in that ignorance for fourteen years?
A lot has happened in that fourteen years and you’d think the whole “hey, I’ve never been to a drill or been called up to active duty during the TWO WARS WE HAVE BEEN FIGHTING FOR A DECADE AND A HALF” would have been a clue.
He should have at least noticed when the direct-deposited checks quit coming.
I guess they “fixed the glitch”.
People on this site know that he’s giving that BS excuse just to backpedal. Now, I can see if he went into the IRR, and stayed there. But still, he would’ve had to receive correspondences from HRC, and be required to attend annual musters. He would be receiving endless correspondences about joining a TPU. Also, he would have to still get the minimum retirement points each year.
If he were TPU, and he stopped drilling, then he knew that somewhere along the line he would be purged. If they had sent him a Notice of Separation, he would’ve known that his goose was about to be cooked. He would have submitted a resignation letter in lieu of discharge for substandard performance. He would’ve received an honorable discharge.
Something like that isn’t easily, “overlooked.”
There are other scenarios that I didn’t cover, but there’s no way he would’ve still thought he was in the reserve after all this time with no activity.
Not necessarily. AR 140-10, Chapter 7 calls for officers with at least 20 qualifying years for retired pay to be transferred into the Retired Reserve if they become nonparticipants. I didn’t even know that provision in the regulation existed until I sent an NP packet on an LTC to higher headquarters back in 2006. However, I guess we don’t know if this jackwagon had 20.
Originally posted by D: Not necessarily. AR 140-10, Chapter 7 calls for officers with at least 20 qualifying years for retired pay to be transferred into the Retired Reserve if they become nonparticipants. I didn’t even know that provision in the regulation existed until I sent an NP packet on an LTC to higher headquarters back in 2006. However, I guess we don’t know if this jackwagon had 20. Not true. AR 140_10, Assignments, Attachments, Details, Transfers, Chapter 7, Paragraph 7-3.1, addresses removal for Nonparticipation. It states that officers and enlisted soldiers who have 20 good years for retirement must attain at least 50 points annually to remain on an active (TPU/IRR) status. This impacts Soldiers like me. I have my 20 Year Letter. If I fail to achieve 50 points, LOL, I’ll end up receiving notification from HRC informing me of that fact, and giving me the option to transfer to the retired reserve or get discharged. However, in that same paragraph, it states that those that fail to achieve 50 points annually will get removed from active status. This isn’t an automatic transfer to the Retired Reserve or IRR. A Soldier, with a 20 Year Letter, who becomes a nonpar, risks getting discharged. That has been the trend with all nonpars in my unit, up to the brigade level. No retired reserve, IRR, standby reserve, etc. for these nonpars, just an ETS packet that’ll result in an OTH and rank reduction to E1. Now, elsewhere in the regulation, it states that transfer in lieu of discharge is discretionary. Given the rank of the guy that you were talking about, I’m not surprised that he got transferred instead of discharged. Again, that’s discretionary. My leadership, up to the brigade level, aren’t exercising that discretion. If nonpars screw their battles over by refusing to meet their commitments, and they’re doing it for their own convenience or for other shady reason, they don’t deserve the other options. Now, we have an officer in my unit that’s a nonpar. This Soldier received everything up to he Notice of Separation Letter. This Soldier… Read more »
2006 is definitely different than today, and the command I was in used the “discharged or transferred into the Retired Reserve” as more of the latter rather than the former. It was much cleaner with less confrontation, especially if an officer had already deployed once or twice, as the one I knew had done. Definitely in agreement that this numbnuts should have known his status.
It’s a southern thang. Some fellas are called called cap’n and some are called colonel. Now, move along. Besides, can’t ya see he’s Black. He’s sacrosanct. #Black Lies Matter!
I need to amend what I wrote. It was wrong of me to say what I did. So, I apologize and offer this correction:
Besides, can’t ya see he’s Black AND A DEMOCRAT? He’s sacrosanct. #Black Lies Matter!
Besides, can’t ya see he’s Black AND A DEMOCRAT? He’s SOOPER sacrosanct. #Black Lies Matter!
There, fixed it for ya…
That is a very important distinction. Just ask my Republican, black friends. Family gatherings sound like their mortal combat.
OK, have most of what’s needed for a FOIA request. If someone can provide SSN and/or DOB (I have POB), please vector that to me via Jonn and we’ll see what his records on-file at NPRC say.
Left just as the going got tough. With the possibility of being mobilized for IZ or AF after 2001, every member of the IIR was aware of their status. Demonstrates his lack of character by jumping ship when the going got tough rather than stepping up and defend our nation.
