“Deadliest soldier” discussion continues (UPDATED)
Several of you sent us this link to the latest Army Times story about SFC Dillard Johnson, whose book calls him the “deadliest soldier”. Apparently, as he did when I talked to him the other day, Johnson still blames his publisher for the tag, and everything else that’s wrong with the story;
Johnson is the first to admit the claims are bogus. He blames the hype on his book publisher, HarperCollins, which he says ignored his efforts to tone down sensational parts and spread the credit.
“The actual numbers that squadron came up with are incorrect. And the actual numbers that the U.S. Army had were incorrect,” Johnson said. “We didn’t go back into the compounds and count bodies, we left. We shot people for 28 miles, but nobody went over there and counted people.”
Yeah, well we knew the claims were bogus, but there they are on the book jacket, regardless. As I said the other day, he sent me his DD214 which I promised that I wouldn’t publish. I had some questions about it and I emailed my concerns which included; he’s never been infantry, but he has a CIB. No one on the planet is authorized a second award of the CAB, yet there it is. He has senior jumpwings, but there’s no mention of either the Basic Airborne Course or the Jumpmaster course. There’s a Southwest Asia Service Medal with only one bronze star. Mine has three silver stars for Desert Shield/Desert Storm/Provide Comfort. He has ONE Good Conduct Medal in 20 years? He claims that he has a boatload of sniper kills as the unit (E7) sniper – but no sniper training is listed.
So, he wrote back;
Yep your right I just looked I never did the full sniper school only did the short MTT at Stewart. So I never said I went to the course so there should be no issue there. I guess I missed the other items I had a hard time getting my MSM on there when I retired. My secondary of 11B should still be on my ERB that you have. I will look and see if I have a copy of that I have my Cert for JP school.
That was on June 28th and I haven’t heard back and I looked at his ERB again, and I don’t see an 11B secondary, but that might be these old eyes malfunctioning again. I’m guess that an MTT at Fort Stewart means that a mobile training team came to Stewart, but the training should still generate an academic report and an annotation on the ERB, I would think, but I could be wrong. I just know that two weeks of German language training is on my 2-1, so sniper training would rise to that level of importance in my mind. I got an MSM after I retired, too, so it’s not on my DD2214, but then I don’t claim to have one, it’s certainly not worth the time to get it on a DD215, it’s only an MSM. I’d get sniper training on my DD214 before I’d fight to get an MSM on it.
From the Army Times article;
“Dillard was a good soldier,” retired Command Sgt. Maj. Anthony Broadhead told Army Times. “However, he tends to exaggerate a bit.”
Broadhead is in the book, as the then-sergeants first class and their crews destroyed an Iraqi police compound and fought off an ambush in late March 2003.
“This is a very smart guy tactically,” said Broadhead, who added that he hasn’t read the book yet. “He’s a good guy to have with you in combat, but he’s self-absorbed into being some sort of hero.”
Yeah, I bought the book a few weeks back, but I haven’t been able to bring myself to read it yet. I’m waiting for my inquiries to be completely answered. Someone tells me that the DD214 stinks and he’s having some AG-types read it, so we’ll see, one way or the other.
UPDATED: I talked to SFC Johnson this morning and he’s sent me documentation for his CIB from when he was assigned to 2/18th Infantry of the 197th for Desert Storm. He also sent documentation for Jumpmaster School at Fort Bragg when he was with the 82d Airborne Division. So we can lay those issues to rest.
Category: Who knows
The AGCM discrepancy is kind of a non-starter; the awards process for it has been broken for quite some time. I received my AGCM (3d award) three times before I could get it fixed.
The MTT Johnson mentions was pretty common – Unit’s scheduled for deployment went to various MTTs prior to going wheel’s up. They covered various things like Convoy Ops, CQB/CQM, and the Designated Marksman program. Why an E6-E7 would go to a DM MTT is beyond me.
Senior Wings with no Basic Parachutist’s Course or Jump Master School? Whiskey…Tango…Foxtrot.
He’s a lying liar that lies.
I haven’t read the book. Lately I’ve been on a zombie book craze. They are probably more realistic anyway.
A bit more clarification about MTTs – Many of them were not military (ie SF, AMU), but civilian companies like EAG Tactical or Grey Man Group. If the MTT was military, it would have generated a DA Certificate of Training (CoT), but if the MTT was civilian, maybe-maybe not. There would be the company’s own certificate, but after that it would depend on the trained unit’s S3 on whether or not to issue a DA CoT.
