Poseur lawyer; everybody is SF
Jeff sent us a link to a lawyer’s webpage in which Kelly Gamble (Murphy) makes the claim that she and her husband were assigned to a Special Forces unit;
I met my husband (also an Army Veteran) while finishing my last overseas tour of duty in 1988 – we were both were [sic] assigned to a Special Operations unit.
Jeff tells me that he was in the same unit as Kelly, back in the California Reserves in Oakland and he doesn’t remember anyone in his unit being assigned to Special Forces. They were in a civil affairs battalion, which could have had dealings with Special Forces units, but as an assigned member?
And her records don’t bear that out either;
Sure all Special Forces A Teams have a veterinary food inspector assigned to them, it’s as important a job as the weapons, demo, commo and medical team members. Who else is going to check the food of the Team’s puppies and kittens?
Gamble makes the point of telling her prospective clients how she is proud of her 11 years of service and then she pulls the “Special Operations” thing out. Apparently, she wasn’t proud enough to refrain from pulling the Special Operations shit out.
Jeff says that he warned her to pull that reference off of her website before he wrote to us. I guess she doesn’t know what dicks we are…until now.
Category: Phony soldiers
This woman who was slandered has done more for this country than most of the regular posters on this blog to include Old Trooper and NHSparky
Just wanted to be #100! LOL
I drank beer with some SEALs when they pulled their boat into the FLEASWTRACENPAC pier in San Diego one night and a buddy of mine and I happened to be there when they showed up. Can I now say I “hit the beach” with a SEAL Team? I mean it’s technically accurate. 🙂
Years ago, I was at a dinner party. While minding my own fucking business, this clown blurts out to me (in front of everyone ) that he is a “Ranger.” I then said “Really…what unit?” He then says that when he was in high school, he was on the “JROTC Ranger Team.” I then told him my nephew was an astronaut… when he went to Huntsville he flew the Space Shuttle at space camp.
Scenario:
I am at a cocktail party, and Ms. Gamble and I engage in small talk… military service comes up. She tells me that she was in “Special Operations” … I immediately start speaking Mandarin and tell her I’m a Chinese fighter pilot.
Bottom line… I KNOW THE REAL DEAL… no matter what one says! Civilians don’t. They know Top Gun, Apocalypse Now and Platoon. Bad Gamble knows what she is doing… and so do I.
What everyone is overlooking is that a member of her unit who served with her sent me the link to begin with. I can take criticism, and I can take piling on, but ya know, if a member of her unit takes offense at her using the “Special Operations” term, this post must have some measure of merit.
Of course, the most verbose among you will ignore this one simple fact. I can take that too…your silence on that aspect up until this point speaks volumes.
You know why she used the term, I know why she used the term and it had nothing to do with pride in her service.
When you look around the pile and see ObamaGirl there with you, it might be time to step back.
How different is this than the Vets vs. Vets blog post – the part about McAllister claiming he planned “Black OPs”? He gets a pass but she doesn’t?
Jesus Fucking H. Christ, OG–I slandered her? Puh-leez, that fat ass of yours must be cutting off circulation to your brain.
Go have another candy bar.
And OG–I’ll put my record up against hers any. Fucking. TIME. 13 years in and she left as a buck sergeant? Yeah, not impressed.
Jonn, anytime you want, I’ll e-mail you my DD-214, or you have my permission to pull my FOIA. E-mail me with anything you need (SSN, etc.,) and I’ll provide it to you.
Talk the talk, or walk the walk, OG. And NO, I’ll never claim to be Special anything, but I can pretty well fucking guarantee that you just stuck your whole fucking leg into your mouth, beyotch.
Yeah, like I’ve said before ObamaGirl is not listed in AKO under her real name (which was part of her email address when she first started posting here), so I wouldn’t get too exercised over her insights on military issues. I also have enough information to get a FOIA on her, but at this point, I don’t want to bother the POW Net folks – they’re busy enough as it is.
See, there ya go, again, bobogirl, spouting shit like you know something. If you would have bothered to read what I had posted, you would have seen that I haven’t said anything either for or against Ms. Gamble. However, since it’s hard for you to read what is being posted, because of a) lack of education and b) the weiner in your mouth blocks you from seeing the screen properly I will cut you some slack.
I would have focus my energies elsewhere to call out other fakes. This whole argument has not been good journalism but only a personal attack base on assumptions. Maybe that person from her unit had a ax to grind with her. If someone called me out on my service I would have reacted almost the same way she did by giving a serious rebuttal email, without getting CID involved. Has this site resorted to National Enquirer tactics or is it going back to serious journalism?
Anon; the National Enquirer gets it right once in a while (the Edwards lust child comes to mind). But I never heard anyone associated with this site claim to be journalists.
