Shane Ladner may face charges
The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports this morning that Shane Ladner, the fellow who lied about his military service to get free a deer hunt and a ride on a float which cost his wife her leg, may be facing charges from Cherokee County.
Ball met Tuesday with Cherokee County District Attorney Shannon Wallace, who told the AJC she has requested that the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office launch an investigation into allegations that Ladner lied about his war record.
Wallace said it’s too early to tell what laws, if any, may have been broken.
Ladner, speaking through his attorney, Kevin Glasheen, insists he is not lying about his record but offered a revised version of his initial account of his military service.
“Shane was stationed in Honduras at the time he was wounded during a grenade attack while on patrol doing drug interdiction tactics in Central America,” Glasheen said in a statement. “Shane was instructed to say that he suffered his wounds during Operation Just Cause in Panama rather than when and where the events actually occurred because of the sensitive nature of the military’s involvement in drug interdiction in that region.”
We got a hold of Ladner’s DD214 which supposedly came from his lawyer. It looks forged to me;
For one thing, he lists a “Joint Service Commendation Medal with Combat Distinguishing Device “V””. The Joint Service Commendation Medal is for “merit” and the “V” device is for valor, not for combat service, I can’t find an example of a Joint Service Commendation Medal with a “V” device, or where it might be authorized. I think Ladner got confused while he was shopping for the medals he wanted on his DD214.
If the Sheriff is looking for charges to file against him, he might try getting him for those Purple Heart license plates as well as the forged DD214. It looks like his lawyer has joined Ladner in his deception, Christian Boone, the AJC reporter told me that his lawyer is former military, too, so he knows that there are no records at Fort Benning that would prove Ladner’s lies, and that there are no hospital records in Panama that would support his Purple Heart, but he’s just hoping that it will all blow over.
It won’t, since Ladner went on a hunting trip that a real wounded veteran could have used.
Category: Phony soldiers
It’s interesting that non of his previous DD214s indicated a PH, and then all of a sudden when this controversy came up, he miraculously produced one with his PH…
If this DD214 is indeed forged, this punk should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law and thrown into the slammer…
So, he was in High School while serving as an MP on a secret mission during Operation Just Cause?? WTF…
Is there a link that has his previous Discharge paperwork? What year did he graduate from high School?
Since I don’t have one yet I’m not that good at reading a DD214, but it looks like he had 6 years prior active service and only one GCM. I wonder what he did to not get that second GCM.
He did not graduate from high school until June 1990. He now apparently claims that he did not do his Honduras secret squirrel counterdrug mission until 1991, when he was allegedly wounded. But to cover up his secret squirrel shenanigans, he was ordered by his chain of command to lie about his wound and to say it was received in Panama in 1989. Obviously, at least to me, this is all BS to cover up his original lies about being a JUST CAUSE combat vet.
That is a forged 214 if I ever saw one…. The 2nd award of the NDSM is what sealed it for me. Entering in 2003 entitles you to a single NDSM. This POS is full of it. Yeah, the JSCM with V device….stupid.
I really would like to meet any E5 who has legitimately been awarded an MSM… ‘Cause I find that hard to believe. Document fraud. Punishment for document fraud should be jail time or a year in AFG as IED bait.
@5 That was what I had thought about the NDSM, that it has been authorised since Desert Shield/Desert Storm so no 2nd award.
@4, thanks for the input have not seen anything outside of here. What a fucking assmonkey. He probably had some period of honorable service, what a douche.
I know a guy who was in Honduras, was later awarded his Bronze Star, CIB, and not once told to lie and say it happened in Panama. He just did not get the wards until the mission itself was officially made public.
@5 & 6:
NDSM was authorized for 1990-97, and again after 9/11, so if his dates of service are correct he could in fact rate two. But Super Secret Squirrel missions? Uh yeah…no.
Here something that should scream it’s fake…and please correct if I am wrong…..but box 14 lists no military education. And from what I understand about that box specifically, that it would include PLDC / WLC.
However, in box 18, he is listed as having received the NCO Professional Development Ribbon. As a former S-1 NCO, I know damn good and well you can only earn that by going to PLDC / WLC and add to it from going onward to ALC, SLC and so forth.
So either he never went or he needs to provide a 1059 to boot to warrant that ribbon.
AND why would a GWTSM be listed ahead of either a MSM or JCSM? Never in the eight years did see that listed on a DD 214 that a GWTSM was above any merit-related ribbon.
Smells quite like the deer poop he stepped on.
I did not realize that there was an end date on the NDSM for DS/DS which is November 30, 1995 apparently.
#8, The awards order was also a bell ringer for me, as was:
-The E in service being cutoff in the first line of Block 13. Service would have been shoved down to the next line if it didn’t fit on the original form.
