Ken Aden running for Congress in AR-03, a “Green Beret” not so much
There’s a guy running for Congress in Arkansas’ 3rd Congressional District, who happens to be a Democrat named Ken Aden. He had a perfectly honorable career in the military with the 82nd Airborne Division and the 1st infantry Division, but that wasn’t good enough for him. Apparently, he had been telling the media before his run that he was a “Green Beret” (remember I told you to be suspicious of people who say that?). For example, there’s an article in the Russellville, AR, Courier News Online in which he clearly tells the reporter that “I am a former green beret…” In case the article disappears, like many of the articles I’ve been searching for, here is the relevant screenshot;
He’s running against his former commander in the Congressional race, Steve Womack, who says that he doesn’t remember Aden in his unit when they served in the Sinai, but as you can see from his FOIA, he has the Multi-National Force and Observers Medal traditionally given to folks who served in the Sinai;
Here’s the addendum for the FOIA where the MNFO Medal appears;
Kos used to have an article about Aden and his Green Beret-ness, but if you click on this link, you’ll see they pulled it. But the internet remembers;
I guess someone got word that folks were checking on him and started cleaning up behind him.
Category: Phony soldiers
https://www.facebook.com/Arkansas3rd
“Former Green Beret Ken Aden will run 253 miles in April to raise awareness about hunger in 10 Arkansas counties.”
http://arkdems.org/2012/03/28/icymi-ken-aden-honored-for-community-service-by-the-white-house/
http://aden4arkansas.com/?page_id=613
According to his DD-214 he was an officer, yet his website shows him as an E-6 and there’s no mention of him being an officer. Could be a Mustang, but…
Also, all of the articles that mention him being a “Green Beret” say he was also a “combat vet”. His campaign bio also states he earned a CIB. Yet it doesn’t appear on his DD-214. Granted, it could be in the “continued” section, but…
Yeah, there’s a CIB in the addendum.
OK, I promise to stop beating this dead horse, but in the screenshot you posted he says he had a “top security” clearance.
I, too, served in the 82nd as a 11H2P from ’94 to ’97. The most I ever had was an alleged “Secret” level clearance because I was a TOW/Anti-Armor gunner and some of the TOW components were allegedly classified.
Regular 11Bs and 11Cs did not have these clearances as I recall, unless things have changed…
Not the first time a guy from Division woofing shit about being in group. This has been going on for years.
Is the “Infantry Mortar Platoon Officer Course” open to enlisted?
I don’t about how it was back before I was in but I went to the Infantry Mortar Leader’s Course and its for both enlisted and officer. They have no mortar platoon leader’s course. Anyways, a mortar platoon leader is as close to a worthless position as you can find in the army
OK, I stand corrected on the officer and CIB questions.
@6 – There’s no such animal as a “top security clearance”. But as an 11B I had a TS/SCI, so it’s not impossible if that’s what he meant but stated in an amateurish way.
And on a similar note, it’s always been Infantry Mortar Leaders Course as far I can remember.
Sorry, but how as an 11B did you have a TS/SCI?
http://usmilitary.about.com/od/enlistedjobs/a/11b.htm
“Security Clearance: None required”
I’m pretty familiar with why one would need a TS/SCI and Infantryman would not necessarily meet the requirements.
@12 – Any MOS that does require a security clearance does not prohibit one from being granted one. As long as the chain of command validates the need, the process can be initiated. I worked at BDE when I initiated mine.
One of the nifty aspects on being Infantry, is that you can find your self in ‘special’ duty positions probably easier than other MOSs.
Correct CI,while an 11B Squad Leader I had a Secret Clearance. Don’t know why I had it or if I ever used it, but Top said to get my ass to battalion to start the paperwork, so off I went.
These are the ones I don’t get. He’s earned the right to walk tall, yet he feels the need to one-up his real life accomplishments when the real ones are outstanding. IDGI
Enough never seems to be enough for these clowns!
My own service was more than enough for others to thank me for it upon occasion. Got all the “showed up on time” awards and a few extras. No big deal at all and certainly nothing out of the ordinary. Still, every one of us who showed up did more than all those who only whine about their lives.
Will never get it. Would never consider voting for a liar. If they would lie about something like this, how could you ever trust them with anyting?
I have an 11B working in my shop right now with a TS/SCI. It’s uncommon, and you can believe we give him a lot of grief about slumming with the MI pukes, but it happens.
He attended the University of Chicago? Really? Seems suspect as well…
@18
I thought he attended Mid-South Community College and got an AAS in Renewable Energy?
I was always taught, the first rule of fight club, is you don’t talk about fight club. ie: those with a clearance don’t talk about having a clearance, especially at the TS/SCI level
Well, he got endorsed by Raul Grijvala? Bet the Kossacks are creaming their panties now.