Just what I was thinking, that or he was either very incompetent or an untrustworthy dirtbag which fits right in with being a politician!
XO of the 629th Mess Kit Repair Battalion.
http://www.gmccollum.com/
A native Virginian, businessman, and former Army Ranger, Gary McCollum is not a politician, but a proven leader with a record of service to our nation and community. Gary’s an independent voice who will stand up for the people of Hampton Roads.
Says right on his webpage that he’s a Ranger. I’m working on his DOB, but can someone get a screenshot (I’m at work) of this, because I can’t imagine it’ll be up much longer.
Haha, nevermind, you already caught it.
Oh man, Hampton Roads? I’m literally right here. Might swing by wherever his office is come lunch time.
I thought he went on to teach Junior ROTC at a small private school somewhere?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrfqxrOUqS8
Oh, wait that was a different Major. Never mind.
well, if all that time after you got out is still active duty… I’m owed a buttload of pay and oughta be a CSM by now….
He’s black and a Democrat, thus any and all of our doubts about his claims automatically get us labeled as “racist” by liberals, and I’ll wear that label with pride!
I’m a half black liberal, and I’m having doubts. Feel free to use me as your voucher for not being racist.
OK, thanks! I actually enjoy it and chuckle when some liberal applies the “racist” label to me, I take it as a sign that I’ve won the debate via facts and logic after they’ve used up all of their talking points and blather!
Maybe he is retired reserve?
Possible, but IMO very unlikely. Once we get enough for a FOIA request, the reply will tell us whether he retired – or was discharged.
When I retired in 83 I was given orders that required me to report to Benning when directed…they reminded me of that for years. So, I can say I was still in even with a 214?
I always thought that if I and folks like me got called back we’d really be in deep shit.
Ya mean… the Navy owes me 40++ years’ worth of back pay? And nobody told me?
Ha I can do better that that, since I go by Dog years they owe me 105 years.
Well, if I do it by cat years, it’s even more!
“BACKGROUND: Gary’s story is one of overcoming challenge – growing up in a Richmond housing project and losing his mother at a young age, Gary was the first in his family to graduate from college. In addition to a 26 year business career, Gary served eight years as a US Army military intelligence officer. His last active duty assignment was with the US Army Rangers and he is currently a Major in the Army Reserves.”
Source:http://www.gmccollum.com/news/mccollum-applauds-decision-to-remove-the-confederate-flag-from-virginia-license-plates
That’s his site.
They told me that I had to serve a total of 6 years on active, reserve, on inactive reserve. I left active duty in Alaska after 5 years, 11 months, and 27 days. The payroll guy said, “you can’t get home in three days so we’re going to skip that inactive reserve bullshit.” Is there a different requirement now?
Yes. The requirement changed to 8 years total military obligation in either 1980 or 1984 (can’t remember which year). Prior to that, it was 6 years. The guy’s public LinkedIn profile indicates he served on active duty from Jun 1981 to Jun 1989. That’s 8 years. I’m not defending the guy, but if indeed he was a MI officer (as his LinkedIn bio claims), there’s an outside chance his claim of “I didn’t know” is true. However, that would also require him to have been extremely neglectful in managing his own reserve career. As an Reserve officer, he would NOT have been automatically discharged on completion of his MSO. Reserve officers must request discharge from the reserve components (RC); otherwise they remain in the RC, are placed in the IRR, and are considered for promotion by mandatory promo boards on normal schedule. If they do nothing, typically they end up a 2x nonselect short of retirement and end up discharged some time afterwards. (Even if they make 20 years of total service, as a non-participating member of the IRR they typically won’t have 20 credible years for RC retirement purposes.) However, as I recall officers leaving active duty are counseled on the RC options and policies. If they have a regular commission (as opposed to being a RC officer serving on extended active duty), as I recall they also have to apply for a RC commission on leaving active duty – getting one is not automatic. And if the individual does receive a RC commission and is placed in the IRR, they have a duty to keep their RC records managers apprised of their current address at all times. Bottom line: it’s rather difficult for me to buy the “I didn’t know I was no longer in the USAR” story here. It’s theoretically possible, but IMO it would take extreme ignorance or neglect on this guy’s part for the story to be legit. At a minimum, I’d have expected him to have started checking on his reserve status a couple of years after he was released from active duty in… Read more »
Until he was called out he was, essentially, representing that he was a Major with 34 years of service, which is impossible if all of one’s service is commissioned service. So the guy was either dishonest or extremely ignorant – neither of which reflects well on him.
He is a Major……Major Shitbag!