-NO SCHOOLS/EDUCATION
Also the MEMBER requested copy 6 be sent to the state of Ga’s VA office. Maybe the lawyer could contact them for a ‘more better’ version.
I get an attorney trying to zealously represent his client.
But this lawyer really needs to rethink this, because his client is obviously an inveterate liar, and it will only hurt him in the long run. Dude runs from one fake story to the next, and apparently doctors DD214s in the middle of it.
# 10
Here’s a thought. If Shane Ladner went and earned that NCO Professional Ribbon, it would be kept on file wherever he went to PLDC/WLC. They keep a record of it. Just have say where he got it and call the respective NCO academy up. But I have suspicions he, or that lawyer of his, won’t have an answer to that either.
I don’t pretend to know the military records system but it strikes me as very odd that Ladner’s attorney could tell the Atlanta Constitution that the records in St Louis are incomplete while, at the same time, producing a DD 214 with a Purple Heart listed on it. Has something changed over the decades since my Army discharge such that there is a DD 214 issued at ETS and a different one filed in St Louis? And if a DD 214 is corrected or amended after issuance, does St Louis now discard the originally issued one and keep no record of the correction or amendment and the basis for the change? I would think not and, if that guess is right, and there are indeed two different versions of Ladner’s DD 214, then this is a simple, straightforward matter. Either the version he has is true and the records confirm that or the version he has is false. All statements by Ladner’s attorney, either way, are so much gibberish aimed at turning the matter into a head scratcher when it is anything but that.
I want to bring up a possibility that the DD214 isn’t forged. Bear with me, it’s not a defense of this dude.
From the text on his, this is one of those DD214s that a guy gets when he demobs or comes off Title 10 and goes back to Title 32 status with the Guard. If it was anything like what we got when my Guard unit came off of mob at Dix in 2009, it’s a bunch of beleaguered civilians trying to process a glut of demobilizing Guard at the same time.
I had an AAM from the Rakkasans, a PCS award they gave me as a PFC back in the 1990s. F–kme running if I could find orders for it or my pretty certificate. It’s not in iPerms, and the only place it exists is on my original active duty DD214, which I didn’t have a copy of at the time. But I swore to her that I had one, and she dutifully put it on the end of Title 10 DD214, and life was like a song.
If he snookered a well-intentioned civilian employee, does that fraud go perhaps beyond merely typing up his own?
Every time I see some guy name Shane, I keep thinking of Alan Ladd’s classic movie, because he was shorter than I am.
The real Shane (Alan Ladd) was a gunfighter who was tired of being pursued by idiots. Shane never talked about his gunfights, no matter how much Brandon deWilde pestered him. At the end of the movie, Jack Palance showed up and tried to outdraw him and lost, and Shane rode off into the mountainous sunset with Brandon deWilde’s “Shane! Shane!” echoing on the soundtrack. I’m trying to remember if Jack Palance planted a round in him. It’s been a while.
This Shane-guy couldn’t hold a candle to the real movie Shane, so I wonder if his name is really Shane or if he faked that, too.
Hmmm…..
Ex-PH2, If memory serves me correctly they ended the movie like that so that it left you wondering if Shane was shot or not.
I also don’t know a lot about JTF-Bravo and it’s revolving door of personnel stationed there, but there’s nothing secret about being assigned to Soto Cano. If he was there, it will show up in a FOIA.
But so far as I know, the guys doing interdiction and stuff, I thought, were/are Air Force security personnel. Was he ever assigned to the 170th MP Company? It’s all just farcical.
I see DD-214s daily. That is indeed a fake. I’ve never seen the remarks and awards written up like that. It looks like whoever did it was trying too hard. No E-2 at IPAC will ever try that hard.
@14. Okay, so, in the end, you wind up with an originally issued DD 214 and an amended one, no? If so, there is a record of when, where, and (probably) by whom the change was effected, right?
@13, St Louis does not discard 214’s. I have two 214’s as I had two separate instances of Active Duty Service. It is possible to have things listed on one 214 that are not on later or earlier versions. Depends on the dilligence of the clerk and individual soldier. Order of presedence of awards though is not something that would change, they are placed on the 214 in order not however you feel like placing them on there. Same with Over Seas Service, which that 214 does not list but should….
If a 214 is corrected it is issued as a 215 from St Louis, not a 214.
I am assuming this guy is Guard which would mean for each period of Actice Service he would be issued a 214.
One question, the 214 states he has no further obligation remaining but then it states he is subject to recall…. Mine doesn’t state that, as my obligation was over when I ETS’d the 2nd time around.
@18. That’s often a key to identifying many things that are faked–they are better than the genuine item was or would have been!
