SGM James R. Burch; the records
You might remember this guy from earlier this month;
His name is James Reginald Burch, and he is indeed a sergeant major, and a ’93 grad of the academy. All of those foreign jump wings look legit, however, the AR 670-1 says;
29–19. Wear of foreign badges
a. Personnel may not wear more than one foreign badge at a time.
So here’s what his FOIA, that we got from Mary this morning says he’s authorized to wear;
Now, I see the SF tab in his records but no Ranger tab, I don’t see the Diver badge or Pathfinder badge, either. I don’t see in his assignments where he should have a combat patch, either;
And, whatever the 82d badge is, I’m sure it’s only authorized while you’re assigned to the 82d, the same with the arrowhead thingie. So, this is just a case of embellishment and a sergeant major who thinks that he doesn’t need to adhere to the regs. His idea of looking like a stud ends up looking like a badge-hunting freak to the rest of us.
Category: Phony soldiers
Good. If he earned what he has, I really don’t care where he puts all his stuff, regs or no regs. I know many of you will disgree but that’s the way I see it.
Dmmit. I’m evidently short of the first letter of the lphbet. Sorry bout tht. If you hve some extrs, I’ll repy you lter when I get to WlMrt nd buy some. Thnks.
But, he didn’t earn it all, 2/17. At least three badges he’s wearing aren’t in his records.
See, this is why I liked Navy regs. So much simpler. So much less shit to wear. So much easier to call someone out on wearing more bling that Khadafi.
I didn’t bother to look at his ribbons.
My problem is all the combat stripes. Note in his awards the absolute lack of ANY campaign or wartime service awards.
His record does, however, state that he had 3 years of active duty from 71-74. Maybe he did some time in Vietnam?
That’s the problem when you bounce from AD to USAR to ARNG…. depending on your Unit Administrator in the USAR, your 201 file could turn into an abortion.
I’m willing to give this guy a pass on it, as he’s got records to prove 95% of his fruit salad. He’s definitely no CSM Stoney Crump.
Those aren’t combat stripes, those are service stripes. Each one designates three years of service.
If he’d been in Vietnam, he’d have campaign ribbons.
#8, you are correct, my bad. Maybe he can explain the SF Combat Service ID Badge on his right breast pocket?
We used to call guys like this “PX War Heroes”. They go to the PX and buy every ribbon, medal and badge in sight.
The 82nd thing was in use into the mid ’80’s. It is called the Distinguished Trooper Award (commonly referred to as the DTA). It was usually given out as a Soldier of the Quarter type award. Never saw it worn on Class A’s though.
The LOM he’s sporting doesn’t seem to have made it into his official records, either.
I believe Jonn’s right about the combat patch. Based on his career timeline and assignments, there’s only two ways he could have gotten one: SEA while on active duty (1971-1974) or deploying in support of some operation as a reservist (1975-2000). If he’d gotten a combat patch in SEA, as Jonn points out above he’d have either the VSM and VCM (Vietnam) or the AFEM (Cambodia or Thailand in 1973) – so I think we can rule that out.
I don’t see any assignments showing a call-up to active duty for deployment from 1975-2000, so I think we can rule out Grenada, Panama, El Salvador, Gulf War, Bosnia, Haiti, former Yugoslavia, or other operations in the Persian Gulf. (I don’t think they’d have sent him to any of those for AT or while not serving on active duty.) And if he’d deployed in support of those operations as a reservist he’d almost certainly also qualify for a campaign medal (Bosnia, Gulf War) or the AFEM.
Bottom line: he doesn’t seem to rate a combat patch.
He apparently had a decent career. Why beclown yourself by wearing a bunch of unnecessary bling?
I’m proud of the few tokens of success I honestly earned during my less than stellar career. I’ll never understand the PX Ranger Syndrome.
Not a Ranger…Not a Pathfinder…Not a Combat Diver? The three “Nots” equal a phony….fuck him. Not embellishment but another Stolen Valor perp.
An a$$clown of the highest order! As far as I can tell, he had a great career. Most Guardsmen and Reservists would die for that type of career. He was a SF Medic, one of the hardest MOSs in the army to get. Why can’t he just be proud with what he had?
My 214 is incomplete; missing several AAMs and an ARCOM. When I attempt to have it corrected I get ‘Please try again in six months’.