To the commenter asking about Ballduster and the “pass”–maybe you best type in the nickname and go read all about McBallduster. No passes given. Stolen Valor. Period.
@John Lilyea #106,
I was wondering about her initial accuser. He was assigned to the same unit, so he had to know that USAR CA fell under USASOC until 2006. Did his unit not self-identify as a special operations unit while he was there?
buster; what I think is the point of contention that Jonn, and others, make is that she had to put that on her website as part of her resume. Why she felt the need to make it clear that she was part of spec ops for her lawyer business is what is in question.
As I told bobogirl, I haven’t said anything for or against Ms. Gamble in this thread and I don’t intend to, however, others can say what’s on their mind as they see fit. Her replies were what really got the ball rolling to begin with, since several people pointed out the same thing you are saying.
What everyone is overlooking is that a member of her unit who served with her sent me the link to begin with.
That’s great logic Lilyea so what you’re telling me is if I can dig up somebody from your Army career who said you bithced out of a foot march or fell out of a run or just said you were a plain old shitbag then I have every right to take it as gospel and post it all over the internet huh?
Everybody who has been in the Army for more than a day has enemies this guy may have an axe to grind but because it’s a woman and you have this petty need to slander people you ran with it.
If you had any courage you would retract this story and issue an apology before this gets any worse. Everyone is saying you are in the wrong except for a few brainless followers of yours who can’t think for themselves.
“Everybody who has been in the Army for more than a day has enemies this guy may have an axe to grind but because it’s a woman and you have this petty need to slander people you ran with it.”
“Everyone is saying you are in the wrong except for a few brainless followers of yours who can’t think for themselves.”
Yeah, I’m sure that everyone will just bow down to your massive intellect and apologies will flow from this site, because you make such a compelling argument.
Now, if you would stick to what is actually being said, you would notice that not “everyone” is saying he’s wrong, even those that don’t agree with it to begin with. Who’s right and who’s wrong is subjective to begin with, since you think you’re right and Jonn’s wrong.
Actually, because she is a woman, a mom, and a wife, I think that she is being treated a great deal more favorably by some commenters here than she would if she were a man or looked like LTC Pirate. And I do not have a problem with that. In fact, I think it’s rather nice.
Old Trooper.. I am not saying I am right I am saying that the majority of people who left comments on here are saying Lilyea is wrong. I agree with them. You probably do as well but youre afraid to say so
Nothing on that womans site is wrong. You guys have never put information about yourselves in the most positive light on a resume or profile before?
@117 “If you had any courage, you would retract this story…”
If Ms. Gamble had actually read the first 17 posts, and the trolls hadn’t come tumbling into the room shortly thereafter, this thread would have died at about 20 posts. Instead, we’re at 118 posts because of comments like yours.
Excuse me while I go get more popcorn.
Alot of people on this site look up to people like Ted Nugent and he blatantly lied about dodging the draft.
@122 and that makes it right insult someones service and then just act like nothing happened? If somebody did this to Lilyea he would have a kniption fit.
11Booze–not if it could be misconstrued. Face it, HR departments especially these days take a very dim view of “padded” resumes. Also given the fact its not relevant to her qualifications as a lawyer (unless she was JAG, which she wasn’t.)
My view has been consistent on this matter: what she did isn’t SV, but is kind of fishy, and her reaction to our discussion of it only served to cast further aspersions on herself. Had she simply come in and clarified rather than label everyone as “haters” and such, I would agree with Pinto’s call that this thread would have been dead long ago.
I guarantee you “Bad Gamble” would blurt out to me (especially if she didn’t know my background) or another, that she was in “Special Ops”… OK she was(?). But my reply to her would be “unconventional.” She knows EXACTLY what she’s stating (and not stating)and that’s OK… run with it. But there are those “in the know.” And if “Special Ops” personnel want to call her on it… go for it as well.
This past summer at a convention, this guy was dropping groups and names so fast, I needed a clerk typist to keep up with his stories. No lies… but he was ASSIGNED to the groups and NEVER was qualified. His stories (if one didn’t know) would lead one (civilians) to believe that he was the real deal. After two days (it was hard to keep it quiet) I mentioned that one of his “heroes” and I served on the same team…silence and headlights on the deer. NO MORE STORIES from this guy(around me) whatsoever.
Great comments and perspectives from nearly all.
I belong to a group that Supports one particular Ranger unit, but that does not make me a Ranger, a former Ranger, or anything remotely like it, and in fact; both here and on the street I make it very clear that I am NOT a Ranger, nor NEVER was a Ranger. But I do sit in their lounge, their chapel, and participate in events with them. Clarification can go far, when one bothers to use it.
And as a comment above said- if the principle in the matter had come on with a decent reply, this would have died a hundred comments back.