I never get it expecially now don’t people think that someone is going to check this stuff out? Hell I am thinking of running for office because I have a few years I don’t remember too much about. Be proud of what you did and that is it. Some of the baddest mfers I have ever met (WWII guys) you wouldn’t know until you saw or read about them, because they didn’t flaunt it. A candidate for office that puts out how much of a hero he is always makes me question them…remember, “reporting for duty!”
Perhaps it should be called the: “Green Beret Flag”? when somebody uses that term.
as for “S, TS” etc clearances, there were times they were giving a lot of temps due to shortages on deployments. That’s something they should NEVER lower the standards on.
Just to let you guys know, ANYONE can get a clearance, any time, anywhere. Secret means nothing, it means they interviewed you and you did not say “I promise to send everything i touch back to mother russia” TS/SCI means they went and talked to your mommy and daddy and a few friends, and found out you PROBABLY wouldnt send anything back to mother russia. This is exactly why “top” clearances dont exist anymore, it used to go up the ladder with different designations until they nixed it and came up with SCI which basically means we will tell you only what you need to do your job. As for not talking about having one? Why wouldnt you? It looks great on a resume, because 90% of companies who offer real jobs will at some point need to get a clearance for you, and if you have one already it saves them money. Nobody cares if you had a clearance otherwise. Unless you were a spook back when they invented spooks you will never know who killed jfk or what they did with the aliens that crashed at Rosswell. As for the guy claiming to be a Green-Beret…..what a douche bag.
” . . . to raise awareness about hunger . . . ”
I am perfectly aware of hunger,
however this man must raise his own awareness of REALITY (Truth).
@CI Roller Dude If we did that then I’m sure it would become even more difficult to get basic work done. I’m more concerned about some of these slimeball politicians who get one once they are elected as Congressmen or above.
@23- my team was granted an “Interim TS” on an overseas mission. It was a last minute deployment- nothing high-speed but we had to stay in a place that was “sensitive.” We all had secret clearances. Two guys had a TS…within 90 days the Interim TS expired. It had to be done this way. No standards were lowered and all were debriefed by MI afterwards.
As for the “Green Beret flag” oh yeah-
From my perspective, I “needed” a clearance because Naval Nuclear Propulsion Information is classified as “Confidential-NOFORN”, while being on the boat mandated having a SECRET clearance just because of ships movements while deployed. Then there were the times we got interim TS clearances where we signed the paper on the way out on station saying, “This is where we’re not going, this is what we’re not doing, this is what you’re not gonna see.”
But after Walker/Whitworth, lots of clearances were administratively withdrawn based on duty station and need to know. When I left my last boat to go to recruiting they pretty much pulled everything because I no longer had need to know.
Back O/T, dude has some serious cred but has to make shit up. Amazing. Totally amazing.
I know very few 11Bs who actually need a TS/SCI to operate. When we deployed they all got SECRET clearances, because generally troop movements, TTPs, op locations, etc. were classified S//NF on our deployment.
You don’t need a clearance to become an 11B, but you need to be able to get one should you deploy. We had to actually leave a guy at home when we were mobilizing, because he had filed for bankruptcy and had some other stuff going on that precluded him from getting even a SECRET. He wasn’t kicked out of the unit, but he couldn’t deploy with us.
Funny thing is, Nicki–my current employer goes deeper into my background so I can get “inside the fence” at a nuke power plant than the Navy ever did for a Secret clearance.
@29 – Nicki you’re correct, very few 11B’s do need that level of clearance. What isn’t apparent to most people, as it wasn’t to me prior to my deployment, is that many conventional units have either initiated or been tasked with what I’ll loosely refer to as ‘special projects’ that have a SOF flavor and require national/OGA assets and support.
NHSparky – I just underwent my 5-year, and OMG! They trolled up my ass with a flashlight. So Anon’s claim that “Just to let you guys know, ANYONE can get a clearance, any time, anywhere. Secret means nothing, it means they interviewed you and you did not say “I promise to send everything i touch back to mother russia” TS/SCI means they went and talked to your mommy and daddy and a few friends, and found out you PROBABLY wouldnt send anything back to mother russia.” sounds a bit hollow. They spoke to every single person I listed on my paperwork. They interviewed me at work for any inconsistencies, as well as four of my co-workers. SCI means having access to HUMINT, SIGINT, ELINT that’s so sensitive, you need special indocs just to have access to it. It is not equivalent to “need to know,” which is what you’re talking about. Yes, you have to have a justification to even have access to SCI, but it’s much more than that.
CI – Yeah, anything SOF will have to go higher. Especially after that dicklick Manning released a whole lot of reports that had SOF info in them and were only classified S//NF. GRRRRR
Seems to be a lot of veterans running for office this year.
I believe Cotton in Arkansas is also a vet.
@bman I hope it stays that way. There hasn’t been a significant veteran presence in any level of politics since the immediate aftermath of WWII. While we’re at it I say we turn Teddy Roosevelt into a zombie so he can become President again.