@1: I’d have to concur WRT the lack of jump school on the 214. For that matter, if he’s JM qualified, what airborne units was he with? It’s impossible (AFAIK) for someone to have attended the JM course unless they were assigned to an airborne unit for some time (I think when I was at 3rd Group the requirement was a minimum of 2 years on status and at least 30 jumps before they would send you.)
I do think it’s possible to have a SWASM with only one bronze star, which would indicate 2 awards: Desert Shield and Desert Storm were, I beleive, two separate periods of qualification for the SWASM (not 100% certain about that though, since I don’t have one.)
I also think the period after the first Gulf War qualified for SWASM up until about 1995 or maybe a bit later for those deployed to Kuwait as a “show of force” when Saddam rushed a bunch of troops to the IZ/KU border.
I have heard of soldiers getting a CIB by virtue of a “secondary MOS of 11B” though. And I have also seen “secondary MOS’s” put onto a 2-1 or 2a (my days all pre-dated the current ERB) by an S1 or PAC clerk. Not supposed to happen, but I’ve seen it.
The second CAB smells, though. And the lack of more GCMs is puzzling – when I was in (1980 – 2005) the system was automated – every GCM I got was mailed to me at the unit along with the appropriate orders. Given that Dillard’s time and mine coincided for at least a bit it’s curious that the same “system” that had no problem automatically processing my 3 GCMs (I only had 10 years active duty) wasn’t able to do the same with his.
And actually the million $$ question to me WRT the GCMs is how the hell did a guy with ONE GCM get selected for E-7?
martinjmpr, even if he has a secondary MOS he would have to have been in a Infantry/SF unit, Brigade or lower, in order to qualify for the CIB. I’m pretty sure he was in a CAV unit during both of his Iraq tours.
A jukebox hero….
I served with a SSG who had two CAB’s. He claimed under the initial policy it was possible to get a CAB for each operation (OIF, OEF, and OND), as long as one of the awards was given while you were “big Army” and one was awarded while you were called up from the Reserves.
He also admited that admits was later clairifed as not being possible by a MILPERS later.
As far as I know he was discharged before his records were corrected, and still show a second award.
I thought one could only qualify for a secondary if they occupied it for a fixed period of time.
They do Jumpmaster MTT, but only at Macoms far away from Benning with sized-enough Airborne presence to merit the expense, like Lewis, Fort Richardson, or Vincenza – in other words, at posts where there’s going to be enough people on jump status with the requisite combinations on their logs to justify the trip. Otherwise, you’re going TDY to Benning, and you’re not doing that unless you’re really, really popular with a LTC or above if you’re not on jump status.
I’m calling shenanigans on short sniper MTT, unless he went to squad designated marksman training and is churching it up to sound sexier. What kind of E-7 would deny his lower enlisted the school slot? You know, the guys that can occupy those slots on the MTOE. I’ve seen E-6 squad leaders with ACOGs that went to SDM, but usually the SFCs, as is their lot in life, counted beans and bullets.
And even civilian-run MTT shows up these days. I had the pleasure of sitting on a couple of enlistment review boards with the Guard, and there was usually everything and the kitchen sink in records. Stryker OPNET for drivers and commanders was run by General Dynamics for a long while until the train the trainer corps was built up, and that was all over folks’ records.
Why does the exaggerated better always have to be the enemy of the good enough?
“He’s a good guy to have with you in combat, but he’s self-absorbed into being some sort of hero.” Most intended heroes get other people killed. Perhaps he was the exception.
@#8 “Why does the exaggerated better always have to be the enemy of the good enough?”
Because when you are writting a book thats going to be competing with books written by Navy SEALS who shot bin Laden in the face, you need to spice things up a bit to be credible.
Its all about the chicks and the cash.
Someone had to win the war all by himself. Just ask him…but not the details.
I throw the BS flag at the Senior Parachutist Badge. From having participated in a couple of Jumpmaster Schools when I was in 7th SFG(A). We took great pains to ensure that all of the admin details were covered. That is to include training certificates awarded to the graduates.
@11.
Do not forget “Big Dawg” Keeton.
He has legit claims of doing it himself as well.
@10 that’s why it’s better to say “based on a true story” rather than say “the true story of”….that way any exaggerations can be explained as a writer’s ploy to add dramatic narrative effect in the plot line.
Also basing it on a true story let’s you later make a movie like Oliver Stone’s JFK from whole cloth to fool morons into thinking it’s real, all the while not having to substantiate any of the claims made in the film or the book….