To my experience, it is commonplace for people to inflate a cv or résumé. In fact, it’s almost expected. But then follows the HR scrutiny (record checks, transcripts, official and unofficial inquiries to former employers and coworkers). Those who take what’s on a resume or cv at face value do so at great risk. So, leaving aside the ethical issue, it’s stupid to do, regardless of how common a practice it is.
http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/tim-graham/2011/05/19/cnns-piers-morgan-battles-ted-nugent-guns-says-second-amendment-almost-k
Did he? You decide. 17-year old kid in the late 60’s wasn’t going to do something stupid back then?
If somebody did this to Lilyea he would have a kniption fit.
No, I don’t think Jonn would, and most of us here know him better than you. If someone insulted my service (OG, anyone?) I would simply put my record out there so that it was straight and no misinterpretation was possible.
As the first 17 posts would tend to indicate, the truth will stand. It had already, at that point, been established that what Ms. Gamble put on her site was accurate, although it might possibly be misleading to civilian readers. If, when Ms. Gamble commented, she had been reasonable, instead of being a harpy, this thread would have hit a wall.
And I find it most curious that “Ms. Gamble” replied here the way she did. I have wondered if #18 post wasn’t one of our trolls also, trying to stir the pot.
@125 Look Sparky is she a slimeball? Probably she is a lawyer.. But Lilyea has been taking liberties lately with some of these “Phonies” and it is only going to get worse if it goes unchecked.
And thats not really padding her resume she was assigned to a Special Operations Unit. If a 160th SOAR guy said the same thing would he not be wrong?
@121; I have never mentioned on a resume anything other than I am a Vet. No details other than what was required. It didn’t hinder my job prospects by doing so, either.
So on your resume you just right I am a Vet? Somebody blew off his ACAP classes
I’m not calling her a slimeball either, although she doesn’t seem to be a very effective lawyer, based on some of the feedback out on the Web.
Has Jonn been calling out people as phonies too readily? Meh. Maybe in this case, but if this is the worst he ever does…
Frankly, 160th SOAR is Special Operations and remains so, unlike CA is today, but in reality, unless you’ve got an 18X, or are a PJ, or have a 5326 NEC, it’s probably best to just avoid any claim of “special” anything.
@#130: You are probably right about the troll but if it was really her, then I support her getting pissed off. If someone questioned something like that in my military career, I would get pissed.
Who the hell is Jonn and who the hell gives him the right to OUT anybody?
He feels he is on some sort of fucking high horse and does not even agree with the majority of posters that he royally fucked up this one.
All he had to do was retract this story after realizing that he fucked up, but he didn’t and this lives on.
Now the poor woman has probably gotten some hate mail.
What does everyone’s career have to carry a fucking caveat?
“I was in Civil Affairs serving in Special Operations (caveat: I am not Special Forces)”
It’s not my fault that some dumbshit can’t put two-and-two together, we didn’t come up with the fucking Special Operations name. Blame the asshats that created Special Operations and Special Forces and had similar sounding names.
I’m going to get off my popsicle stand but in the meantime, I think Jonn owes this lady a huge apology for taking some bogus information from some old asshole who obviously had an axe to grind.
11Booze–believe it or not, a lot of jobs care that you’re military, they just don’t necessarily care what MOS you did. And the further back your military service, the more general you should be. Details are for the interview.
It’s not my fault that some dumbshit can’t put two-and-two together
It’s not up to the person reading it to devine intent. If I tell you something, it’s up to ME to make sure YOU understand it within its proper context. If I give you an incorrect impression or you infer something from an incomplete statement which isn’t true, that’s not your fault, that’s mine.
And again, I still don’t understand what relevance her military service has to her current career choice, but hey, that’s just me.
Now matter what Lilyea likes to think he isn’t the arbiter of everyones military service. I don’t know what makes him think he has the right to do that. Ridiculously unresponsible and unprofessional. Very unbecoming of a retired senior NCO
And what of people who really do commit Stolen Valor? Who calls them on their bullshit? Are you saying that it’s nobody’s business?
If somebody at the function or event feels that their might be a stolen valor case they can report it to the authorities or their local VFW or Legion and have them handle it I don’t think some guy surfing the net should be any kind of authority on it.. it’s considered a crime no?
@134; nope, I didn’t blow off anything. Things like schools attended were put on the resume if it was applicable to the position, because I work in technical fields, so the fact that I was a member of an RDF unit, or that my unit was part of the 18th Airborne Corps, weren’t real big items to tip prospective employers in my favor. That I worked on fitting MILES equipment to attack helicopters for training simulations (we were the first to fit and test the system in the field) was one thing that worked to my advantage when I worked at an aerospace company.
