Ken Aden, the phony “Green Beret” congressional candidate; Part III
Ken Aden, the Democrat running for Congress who claims to be a “green beret”. Tim was able to finagle a copy of the DD214 from someone somewhere while the campaign was doing it’s best to keep it out of our hands. We discussed Aden and his tomfoolery here and here earlier this month. But here’s his complete DD214 and you’ll see why they only released half of it on that Blue Arkansas blog.
You’ll notice that in blocks #13 and #18 there is no Special Forces tab listed. Also in block #14 there’s no Special Forces Qualification Course (SFQC) which would be necessary for him to call himself a “Green Beret”. We’ve been in contact with the folks at the Special Warfare Center and they have no record of his attendance at the school.
Aden and his staff could have mitigated this by simply admitting in the beginning that he’s not a “Green Beret”, but they’re absolutely sticking to this obviously fallacious line. This is only going to get worse before it gets better.
Of course, if Aden comes up with some documentation, or he can point me to his class picture, I’ll retract this whole thing, but clinging to an obviously altered DD214 isn’t going to get that done.
Loads of thanks to Tim who been very tenacious and relentless in regards to getting these documents. Oh, yeah, the only thing I did to his DD214 is erase his birth date, because I don’t want him to have his identity stolen or anything.
Category: Phony soldiers
Aside from outing him beyond a shadow of a doubt about being SF Qualified….it clears up another ribbon. Apparently there is s typo, as it states “Commissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon”.
Apparently some clerk or civilian missed the “Non-“.
Checkmate.
I guess ole Barney Fife, as they like to call me, just busted that ass.
@CI, the “non” is in block 13. I have an award like that on my DD214.
Nothing better than the smell of *busted ass* first thing in the morning.
@4 – I’ll be damned….good catch!
CI, the NON is in block 13 just before “CONT IN BLOCK 18”. i don’t know why they just didn’t type NCO like i have on my 214
Why isn’t Airborne school listed with his mil Ed?
Bobo, it’s probably on the other DD214.
Another phony “SF claimer” and will/is a phony politician.
My DD214 is the Nov 1988 version so they may have recorded stuff differently when I retired back in 1993. Mine shows Airborne in block 14 and Parachutist Badge in block 18. His does not list Airborne in block 14.
Block 8a on his 214 shows last unit as 73rd Armor at Fort Bragg. The unit is actually 1st Squadron, 73rd Cavalry. I mean, I know it is Armored Cavalry but is that the right way to list the unit?
I know the 60’s is like Gettysburg, but on my DD 214 there are no schools listed…..including BCT, AIT, etc. Lazy clerk. Not defending this asshole…just saying there are lazy clerks, and to us back then, we just signed the thing and went home. I have something from National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis that shows all my awards, when I applied to get my medals that were never issued. I was surprised to see the “Jungle Expert Badge” when I was never in Panama and never attended the school. I have never worn it. I guess my point is that there are screw ups on all this kind of admin stuff….but to say you were a Green Beret and the school never heard of you….is a little weak, even though I know real SF’ers that never attended but they are few and far between, and were taken out of LRRP units in Vietnam, and are listed on team lists. I agree with Jonn…if he was, we’ll say so…if he wasn’t…then he’s a dishonorable sonnofabitch.
Honor and Courage
So how come he’s listed as having 3 good conduct awards in only 9 years of active duty?
In the Navy it was one award for every 4 full years of service, provided you didn’t have any “oops” which meant that the clock started over, which is why AW1 Tim only has 1 Good Conduct award. That damned reset button, etal, which is my story and I’m sticking to it.
Has the Army changed it’s requirements, or were they different all along?
And that DD-214 looks as queer to me as a $3 bill.
Good conduct is 1 for 3 in the Army.
Tim…even so he has less than nine years and so doesn’t rate three GCMs.
Also what are the eligibility dates for the NDSM?
Roger NHS, I was just letting the other Tim know the Army does it on 3 year legs. The NDSM…no clue. Interesting note, His website says he was awarded the Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal, but neither the FOIA nor the DD-214 he released mentions it.
I am ashamed that he shared the same MOS as me. He brings out the ‘Maggot’ in mortar maggots.
National Defense Service Medal eligibility periods
Korea: June 27 1950 – July 27 1954
Vietnam:Jan 1 1961 – Aug 14 1974
ODS: Aug 2 1990 – Nov 30 1995
GWOT: Sept 11 2001 – TBD
Source: Defense.gov
Ya know what? I’ve figured out what the problem is with all these DD-214s! If you guys (Army) didn’t have all these different units!, none of this would be a problem!!! “Air Cavalry, Armored Cavalry, bicycle cavalry, etc. I thought the cavalry rode horses!? At least John Wayne did.