Based on is a much better descriptor for that reason alone….especially when you’re on the very edge of the truth or beyond the truth…
@14, thats brilliant! Now I can write a biography of my life based upon the events of my life, and be ok as long as I write it under a pen name!
@3 Lebben
I have about 2000 hours of courses run by civilian agencies / contractors and they are ALL in my file and on my ORB.
If the military requires the training and the military pays for it…it will go in your record. As long as it exceeds 40 hours.
ERBs/ORBs and DD214s correct? that’s hilarious. I was awarded the GCM each time I deployed (as an officer) still have the orders awarding it. It was a hell of a fight to get it OFF of my DD214. Getting schools added to an ORB is also an exercise in futility. Even with the original 1059/certificate in hand sitting at the S1 desk. I’ve been working on my ORB for 2 years and it’s still not correct.
With that being said, SFC Johnson is so full of shit, he could fertilize 83% of the rice paddies in Korea
@8, true enough, in fact I got my JM qualification on just such an MTT in Zimbabwe in 1995.
My question remains, though: What airborne unit was he assigned to that he was allowed to attend JM school (which is a requirement for earning a Sr. Parachustist badge?)
Is it even possible for a cherry jumper to be allowed to attend a JM course? I didn’t think it was but I guess I could be wrong.
@15 The life and times of Sgt Kane, a history of one man’s struggle to liberate the 3rd world
“Based on a true story”
@20.
Can we add a foreword by F. Lee Bailey as well?
I meant @19.
Apparently I am on of a small minority who screened his DD214 BEFORE he got out to ensure it was correct. Any errors were taken care of by the Lance Coconuts that worked in IPAC while I played Temple Run in the waiting area. 3 tries and 4 hours later, all done, and all correct.
US Army Jumpmaster School Prerequisites.
a.Active Army and Reserve Component Officer and Enlisted Personnel (E-5 or above)
b.Must be qualified as a parachutist and have a minimum of 12 static line parachute jumps from a high-performance aircraft (C-130, C-141, C-17 or C-5 only).
c.Must have been on jump status for a minimum of 12 months. These months do not have to be consecutive.
d.An Airborne physical current within 5 years.
e.Must be recommended by Battalion Commander or officer in the grade of Lieutenant colonel (signed service school worksheet or unit order of merit list).
f.Must have a static line jump within the past 180 days from a HIGH PERFORMANCE AIRCRAFT C-130/C-17.
g.Sister Service Members are authorized to attend as long as they are in a billet that requires the use of Jumpmaster skills / knowledge. Marine Corps and Air Force enlisted personnel E-4 and above may attend.
h.All waivers to the above, must be routed from the first O-5 Commander or equivalent thru the Commander, 1-507th Parachute Infantry Regiment to Commander, 199th Infantry Brigade. All waivers must be received thirty (30) days prior to the start of the course.
Begs the question, when did our buddy attend BAC and what Unit was he assigned to that he attended Jumpmaster School, plus all the jumps required to obtain his star?
Just a slight modification.. know he went to BAC from Section VI, but I see no airborne assignments whi he would have had to have had to go to Jumpmaster School.
@21 sure, if we spell it “F. Lee Baillee” you and I can collaborate on it….
I hate being blind without my glasses…. He was assigned to HHC 3/73rd Cav on Bragg. That explains that.
@25.
Thats good.
@12 Trapper, what years were you 7th? My dad was 7th from early 80’s to January 2000, small as the community is who knows.
@26: Then he would have to have gone to either Benning or to the XVIII Corps JM school, yes? I know when I was at Bragg (92-98) XVIII corps personnel were not allowed to attend USASOC JM courses (because several of them tried when I was there. USASOC was fine with it but it was their own command that said “no.”)
This is what kills me. The article reads “Dillard was a good soldier,” retired Command Sgt. Maj. Anthony Broadhead told Army Times. “However, he tends to exaggerate a bit.”
I’ve always understood that whenever you utter a statement while in uniform, it ought to be true – minus the exaggerations. It seems to me SgtMaj Broadhead knew this guy had a history of lying but permitted it for some reason.
If there’s any truth to that, SgtMaj Boarshead can go fuck himself, too.
@19 I was thinking “The Mind Games: A 3 volume history of psychological warfare against North Korea, China, Russia…and our Allies in the 21st Century”.
That way I can base my break in service off stories of me shooting godless communists in the face and fit the war on terror as a proxy war for American Imperialism, which is sure to get some professor somewhere to make the book mandatory reading for his class on “America: The Evil Empire”.