One other note: Burch’s records seem to show at most 29 yr 1 mo of total service (0471 to 050900) prior to his retirement. However, he’s wearing 10 service stripes. Para 28-27.e. of AR 670-1 says that requires 29 1/2 years service.
I guess it’s possible he has DEP or RC time prior to 0471, but if so that should be in his records.
That may be technically legit (retired reservists continue to accrue TIS for pay purposes while on the Retired Reserve list). But I have to say it seems kinda chintzy to me to wear an extra service stripe(s) based on additional post-retirement TIS for pay purposes.
FourteenSierra: ensure you have and keep orders/approved DA638s for those awards along with the certificates. I understand HRC finally realized that fake certificates are pretty easy to acquire and are now demanding orders along with certificates before they’ll add things to official records. I know I’ve seen a few ABCMR cases where they’ve recently refused to accept award certificates w/o orders as proof of an award, and I think HRC is now doing the same.
No excuse for displaying awards not earned. Ever. (However, might there be a slim distinction between earned and awarded? That discussion is for another day.)
That said, does the same rule apply to retired personnel on wearing more than one badge at a time? Serious question that. I know that I had to select which specialty badge I wore as there was a limit of only one at a time. I took some heat because I opted to wear the one of which I was most proud even though it was tradition to wear the most current.
Since I am not inclined to wear the uniform after retirement, I really don’t know. My own philosophy is simple – wear the uniform only when serving, and when worn, wear it properly.
So, just imagining that if a retired military member decides to wear the uniform, is it a stretch that he or she would hang everything they ever earned on it in spite of regs? I still don’t get it, but it seems no more silly than wearing the uniform at all after retirement.
I’m kind of with #15. Three strikes and you’re out.
As for the 214 data, that’s what a 215 is for. For a REMF like me, it is taking a while for my two 215s to make it onto my 214, but for a Sergeant Major… really? That’s literally the difference between a star and a butter bar.
Not to mention, the FOIA should have included any outstanding 215’s that hadn’t migrated onto his 214 (at least I think it should have, but my knowledge in that area is a little lacking).
The way he appears is so much liek so many outright posers along the way, not all that difficult to see why everyone jumped on him to begin with.
If his Ranger Tab was earned he should get that fixed. Same with his Pathfinder and Combat Diver…. 3 high profile schools and none listed?
My records are screwy, but I don’t go running around wearing my uniform anymore and if I did it would be worn correctly. Do it right or don’t do it at all! Some respect for the Uniform, especially from a retired CSM should have been a no brainer.
..so much like”^^^ too tired to be typing absent spell check.
OWB: short answer is yes.
When wearing the uniform post-retirement, with very few exceptions a retired Soldier must adhere to uniform regulations (AR 670-1). Appropriate occasions for wear, restrictions, and exceptions/deviations are covered in detail in Chapter 30 of AR 670-1. In particular, the “one foreign badge” limit and the prohibition on wearing unearned awards/decorations/badges are still in effect.
I requested replacement medals for myself, simply because some of the awards that I earned were never given to me, (i.e. Driver’s Badge, Good Conduct Medal, etc). When I sent the request in, I got a response with a long list of the medals that were going to be sent to me. Low and behold, my Purple Heart and Meritorious Service Medal (which I for DAMN SURE earned) was NOT on the list. Because I had jumped from AD to USAR to ARNG and had multiple deployments from all three branches and multiple DD 214s, some lowly GS-4 or GS-5 clerk didn’t do their do diligence when researching my OMPF. Needless to say, I made a phone call, told a GS-9 exactly the dates and that they were listed on my final DD-214 and had the problem rectified. Problems like this are not always black and white. Like I said in my previous post, this guy’s story is 95% legit. I dare say he’s not a complete bullshitter.
AirCav, here are some ‘a’s for you. You can cut and paste them, if you like.
A A A A A A A A
a a a a a a a a a
When you get done with them, just put them in an envelope and mail them back. Thanks.
RetSFCinME: no, he’s not a total BS artist. He rates most of what he’s wearing – even if he’s belcowning himself by wearing some of it in contravention to AR 670-1.
But he does seem to be . . . lacking when it comes to the claims of being Scuba, Pathfinder, and Ranger qualified (don’t see any assignments in his records showing him going on active duty to attend those schools as a reservist, and I’m pretty sure that they’d have been in his records if he attended them on active duty). Ditto about his claim of serving in combat (combat patch). And maybe about having been awarded a LOM as well (if that is a retirement award, it could possibly have been “lost in the shuffle”).