Just messin’! This asshat is a Stolen Valor candidate First Class!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxsYE79Q_dE&feature=plcp
2 minute mark he claims to have fought in Iraq and AFG. Interesting….the DD-214 HE released says otherwise.
Yea, I’m nit picking the hell out of him now.
Ya know what? I’ve figured out what the problem is with all these DD-214s! If you guys (Army) didn’t have all these different units it wouldn’t be a problem!!! “Air Cavalry, Armored Cavalry, Bicycle Cavalry etc. I thought the cavalry rode horses!? At least John Wayne did!?!
Just messin’! This asshat is a Stolen Valor candidate First Class!
oh come on guys. It’s just some lazy DA civilian clerk who was still hung over from the night before. A night of drinking was a good pick me up after being depressed about how big thier paycheck is.
Give the man a break. It’s not his fault they failed to include his Supa Dupa Elite Operators training, his G42 Classified rating, or the fact that he studied Ameri-Do-Te and is highly profiecint in the Groin Grab and Kill Face moves.
You guys are a bunch of fucking losers.. Get a life..
Yeah – some of us actually have that NDSM plus two. Looks a little weird. And makes you feel really, really OLD!
Wonder how he is going to handle this. Will he ignore the evidence? How long? Then what? When will the mea culpa surface??
What a soap opera.
AW1 Tim–actually, Navy went to 3 years for GCM in the mid-90’s (1997, IIRC.) Don’t know if they went back to 4’s since I got out.
And you’d think a high-speed, low-drag kinda guy would know he’s only entitled to ONE NDSM based on his dates of service. In the words of Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, “Well now, let’s just see if anything else is fucking missing! Holy Jesus! What is that! What is that, Private Pyle!”
What is the ADSO for the Q Course (I doubt it’s less than 3 years)? Also, if he finished (or even attended) SFQC, how was he not promoted to SFC within a couple of years. How many long tabbers with more than 2 years on teams don’t make E7?
NHSparky: it’s technically possible he may qualify for 2 awards of the NDSM. Service in Reserve Components “in good standing” during ODS and GWOT also qualified those Reservists for the NSDM. In the Army, that was interpreted to mean service in good standing in the SELRES (IMA capacity or in a TPU), or of being called to active duty during the period. However, service by IRR/ING/standby reserve/retired members on active duty for training (ADT) orders or for board support did not qualify, nor did serving on active duty solely to take a physical. (AR 600-8-22, para 2-10.c.)
However, only one award of the NDSM is authorized during each qualifying period. Since the ODS period ended on 30 Nov 1995, that means he’d have to have been born sufficiently before 1 Dec 1995 to have (1) served on active duty, or (2) joined a reserve unit by that date. That means his DOB would have to be NLT 30 Nov 1978 – and he’d also have to have either active duty or qualifying reserve service during the ODS period.
While that could be the case, I’m guessing from his FOIA it’s not. His FOIA only shows service of any type in 1997 and after. That means that according to his dates of service on-file at NPRC, this guy shouldn’t have a NDSM from the ODS period – at all. Don’t know why they list it on his FOIA, but it appears not to be legit.
” . . . because I don’t want him to have his identity stolen or anything.”
Apparently, the would-be congresscritter has already stolen and expunged — his own self-identity.
No. 12: “. . . on my DD 214 there ARE NO SCHOOLS listed . . .”
Nor on mine.
“. . . the 60?s is like Gettysburg,” or perhaps later — The Indian Wars .
Are you kidding — DARE TO QUESTION a poly-TISSUE candidate ??
Where’s his Iraq Campaign medal? He’s got the GWOT-E which covers ’04-’05. Shoulda got ICM for ’08-’09. And he’s a year short for 3rd Good Conduct. Someone explain to me how he got a mechanic’s badge.
Two weeks of WLC?
Aden did attend the SFQC for 18D (Medic) failed and was recycled into the 18B (Weapons) Failed twice was releived from teh course thats why it says 2 years 9 month MOS he was in training or recycle status all that time then failed and was sent to the 82nd Airborne.
@31 Another guy in “Division” woofing shit that he was in “Group.” It never ends!
Thanks, tmusa. But that still doesn’t convince me Aden’s DD214 is legit. If anything, it raises yet another “red flag”.