@30, the Retired SGM was an E-7 when he worked alongside the author. He was not his SGM, nor his supervisor. Still, I agree someone shouold have clamped down on him while he was on duty and exxagerating his accomplishments to Soldier of Fortune and others.
Martin, I have no idea where he would have gone to JM School. 3/73rd Cav was/is a part of the 82d. I do know it would be listed as a School, and it is one of those you do not just let slide when it comes to having it listed…. not like German Headstart or some other mandatory obligation you have to fullfill that gets on your 2-1. Pretty sure Senior Parachutist would be noted under Awards.
I have a SWASM with only one star…I was there for Desert Storm only.
So, it can be done.
jump master, in 02, only required 12 jumps and 2 years on airborne status. not sure when those standards were set or if they have been changed, but thats what it was then. when i discharged, i found a GCM on my dd214 but i never knew i was awarded one. it just wasnt important enough to worry about. turns out it had been sitting in my platoon Sgt’s desk for a year. i cant grasp making e-7 with only one, pretty sure they are automatic every 3 years with out UCMJ.
The sniper school sends out MTTs, but not to become snipers. They go out and teach Squad Designated Marksmen (M-14 shooters) which is a squad level position. There is no reason he should be even close to pretending to call himself a sniper by going through that MTT. For that matter, why would a platoon sergeant be carrying an M-14 in combat anyways? I was in the same kind of Cav Squadron he was. The platoon sergeants all carried M4s and shotguns and spent most of their time talking to the locals or keeping an eye on their men. Taking careful aim through a scope means there are a lot of other things you’re not doing. He should have been leading his men, not trying to get the high score in the unit. He’s got Joes for that.
The DD214 is clearly in question.
As someone that has retired in the past couple years, I learned that as Byrdman stated above, the DD214 can be changed in (almost) real time as you do your final out-processing.
Mine had several mistakes, mainly dealing with the number of campaign stars on the ICM, deployment from and to dates and my retirement MSM, but the lady at MILPO changed them on the spot.
With that said, I could have told them virtually anything I wanted and they would have added it.
This is the thing with this dude. I think his DD214 is either photo shopped or he had it changed by someone. I believe this, because no matter how easy it was to make SFC in (whatever) his MOS was, there is no way a Central Promotion Board would let a ERB with that many crazy holes go forward with a recommendation for selection to SFC. Another words, his DD214 was changed sometime after he was selected for SFC.
Additionally, I’m with the majority on this point too.
CSM(R) Broadhead is a misinformed. Anyone that says someone is a “good Soldier” but trends to “exaggerate a bit” might as well go ahead and say the he’s “a good Soldier, but he lies”
Wait a second, isn’t one of the Army’s core values Integrity?
CSM(R) Broadhead, I’m missing something here, is a Soldier that fails to follow the Army Values really a “good Soldier?”
UPDATED: I talked to SFC Johnson this morning and he’s sent me documentation for his CIB from when he was assigned to 2/18th Infantry of the 197th for Desert Storm. He also sent documentation for Jumpmaster School at Fort Bragg when he was with the 82d Airborne Division. So we can lay those issues to rest.
@35, As a PSG the closest I came to having a sniper rifle is the ACOG mounted on my M4 (we had plenty to go around). If I had to use a sniper rifle something was wrong. It’s kinda like what I used to say every time they tried to send me to combatives level 2, “If I’m ever using combatives in combat, then I know four Squad Leaders that are getting fired”.
@34 Excuse the ignorance but would those 12 jumps be combat jumps? or just jumps like training jumps?
@37 maybe the dude should really just get a DD215 going, looks like half of the stuff he did is not there!
@37, I would bet good money the CIB is a S1 screw up and his name wound up on a alpha roster of names for the CIB by mistake. He probably scooped that paper work up and tucked it away and didn’t say a thing.
@39, training, combat jumps garner stars inside the rigging on the jump badge. senior/master has a star on top of the canopy. the last few combat jumps have been Iraq in 03, and A’stan in 01. before that I think Panama was the last, but I could be wrong.
@27 thanks, if we lacked honesty instead of blogging here we could be making money telling lies somewhere….too bad I actually believe my good word and good karma mean more than a few coins….
@31 Well if you decide to go with “based on a true story” (the true part being you were in the service, the rest being made up fictional action sequences [see how nice that sounds instead of “lies and bullsh1t stories:]) I’d be happy to help you generate some nice prose for your editor.