Thanks, Twist. It’s been a long time. I should get that movie. That, John Wayne’s westerns, ‘High Noon’, Stewart Granger in ‘Prisoner of Zenda’ – great sword fight, using furniture. Anything to make one’s heart pound a little faster. I never did get to see “Battle at Apache Pass”. We moved out of Texas the week it was supposed to be in the theaters. But I did get to see Gary Cooper in ‘Vera Cruz’.
And my two all-time favorites:
“Outlaw Josey Wales”. Awesomeness.
“Wings” silent B&W film from 1920 about aerial combat and fighter pilots. Cameras were hand-cranked then and the aerial shots are NOT done on with a back screen, they are done in real-time flight in biplanes. Those cameramen had extraordinary cojones.
I’d never heard of a JSCOM-V, but apparently they do exist. I ran across this story in the Pentagon’s official blog about an Air Force Captain who responded to an attack on his FOB in Afghanistan.
http://www.dodlive.mil/index.php/2012/11/wednesday-warfighter-capt-darrel-deleon/
Not that this explains the dude’s original lies.
220. Thanks for the explanation. A 215, you say? That certainly helps in immediately separating an original record from a post-ETS corrected or amended one.
CWO-ACB: if he served in either active duty or in the Selected Reserve (TPU or IMA) from Aug 1990 to 2004, he’d rate 2 NDSMs. They’re authorized for both categories for both the Persian Gulf (1990-1995) and GWOT (2001-present).
This Shane shames the name Shane.
That’s the thing, at demobilization stations, it’s not always an E-2. At Dix, and I can only speculate about Benning, it was civilian GS grade employees with a chief, and I get the sense they weren’t always permanent employees.
When I did the Guard readiness NCO stint, I was scanning these kinds of DD214s for iPerms, and aside from the dubious awards, it’s not that far from most of the end of Title 10 DD214s I’ve seen. I can scan my own in from 2009; it’s remarkably similar, minus any bullshit, with the appropriate amount of schools.
I reiterate, I think we need to look at the possibility that he bypassed the integrity of the process. Fraud’s still fraud, but it seems to me that it might be a bigger problem if he legitimately got illegitimate stuff on a DD214.
rb325th: negative, amigo. Persian Gulf period for the NDSM was 1990-1995. GWOT period started in 2001. Two different periods, hence NDSM w/Star is possibly legit. For both periods, eligibility was extended to SELRES personnel as well as personnel serving on AD.
While I’ve never personally seen one, the JSCM can legitimately have a “V “ Device. Per DoDM 1348.33, Vol 1, subsequent to 1 April 1976 the JSCM can be awarded with “V” Device for “valor in a designated combat zone”. However, timeline analysis of this guy’s known history and this DD214 says that’s almost certainly a “NO GO”. The JSCM is awarded only by Joint activities or headquarters; approval authority is at the 2-star level. This guy is known to have begun his active duty In Aug 1990 – after Panama. So he certainly didn’t get it in Just Cause. Assuming some time on active duty starting in 1990 – say 3 or 4 years, since I’m pretty sure the Army wasn’t doing 2-year enlistments any more by 1990 – that means he served on active duty from 1990 to 1993 or 1994. So let’s examine that period. If I recall correctly, the only designated combat zone during that time frame was the Persian Gulf. (I don’t believe supporting the Contras in Central America ever was ever formally so designated and that the few valor decorations approved well after the fact by the Army for Central American operations in the 1980s were done as an exception to policy, but I’m not positive about that.) Ergo, this guy would almost certainly have had to serve with a joint unit in the Persian Gulf to earn a JSCM w/V Device in the period 1990-1994. Well, there’s a problem with that. The SWASM eligibility period started on 2 August 1990 and ended on 39 November 1995. Ladner’s DD214 doesn’t show one. He’d have the SWASM if he had ever served in SW Asia during that time frame. That means no service in a designated combat zone on his initial tour of active duty – and thus no way to receive a JSCM w/Combat V on his initial tour. He also can’t claim it’s for the mobilization shown on this purported mobilization DD214. While this one shows he was mobilized and served ISO OEF, there’s no foreign service listed in Block 12, 13, or… Read more »
Not casting my lot one way or the other on this BUT…
1. JFCOM is a Commendation medal, same as ARCOM, Navy/Marine COM, those awards can be awarded for valor or merit, so a JFCOM “V” is a real thing.
2. IF this guy was a mobilized ARNG, his post mob DD 214 would only reflect military education preformed during that period of active duty, not his entire career.
Not saying this guy is or isn’t legit, but a lot of people are pinging on those two things as evidence of a fake, and both could very well be legit.
The “V” device is authorized with the JSCOM. However, the award is not very common due to the eligibility requirements for the JCOM being assignment to a Joint Staff. I believe the oppurtunity for valorous action at the joint staff level is pretty limited.
Also JCOMs are pretty hard to get for E5 and below. I was on a Joint staff for 2 years as a CPT and only received a JSAM because approval of both is through the SECDEF.