And he’s had nearly 13 years to get things corrected – if any of it is truly an erroneous omission.
Feel free to draw your own conclusions.
@25, which is why he should get his records fixed. As well as not going running around wearing his uniform like that as well.
Your OMPF by the way is your responsibility to insure that it is correct. Not some “lowly GS4 or GS5”, or even some lowly Specialist or Sergeant I suppose.
I noticed the LOM, too. I wonder if that was his “retirement” award and never made it to the DD214.
Bottom Line: He is an idiot.
Great CSM, great career, whatever. You don’t wear four sets of foreign jumpwings on your A’s, ASU, whatever it is he’s wearing. That’s something a private can’t get over. He is embarrassing himself, and I stopped looking at him after the jumpwings. That’s silly.
@13: “I don’t see any assignments showing a call-up to active duty for deployment from 1975-2000, so I think we can rule out Grenada, Panama, El Salvador, Gulf War, Bosnia, Haiti, former Yugoslavia, or other operations in the Persian Gulf. (I don’t think they’d have sent him to any of those for AT or while not serving on active duty.) And if he’d deployed in support of those operations as a reservist he’d almost certainly also qualify for a campaign medal (Bosnia, Gulf War) or the AFEM.”
Having deployed to both Haiti (OUD) with the Active army (3rd SFG) and the Balkans (OJG) with the USAR (805th MP CO) I can verify that while AFEMs were authorized for both operations, Combat Patches were NOT. If he retired in May of 2000 (that’s what you verified, right?) then he would have to have served in Vietnam, Grenada, Panama, Desert Storm, Post-desert-Storm Kuwait, or Somalia to qualify for a FWTS-SSI.
I know that in the mid 90’s they finally got around to recognizing the service of some of the SF guys who served in El Salvador in the 80’s, but I believe they only authorized them the AFEM, I’m pretty sure a patch was never authorized.
From my vague recollection, the qualification for a campaign medal is roughly the same as the qualification for a combat patch, the difference is the originating authority: Campaign medals are authorized by DoD while patches can only be authorized by DA. We were a little miffed when we got back from Haiti with our AFEMs only to be told by DA that our operation did not rate a patch (despite the fact that we had one soldier KIA.)
@30:He’s a SGM. Why am I not surprised?
@26. Thank you! I just returned from WalMart and have a bunch now. I got the last package of A’s on the shelf.
martinjmpr: thanks for the correction. I’m not immediately sure where to look for an authorized list of operations/deployments rating the SSI-FWS (AKA “combat patch”) and assumed any operation authorized an AFEM would qualify. Obviously not.
And we all know how to punctuate “assume” . . . . (smile)
“Conduct is a reflection of character”.
This guy is a shitbag.
If this guy was legit… he sure as hell would let this blog know in a hurry. But he is NOT legit. BUSTED!
Can anyone point me to a place for replacement medals? I’ve been trying. Awhile for the new Korean service award…and a couple others
@35: I think one of the biggest problems/issues with the FWTS-SSI is that there are no orders for it (at least I’ve never seen any.) Since there are no orders, the only way to determine whether someone is wearing a legitimate patch is to verify first whether they were deployed to a recognized combat zone, second, whether that recognized combat zone would have been authorized a patch, and third, what patch that soldier would have been authorized.
When I was in Kuwait in 2004 with the WYARNG our CSM (yeah, go figure [rolls eyes]) not only had “combat patch” certificates printed up but actually had a “patching ceremony” when we hit 6 months.
I tried arguing that you should never wear a FWTS-SSI while on your first patch-qualifying deployment because the F in FWTS stands for “Former.” I also thought it was a cheesy, silly thing to do, but I guess to a lot of the folks in the unit it was a big deal.
The whole combat patch fiasco is bizarre anyway, hey, what about the Army guys who were assigned to Marine commands wearing USMC Combat Patches on their Army uniforms? Believe it or not, that’s legit, even though if a Marine was in that same command and later transitioned to the Army, he would NOT be authorized a USMC combat patch.
I do alot of lurking here so this is my first post 🙂
Check out this site for replacement medals.
http://www.usamilitarymedals.com/index.html
FourteenSierra: other than the MOH, you can buy them from any number of vendors, online and traditional. Medals of America, Ira Green, and Vanguard are three; there are others. Be prepared to pony up some $$$, though.