My understanding is that an 18-series MOS is awarded on successful completion of the appropriate SFQC training-track – not on entry into SF training. If that’s correct, if someone washed out in training how would they ever hold a valid 18-series MOS? And if they never held the MOS, why would it be listed on their DD214?
Bottom line: as I understand it, if Aden washed out of training, then he never actually held an 18-series MOS and one shouldn’t be listed on his DD214. Everything I’ve found indicates that the 18-series MOS is awarded on successful completion of training, not at entry. And that’s the case even if he enlisted under the 18X enlistment option – 18X is an enlistment option, not a MOS.
One of the SF vets (or current quiet professionals who might lurk here), please clarify if/where I’m wrong. But that’s what current documents I’ve been able to find all seem to indicate, and I don’t think that’s changed between 2003 and today.
The 18 Series MOS is awarded upon completion of the “Q” course. Aden is not, nor has ever been, a Special Forces Soldier.
I guess that this dude figures that it worked for Mr. Obama, so why shouldn’t faked documents work for him too!
Your confusion over his DD-214 is because he was obviously either Guard or Reserve at some point. WLC was only 2 weeks in the reserve component, Soldiers deployed for OIF/OEF got a GCM for 1 year of service, NDSMs were routinely screwed up etc. If he was deployed to OIF but stayed in Kuwait or Quatar he would not rate the Iraq Campaign medal. His award of the Armed Forces Reserve Medal with Mobilization Device should have clued you in.
I retired in 2010 and none of my schools are on my last DD-214 (I enlisted in 1977), none of my retirement awards are listed, and 2 years later I am still awaiting a DD-215 to correct these issues.
None of that excuses his claim of being SF if he wasnt but some of you need to reign it in and do a little research.
Shrike, why in the name of the Holy Spongebob would you sign a DD214 that doesn’t have your schools and awards on it? Seriously. I almost sat at Bragg for a month when I refused to sign my DD214 until they changed the theater from “Hungary” to Bosnia.
I don’t know a single PFC, let alone Staff NCO, who would sign a DD-214 that was as effed up as you claim, Shrike.
Either you’re lying out your ass, or you sucked as an NCO. Or both.
Shrike: per AR 600-8-22, para 4-5.c., an enlisted soldier is eligible for a GCM for serving between 1 and 3 years if it’s their first GCM, or for serving for less than 1 year if separated due to physical disability. USAR and ARNG soldiers not serving on full-time AGR duty and w/o prior active service don’t have GCMs (they earn the ARCAM instead). And USAR/ARNG units mobilized for OEF or OIF were generally mobilized for somewhat longer than 365 days to allow for 365 days in-theater. That means any enlisted soldier in those units who didn’t already have a GCM would rate one for the mobilization provided their conduct met GCM standards during their deployment.
TSO and Sparkles; you are not helping your cause by attacking a simple statement of truth and showing your ignorance. If you are an admin type you probably typed your own DD-214 but I didnt have that luxury. I was stationed at what was considered an overseas station (Ft Richardson AK) at retirement and left on permissive TDY and transition leave 3 months prior to my retirement date. My retirement awards followed about 6 months later..and my DD-214 states //Member not available for signature//. In fact, the S-1 that signed it did it with an E-signature so nowhere on my DD-214 is a single signature.
THATS HOW ITS DONE IN A LOT OF PLACES NOW ASS WIPE..how in the fuck am I going to sign a DD-214 that has awards on it I havent yet been awarded. My schools are on previous DD-214s and my point was that you should stick to this shit bags fraudulent SF claim because a lot of the other stuff doesnt surprise me at all if he was NG or Reserve.
Hondo, you just posted what I was saying.
Sparkles, I assume your a CS or CSS type and are far from retirement because you speak as if the S-1 and the Army is infallible. Put in a few more years before you talk such crap; you sound like a nappy wearing idiot.
Yeah, Shrike, we’re the ones’ who aren’t paying attention…despite the fact that you missed the part where the school doesn’t having a record of him graduating from the school.
So good luck with your selective brilliance.
Hey John, I agree with you about Aden not attending SF school and being a fraud…good reading comprehension there.
Uh, Shrike-not only was I NOT an “admin type”, I bet I have more overseas time than you. And I still know what schools I went to, what NEC’s I held, and what awards I was entitled to, and made sure they were all there.
No more, no less. Funny how that works.
Well, then stfu, nimrod.
how in the fuck am I going to sign a DD-214 that has awards on it I havent yet been awarded.
Haven’t heard of a DD-215, have ya?
And I don’t care how many DD-214’s you are awarded, it ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS includes previous time, including Guard/Reserve time, of which Aden has a whopping 16 months.