“Ladner, speaking through his attorney, Kevin Glasheen,insists he is not lying about his record but offered a revised version of his initial account of his military service.”
Really? A REVISED version? This attorney is hilarious! I think I am going to “revise” some of my daring dos. Where do I start?
This thing *might* be real. But based on his prior lying, my inclination is towards disbelief. Let’s not forget this started with his horseshit story of heroism in Panama. His family didn’t make him say that.
Anonymous (30): yes, the JSCM w/V exists. The issue is that it’s (1) awarded only by Joint Activities/Commands, not Army commands, and (2) it’s only awarded for heroism in a designated combat zone. This guy doesn’t ever seem to have served where he’d have gotten shot at. Specifically, he seems to have no service in Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia/Kosovo, Panama (Just Cause), or Desert Shield/Storm – and shooting incidents in the Gulf 1995-2001 resulting in US casualties were pretty damn rare if I recall correctly. And I just ain’t buying the “secret mission in Central America” claim without a whole lot more proof than a “revised version of (an) initial account” from a known liar.
An E 5 with an MSM, I can count on three fingers the times I’ve seen it. AnT apparently this cat was in Bosnia too. this DD 214 screens b*******
Sooo… ANyone tried looking up the individual who signed off on this? I have some contacts, and we have been unable to find a Janie L. Seldon who lived anywhere near Fort Benning at any time. Now, it’s inconclusive at this point (she may exist), but that may be a place to start though I doubt the guy would make up a fake person to sign for them. I didn’t know the Army used civilians to sign DD214’s, to be honest. I was in the USMC so I don’t know much about the Army.
Disregard my last… Just found her lol
10th MTN NCO: not necessarily. The AFSM was also authorized for a few other operations – PROVIDE COMFORT; a couple of Haiti operations; and one in the US Southwest.
So basically, in order for this guy to have all these rare medals, he would have had to be in places only a few have been… Way to many ifs here for me.
His DD214 feels funny to me. It just doesn’t look right, even when not reading it. My DD214 is from 2010 so appears different, but that may simply be due to the difference in years. Font is different, as well. however, I don’t have a clue if the font is always the same.
Maybe others will know more than me on this, but I thought the DD form 214 Automated Nov 88 version went out the window with the Feb 00 version put into effect. If he indeed got out in 2004, why would he still have the older version 214?
The wrong form being used is one of the things that tripped up Jess Macbeth and his fraudulent DD214.
DD Form 214 Automated, NOV 88 was discontinued in FEB 2000, that is when the new DD Form 214, FEB 2000 was put into effect.
Smoking gun, perhaps?
EdUSMCleg: just checked my 2003 DD214, issued at a different Army installation. It’s the Nov 88 version of the form also. Apparently some installations were still using software for the Nov 88 version as late as the latter part of 2003.
Ah I see. Damn, thought that would get him lol
I had the distinction of working with him at another Sheriff’s Office in GA in the 03/04 time frame. First things first most people in the Law Enforcement community are made up of two kinds of people.
A. Former Military who after service had a tough time transitioning into civilian life and fell into it.
B. Military “Groupies” who eat up everything military (rocking tactikewl equipment, or wanna be killa mentality), but won’t go up the road and raise their hand for a term of service.
Though I didn’t work with him long, I found his stories of being “wounded in Bakara(SP?) market” and being a “Sniper” a little off. Especially when he tells me (a trained and experienced greenside corpsman) that he “held his fingers on his femoral artery after getting shot and lay wounded for 2 hours before his unit got to him”. Then of course he shows off his uniform to all our glassy eyed co-workers. Me, being a Navy vet and ignorant of Army decorations noticed a missing “Sniper” tab, which he promptly stated that he had “left it off but was going to get it put on with his SFC chevrons, because I just got promoted” Shortly after that he was unemployed due to something else. Hindsight is always 20/20 and I was not very educated on what stolen valor was at the time. Now I wish I had at least put a bug in someone’s ear about it…
Held his fingers on his “femoral artery” for 2 hrs, eh? Gee, if I recall correctly his initial claim about his wound was having taken shrapnel through the abdomen from back to front.
I never knew the femoral artery was in the abdomen. (smile)
I’m interested in what the “something else” that left him unemployed was… This is interesting info.
Hey Hondo- Irony at it’s best. Cherokee country guy steps down from a race over falsified military claims, and Ofc. Shane Ladner is in a story just beneath it for saving some stupid bird…
http://archives.ledgernews.com/07.07.10Ledger.pdf
@45 his story comes right out of Black Hawk Down, but it was a medic trying to save a fellow Rangers Life. No such thing as a sniper tab, authorized for wear anyhow.
What a POS
EdUSMCleg: looks like there is a God – and He has a sense of humor. (smile)