While both regs and (if I recall correctly) Federal law specify a reserve component O4 generally cannot serve 34 years in an active status, time on the reserve retired list does count as service for pay purposes. A claim by a USAR MAJ of having “34 years of service” is thus theoretically plausible – but only if they (1) have extensive enlisted time prior to commissioning, OR (2) they are a retired USAR O4 and the claim includes their time on the reserve retired list. The latter claim would be arguably true, but (as you pointed out) would also IMO be misleading as hell.
I’m guessing the latter isn’t the case here. His other claims regarding his military history appear to rule out the former. So, I agree: IMO the guy was either being dishonest or was exceptionally ignorant concerning his own military career.
30.3 year CPT 😉
In this thread: people discover what the IRR and IMA programs are.
It always boggles my mind that people can spend a whole career in the military and still know nothing about the Reserve components. Holy shit.
Yep! Especially the IMA program.
Also, and this is my pet peeve, but no one is in the “Army Reserves.” It’s the Army Reserve.
That’s why he was confused, the Army Reserves said he was still in but the Army Reserve had no idea
A future All-Points Logistics lobbyist.
Maggot.
It would appear there is a pattern of being on the/not being on the job with him.
http://bearingdrift.com/2015/09/15/gary-mccollum-and-the-art-of-obfuscation/
Another Mark Kirk: “I simply misremembered it wrong”
I just shake my head.
All he had to do was say that he served honorably in the US Army and folks would have nodded their heads approvingly and moved on. He would been recognized as a patriotic American.
Now, he just looks like a lying shitbird.
Go figgah.
Agreed. Served as a Major in the US Army would have been fine.
You are all so obviously racists.
Yep. I frequent the track to watch the horse racists all the time.
Sometimes I like to put on women’s clothes and watch two cars race each other on a quarter mile strip. I guess that makes me a drag racist? 😀
Yes. But it also makes you available for the pool of finalist for the next round of transgendered military school experiments.
We need to stop this petty bickering and remember that we are all members of the human racists
Well, at least he’s been consistent in his story. From Nov 2013:
https://cdn.evbuc.com/eventlogos/48884694/garymccollumbio.pdf
Yes, a copy has been saved just in case this one “goes bye-bye”.
Truly a Renaissance Man. Not only is he a “Major in the US Army Reserves”, but he’s also a Cox Executive and a “licensed Christian Minister”.
Funny, but I seem to remember a Commandment proscribing bearing false witness, AKA lying. But maybe I’m wrong.
Here’s a link to another article wherein McCollum is interviewed and makes – then later “walks back” – his claims. The article includes a link to what purports to be a summary of the man’s military service.
http://wavy.com/2015/09/15/senate-candidate-backs-down-to-military-service-claims/
The document appears to have been prepared by someone with direct access to the man’s official records, and the author claims to have contacted US Army HRC. However, HRC as the source of the summary is not verified.
Short version: if the summary is correct, the guy actually did serve with 3/75th – for over 3 years. He served on active duty for a bit over 8 years. He completed Airborne and Ranger school, and served briefly in a couple of units in the USAR. He transferred to the IRR in 1992, was promoted to MAJ in 1993 . . . and then seems to have done nothing else. He was discharged in Sep 2001 shortly after reaching 20 years of commissioned service, almost certainly because of 10 USC 14506.
Per the summary, he received the MSM, 3 AAMs, ASR, Parachutist Badge, and Ranger Tab; he also likely rates the NDSM as a member of the SELRES during the Gulf War, but that’s not listed in his records (that decision may have come after he transferred to the IRR, and IRR records don’t get too much “TLC” by HRC).
I’m now definitely not buying the “I didn’t know” claim. IMO he had to know the deal – he knew he was promoted to MAJ, and that happened long after he transferred to the IRR.
A perfectly honorable peacetime career. But he ceased having any military status some 14 years ago. And I’m betting he knew that; if he didn’t, he was negligent as hell.
Sad. Just freaking sad.
Shitbag!
Just another lying shithead politician cuntgiblet, how can he even think he would have gotten away with it, oh yeah cuz he’s black, he’ll get a pass. What a tool.
Not defending him, but FWIW, here’s an article from his site, posted 17 Sep:
http://www.gmccollum.com/news/regarding-my-military-service
I still wanna know whether he really was a tabbed Army Ranger (as his site still says) or he served “with” the Rangers.
See my comment from 9:10AM on Wed (about 4 above). Bottom line is that his tab appears to be legit, but we don’t yet have official confirmation of that.
As long as you have a D following your name, you can fabricate and distort your history with no consequences.
http://wtop.com/virginia/2015/10/monday-1005-virginia-governor-backs-candidate-misstated-military-status/