If you authorized to use a PX/BX/NEX/MCEX, you can also get them at clothing sales. Unless you’re buying high decorations for valor you shouldn’t have any problems. If you’re purchasing a Silver Star or higher, I’d bring a DD214 just in case. Be aware that purchasing service-specific decorations at a sister-service clothing sales (e.g., an ARCOM at a Navy Clothing Sales) may require the item to be “special ordered”. For that reason, if you’re former Army it’s probably best to make a trip to an Army installation if that’s feasible.
You can request a replacement set of medals thru Army channels. I believe the first replacement set is gratis; second and subsequent, or for organizational display, incurs cost. (Not positive if the first replacement is still gratis; it was a few years ago.) The address/process is a bit different depending on when you retired/separated. This link details the procedure:
https://veteranmedals.army.mil/
Be advised that you’ll likely only get what’s shown in your official records. You might want to delay requesting a set thru channels until you have any issues with DD214s/other official records sorted out.
You’ll also only get US decorations. For foreign ones, you’ll likely get only the ribbon or nada. Any foreign medals (e.g., Vietnamese VCM, Saudi/Kuwaiti Liberation Medal, NATO Medal) you’ll likely have to buy from a commercial vendor or a BX/PX/NEX/MCEX.
What perplexes me is that there appears to be no other NCO/Officers that attended this event.
Odd for this type of ceremony.
If there was, they surely would have said something?
Wow.
Records get fouled up, especially when you’re bouncing between the reserve, guard and active component. My dd214/215 are missing a few things, to include a unit award and a school. Stuff happens.
@42: It may be that other NCOs/Officers simply didn’t want to confront him. I know there are a lot of junior or mid-level officers who are reluctant to tangle with a CSM/SGM who has been in the military a lot longer than they have.
It also may be that any officers or NCOs present simply felt that this ceremony or commemoration (or whatever it was) was not the time and place to initiate a confrontation over uniform violations, and furthermore that seeing as how the good SGM is retired anyway, the affront was a minimal one.
And to be completely honest, that’s probably how I would have reacted as well. There’s a huge difference between someone who completely invents a military career to try and cover up the fact that he is a loser, and someone who just embellishes a career that, by all objective accounts, is still pretty impressive.
@43: That’s been my experience as well. DD-214’s are typed up by harried GS-3’s or SPC’s and sometimes, after you’ve been sitting in the outprocessing center for half a day you just want to sign the damned thing so you can clear housing and leave.
He looks like a stooge.
I don’t know how you Army guys do it. Army uniform regs for medals/tabs/pins/derp is just too complicated for this Jarhead…..
What are those 3 pins under his stack?
@47: The one in the middle (with the torch) is the Pathfinder badge. Pathfinders are the ones that parachute in ahead of an airborne op and set up the DZ for the main body. The badge has been around since WWII IIRC. Used to be worn at the left sleeve cuff but was moved to the pocket in the 50’s, I think.
The other two are unauthorized/local unit badges of some kind, not authorized for wear on Class A uniforms per Army regs.
How ironic, I just received my FOIA request in today’s mail and was going to send it on up the chain.
Although I am glad he is “partially” legit, the bottom line is he is still FOS.
I stand with this quote by beretverde in #15 and will add a fourth & fifth “Not” below:
beretverde Says:
March 20th, 2013 at 10:34 am
Not a Ranger…Not a Pathfinder…Not a Combat Diver? The three “Nots” equal a phony….fuck him. Not embellishment but another Stolen Valor perp.
__________
Fourth “Not” = Not ever CSM of 73rd Troop Command as stated on his Facebook page. This falsehood was verified with the 73rd Troop Command S-1 & Command Group.
Fifth “Not” = Not a graduate of the USASMA. (He claims Command Sergeants Major Academy in 1994 on his Facebook page) He’s FOS and even a PLC/PLDC?Warrior Leaders Course graduate knows it’s named United States Army Sergant’s Major Academy and the graduates are proud of their respective class numbers. This falsehood was confirmed by the Registrar’s office at USASMA Fort Bliss.
Five “Nots” equal a punch in the throat in my book!
TripleCanopyForReals: he’s not an SMA grad, eh? Interesting.
His records seem to show he spent more than a year at Bliss as an SMA student (assigned as student in late Jun 1993, next assignment Team NCO in early Nov 1994). I wonder what happened?