Putting that you were in a spec ops unit on your website to promote your law cred doesn’t really entice me to pick her to represent me in a wrongful termination lawsuit. If she was going to that length, then she should have on there that she was a food inspector and maybe that would drum up more business from bar/grill establishments that are having problems with the local health inspectors.
First, unless there’s fraud involved, and sometimes even then, most police departments don’t give a shit since they have bigger issues ongoing. There are cases discussed here at over at POW Network of phonies who have been RUNNING VFW and Legion posts (Gunny Lavue, et al.)
Yes, there is a fine line between exposing frauds and going on a witch-hunt. Nobody said it’s foolproof, but when you look back at the history of the last 40-50 years, from VVAW and Winter Soldier to IVAW (most of whom have never been to Iraq) and your run-of-the-mill scam artists, those phonies demean every honest and dedicated service member who put on the uniform and served honorably. Their lies MUST be confronted. They MUST be shown for what they are–LIARS.
#136 “I think Jonn owes this lady a huge apology.”
Apologize for WHAT? For questioning a woman about a written public statement? Welcome to the modern world. I’m a woman, and I have been called out on my credentials before, and I’m nobody, certainly not a lawyer. If I had acted the way Ms. Gamble did here, I would have first been laughed at, and then fired. Period. It’s called being an adult. If I’m a big enough girl to get out there and tell people I am something or have been something, I’m a big enough girl to produce proof or explain what I’ve said.
And as far as Jonn outting anyone; why NOT him?
@#143: See there’s the kicker… That was not what Jonn posted. He posted that she was lying in saying that she was in “Special Operations” which by the number of current and former CA members, is not false.
Had the argument been made in that why should she state that it says Special Operations rather than calling her a liar would have made a better argument albeit still a weak one.
If I decided to put on my business page that I earned a Bronze Star while in Iraq, it would not be false maybe redundant or providing too much emphasis for some people but it is still true and I do have one from Iraq.
@#144: I don’t care about you. The point is that she didn’t do anything wrong. So what – she added emphasis to her work in Special Operations. I’m sure she is proud of it. She does not owe anything to this site or any of its internet vigilantes. She is well within her right to state that and would be just as justified to state that she was attached in a Support Company to the 18th Airborne Corps. Either way, she is not distorting the truth.
@Old Trooper,
Thanks for the response.
@NHSparky,
You (and Doc Bailey, although there might be others) mention that the formulation that she was Special Operations was ‘fishy’. I think you’ve created an unreasonable standard not supported by doctrine.
She was Special Operations, and whether CA or PSYOP “should” have been special operations, or whether the association was adequately earned in the opinion of her critics, the fact is that it’s legitimate, and if she wants to highlight that aspect of her military career, that’s her business.
Speculating that people might erroneously assume that she was SF is not adequate justification for demanding that she downplay truthful career events.
You can state that everyone knows what she’s “trying” to imply, but I would respond that she’s trying to imply that she was high speed enough to be in a Special Operations unit versus a conventional unit, and that implication would be correct.
The follow on comments from Pinto Nag (among others) that she may be right on the merits but she was unacceptable in her response comes off to me as being grudging. You aggressively rebut a much milder insult to your service record with a plethora of well-placed ‘fucks’, and that’s par for course around here. I don’t see how her response was any less appropriate.
I think this thread is grinding on in part because there’s some shamming go on at workplaces across our great nation, but also because people are reluctant to stand down and admit that this was an errant post.
This whole thread is completely absurd. I was a 19D and spent a good number of years assigned to Infantry battalions. If I decide to write somewhere that I have been assigned to numerous inf units would it be fair to assume that I am claiming to be an 11B or C? Of coutse it wouldn’t. Why should Special Ops units be held to a different standard? They have assigned to them at any given time non-SF personnel. Those people have every right to state truthfully where they were assigned so long as they are not claiming things they havent earned. I love the sv stuff on this site and God Bless whenever you catch a true phony but leave this person alone, she is not Kyle Barwan.
Speculating that people might erroneously assume that she was SF is not adequate justification for demanding that she downplay truthful career events.
It is when said confusion is deliberate in nature (see my post regarding former Rep. Carol Shea-Porter.)
she is not Kyle Barwan.
A fact which most of us have noted and agree upon. Again, her reaction to this as much as anything else is what’s driven this thread to 150 posts.
#146 I’m calling bullshit on that. She IS distorting the truth! Omission of fact is a lie as well. Telling people(civilians) you were assigned Special Ops Unit leads to a whole gamut of thoughts (Rambo? GI Jane?). Human nature 101. She knows and I know… and those in the know… know. Nothing wrong with pointing out facts. This isn’t a movie watched by a bunch of civilians. Nothing wrong with being a “Special Ops Vet food watcher”… but watch what you say around “Special Ops watchers”.
@#150: We don’t even know it is her, so don’t assume.