@41: Since WWII, officially designated combat jumps have been very few. There were 2 in Korea in 1950 near Pyongyang (187th RCT), one or two in Vietnam (I think it was Operation Junction City – 1967?) with the 173rd Airborne Bde (a lineal descendant of the 187th RCT incidentally), then none for a long time until Grenada (1983) with the two Ranger batts, one in 1989 in Panama with the Rangers and the 82nd, and none in Desert Storm (though I’ve heard one was planned but never needed.) As for Afghanistan the only one I’m aware of was in 2001 with the Rangers jumping in support of some kind of special operations raid, and another one in February of 2003 involving a small unit of the 82nd (what’s weird is that I was in Afghanistan at that time and didn’t hear about this jump until years later.)
Iraq saw, I believe, one combat jump by the 173rd in March of 2003. I believe that would be the last designated “combat jump” that the Army officially recognizes.
@43,
Helmand Desert, Afghanistan (Parachute), 1845Z-0014Z hours, 19 October 2001 to 20 October 2001
75th Ranger Regiment, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Detachment
75th Ranger Regiment, 3d Battalion, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Detachment
75th Ranger Regiment, 3d Battalion, Company A, Detachment
75th Ranger Regiment, 3d Battalion, Company C, Detachment
In the vicinity of Alimarden Kan-E-Bagat, Afghanistan (Parachute), 1800Z-2334Z hours, inclusive, 13 November 2001
75th Ranger Regiment, 3d Battalion, Company B, Detachment
At H1 airfield in western Iraq, west of the Haditha Dam and the town of Haditha (Parachute), 1835Z to 1200Z hours, 28 and 29 March 2003
27th Engineer Battalion, Detachment
75th Ranger Regiment, 3d Battalion, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Detachment
75th Ranger Regiment, 3d Battalion, Company A
24th Special Tactics Squadron, Detachment (United States Air Force)
I stole that from Socnet, so if it’s wrong blame them.
Getting back to the topic, it seems like SFC Dillard liked to embellish his war stories (which, let’s face it, a lot of people do) but his mistake was in letting a publisher put those embellishments down on paper and to tout them in an effort to sell books.
I can sympathize with the good SFC feeling like he lost control of the situation but my sympathy is muted by the fact that this is not some cherry private who let the situation get away from him, this is a senior NCO who ought to know better and furthermore who ought to have the strength of character and the balls to put his foot down and say “STOP!” before the nonsense got published.
Since he didn’t do that, he ends up looking like a guy who is more than happy to bask in the unearned glory of his fictional exploits as long as he doesn’t get caught, but as soon as he does he is quick to point the finger at someone else. Pathetic.
@29. Corps doesn’t run the Advanced Airborne School. It’s run by Division.
Another tell/tale on his ERB would be in the ASI section. If he had graduated from JM school, he would have been given the 5W identifier. Is it there?
@43 There were multiple combat Jumps in Afghanistan beginning with some HALO Jumps, then the Rangers in October 2001. That jump you are thinking of with the 82d was a Company from the 04 I believe who jumped in support of a classified Ranger Operation. They did keep that quiet for some time before allowing them to wear the mustard stain on their wings.
Iraq saw jumps by Rangers as well as the 173rd
Thanks for clearing up the CIB and Jumpmaster details Jonn.
Mil records being inaccurate? I’m shocked.
Some of you really are trying too hard with this one.
@48 Its not the records so much as it is the other claims he made. Those claims are what got people looking at his records, and the results of those questions have raised additional questions about his credibility.
@42 According to this guy I don’t need to have anyone else write it. I just have to let them write whatever they want on top of what my biographer has written…
And in the interest of full disclosure I have no interest in reading this guys book. That might have less to do with the controversy and more to do with the fact that this year alone I’ve read close to 10,000 pages of “war p0rn” including (but not limited too) and am a little burned out on it:
The Red Circle – Brandon Webb (iPad/Kindle), American Sniper – Chris Kyle (iPad/Kindle), The Guerrilla Factory – Tony Schwalm (iPad/Kindle), No Easy Day – Mark Owen (iPad/Kindle), White Tigers: My Secret War in North Korea – Col Ben Malcom (Dead Tree), Popski’s Private Army – Popski (Dead Tree), Gentlemen Bastards – Kevin Maurer (iPad/Kindle), The Deguello – Zastrow (iPad/Kindle), and am currently reading Disinformation – Pacepa (Dead Tree).
Johnson is a serial liar and embellisher with a demonstrated career of lies and bullshit; some who’ve served with him have come here to back this up. Now that he’s been caught in another series of his lies and BS, he’s backtracking. Through this book he’s lined his pockets, cashing in on the deeds of 3-7 Cavalry’s fallen. Truly despicable, but not surprising from this POS.