Oh, and my DD-215 took three months, not two years. And my awards are also verifiable online so even if I only show my 214 I can still prove my “extra” awards.
This was back in the “bad old days” of the 90’s when we didn’t have LAN and the only Internet access available was dialup.
Oh Sparkles…I said I have applied for a DD-215 and I enlisted in 1977…you know before your buddy Al Gore invented the Internet and probably before you were born. I have 33 years of service in two service branches of which 24 years was active duty so no Sparkles..you dont have more overseas time sorry. I have my awards and my orders and most importantly..my retirement check….the DD-215 is coming and the lack of a couple medals doesnt affect me at my age…it will get sorted out.
I came to this site because of the shame of Poe and have been reading and for the most part I am glad sites like this exist but then some of you try to execute anyone who has something different to say than the party line..its like HS boys all trying to be the cool kid.
Why does it matter? Because when you veer from something like Aden’s SF MOS being fraudulent which someone rightfully outed by checking with the schoolhouse and get into things like “and he only did 2 weeks in PLDC/WLC”, or “he couldnt have gotten 3 GCMs in less than 9 years” or “he never got an Iraq Campaign Medal” you throw accusations against the fine men and women who legitimately also have those on their DD-214s. Is that what your after?
My whole point was and is that you should target the obvious fraud but be careful about red herrings you may not know about. When National Guard and Reserve units demobilize they do it en-mass and its a clusterfuck. Sparkles may like to think he knows that even PFCs wouldnt leave without everything being correct on their DD-214s but it just doesnt happen that way for a lot of Soldiers and you cant claim otherwise.
good one Shrike, you never listed any ‘overseas’ billets, only that you served 24 years?. List them, then MAYBE you beat him?
why the hell would you EVER NOT SIGN YOUR DD214. a DD215 SHOULD NOT TAKE 2+ YEARS. you fail. i would never allow any ‘e-signatures’ or someone else BESIDES ME to ever sign a dd214 or a dd215.
when you claim a award or school and someone looks at your shit to verify and its not there.. good luck.
i have two dd 214s, the last one with a recent de-mob from a reserve deployment. while rushed, they still took the time to prepare our documents and us view it with them one on one before we signed it. any errors got fixed in at most two days.
dumbass.
Anonymous(47) – E-signatures are indeed the way a DD214 is signed today, using the CAC. It’s been that way since at least 2008.
Shrike: if that’s what you intended to say above re: GCMs, you need to work on expressing yourself more clearly. You seemed to be saying that it was incorrect to award a GCM for a mobilization. In some cases, it is; in others, it’s not.
Shrike–show me an NCO who lets stuff like his own DD-214 errors slide, and I’ll show you an NCO who shouldn’t be one.
Nuff said.
And for the record, he didn’t have 9 years AD. Didn’t rate 3 GCM’s. Didn’t rate 2 NDSM’s. Didn’t earn an 18-series MOS.
And I’m Navy, and I still know this. So who exactly is failing again.
Get some time on the pond, “Sergeant.”
No your right Hondo. What I meant was that I know they awarded GCMs for a year or so of mobilized service.I dont know if this guy would have fallen under that but at least its plausible given that he obviously was mobilized.
On the other issues, it was common during the mid 2000s for AC Soldiers to fill slots in RC NCOES at the WLC level so again, lots of Soldieres have WLC that shows 2 weeks duration and if this guy was mobilized and deployed to OIF but was stationed in Kuwait, Qatar or Saudi Arabia he would have gotten the GWOTEM instead of the ICM and to me thats what this DD-214 looks like. One of my sons was stationed in Kuwait and he has the same statements on his DD-214 about service in Iraq but he only has the GWOTEM
I guess differing experiences and opinions are not sought here and I find it extremely ironic that after a couple years of frustration in trying to get my DD-214 corrected and getting my VA Claim processed I get attacked and called a dumbass on a supposed veteran centric website. I know lots of veterans in the same boat so something tells me these posters are not actually veterans or they have extremely limited experience.
And anonymous; I am sure you and sparkles have me beat as far as overseas time but thanks for asking. I served in Desert Storm, Somalia, and OIF, was a GPOI Trainer, and as a Marine was awarded 5 SSDRs and as a Soldier an OSSR and an OTR. But at least you will be happy to know they made it to my DD-214! So where did you guys serve? Care to share?
The bottom line for me is that you should be careful about hurling accusations about someone based on a DD-214 unless you can verify it like someone did with Arden and his supposed SF School that he never attended.