@34 – Would LOVE to see more vets in the legislature! At least we know we are – as a general rule – more honorable than the leeches in Congress now.
As for TR – considering he was the one who first pushed for a nationalized health care system, fuck some TR!
@35 Yeah, but he was an epic badass. We’d have the war won in six months!
i bet anything he killed and did that to his own cat. F’ing nut-job.
Yes, Tom Cotton is a Ranger QUALIFIED Veteran running in Arkansas 4th District against 2 Marine Combat Veterans and a beauty queen: http://waronterrornews.typepad.com/home/2012/01/cpt-tom-cotton-for-arkansas-4th-district.html
(I emphasis that he has a tab and not a scroll, because some miscreant from CA is trying to claim he is claiming more than that.)
Mr. Adens real dd214 is now public knowledge. Anyone who doubted this mans words should see he was in fact 18b sf weapons sergeant. The gentleman that wrote this travest should hide his face and weep, then cast his vote for this highly decorated combat vet. If anyone on this feed has a question about the documents, please feel free to call me at the campaign. You all should look at the figure in the crosshairs before pulling the trigger next time-Jake
Laughing so hard my sides hurt at #39!
Not sure that anyone posting here lives in AR, so you are suggesting that we vote fraudulently? But only for your guy??
Yeah, right. We should accept as a credible source a political campaign. If it is suddenly public knowledge, why would your campaign be the place to acquire the “real DD214?” Where was the real one until now?? And why would you have it but the repositories of public documents would not?
Thought I had an understanding what the term “look at the figure in the crosshairs” meant, but it makes no sense to me in this context. Perhaps it would apply more to you than to us? I dunno.
Oh, man. Sides. Hurting.
Well, “Jake” – how about you post a link to a scanned copy of that “real dd214” for all of us to see? (Redact the SSN and NOK information first, of course.) Or maybe e-mail a copy of that “real dd214” to Jonn Lilyea, who runs this site? His e-mail address is found in the “Contact Us” link at the top of each page.
Put up or shut up, fella. Put up or shut up.
Oh, and about that “Commissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon” referenced on Aden’s website under “Meet Ken” – well, it’s bogus. No existe, amigo. The correct ribbon is the “Non-Commissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon”. Aden was an NCO, not a commissioned officer.
Little hint, Jake? If you’re going to claim to represent someone or claim that you’re working on his campaign, try writing coherently.
I hear verbs can really “brighten up” a sentence, as can punctuation, syntax, capitalization, and spelling. Try it!
So to whom did Aden release his DD214? The staff at the local Burger King? “Public knowledge” means he’d post it on his campaign website and I don’t see any mention of it. Anywhere. Jake, if I have to come down there and embarrass you and Aden, I will. F’in’ trolls. Weeping will be the best thing that happens to you.
And you’re pretty “travest”, too, what ever that means.
Jake: If you knew just how accurately the men who post on this site “look at the figure in the crosshairs” (as you put it), you’d rapidly crawl back under your rock.
But sometimes the only way to learn is to end up at the bottom of the dogpile. Enjoy.
Jake,
The guy you are running a campaign for is a phony. I have been watching the back and forth on his facebook page for almost a week and you have yet to produce a single piece of evidence that Mr. Aden is truly a Special Forces Soldier. Former vets, have used the FOIA to find out that although he did serve, his time as a SF Soldier is false. As a former SF Soldier, I want his team number and his Yarborough Knife serial number. I will then call the JFK Special Warfare Center at Ft. Bragg and cross check your information. It’s just that simple. If you think for one second that these people that have commented above and on facebook are just going to “go away”, you are sorely mistaken. Men have died for the distinction to be called a “green beret” and your candidate/drinking buddy is tarnishing it. This isn’t about Republican vs. Democrat, it’s about right vs. wrong. I will be standing by.
TK
It appears as though another day will pass without Aden’s DD-214. Interesting that his DD214 supposedly says 18B. What Group was he in? He likes to point out the fact that he was with the 39th, 82nd and 1ID but he won’t say what group he was in?
And now they have deleted the Facebook thread where I questioned him. It’s seems as though Mr. Aden is scared of the truth being known.
Yeah, I’ve talked with the campaign. Apparently they’ve “publicly released” Aden’s records to some of the Old Media in Arkansas, and although they’ve promised to ask Aden if they can release it to me, I haven’t heard from them since about this time yesterday. So I’m sure what’s going to come out of the Old Media is some inaccurate description without an image of the actual records that can be scrutinized by someone who knows what they’re looking at.
Sounds like some of the Litte Rock media could use some “help” then?
NHSparky, Feel free to contact the media here, I have already but the more that do the better. KATV, KARK, NW Arkansas Times, Arkansas Democrat Gazette and FOX16 are the main media outlets here.