Commandant Amos padded his records
icume sends us a link from The Washington Times which reports that Marine Corps Commandant James Amos lied to Congress in his written resume to the Senate Arms Committee for his confirmation hearing. Apparently, he didn’t attend the Marine’s Officer Training School in 1972 like he told the committee. Instead, he took The Basic School by correspondence course five years later;
Gen. Amos‘ resume containing the false statement was provided to the Senate in 2010 as part of the confirmation process to four-star rank and commandant, the Corps‘ top officer.
The TBS is a rigorous, and required, rite of passage for young officers who for six months crawl and march in the mud, heat and cold of Quantico, Virginia. In the end, they are deemed indoctrinated into the Corps‘ tradition-filled culture and basic war-fighting techniques.
Under “Education/qualifications” Gen. Amos‘ resume lists “The Basic School 1972.” Gen. Amos signed, and thus attested to the Senate, that the resume was “current, accurate and complete.”
L. Lee Thweatt has been investigating Amos’ records and asking questions for months and for some reason no one felt like answering his questions until days before Amos’ retirement. By the way, the correspondence course thing is just speculation at this point – the Marine Corps hasn’t provided documentation that Amos took the course.
Category: Marine Corps
If the “top” pads it’s resume, should we really be shocked when those under them do the same? Lying seems to be the name of the game…
WTF? How do you do that?
Oh, damn, forgot I never went to basic training, you know so much other stuff was going on, and, you know BUSY!
There is a serious f’ing problem when the Commandant of the Marine Corps lies about his service . . .
Wait a minute. If he didn’t attend Marine Officer Training School, how did he become a Marine Officer? What am I missing here?
My question exactly. I would have thought someone would have thrown a flag on this play back in, say, 1972 when he was a nobody LT.
He was a Navy Officer who transitioned over to the Marine Corps which they used to allow for some MOSs like Pilots. I went through WO TBS when I was in the Marine Corps and it is rigorous but there were several programs back during Viet Nam and for a few years like that that tried to circumvent the system for expediency.
I have a friend of mine that was commissioned as a reservist who did a split OCS and then never attended TBS either but took it via correspondence. I think they stopped that crap back around the late 70s.
Which is exactly why this is a non story. The Marine Corps Times has been getting their Amos hate on for years.
Days before the guy is retiring and they pull this bullshit?
7th grade girls are more mature than the folks over there.
Spoken like one of today’s precious little self-esteem-centered creampuffs we see coming from modern public schools. “Carrie”, if you don’t like what you see here, you need to pick up your coloring books, crayons, and paper dollies, then go home to your Mommy for a peanut butter sandwich and some Kool-Aid!! If you keep spouting off like that on this blog, it will be interpreted as you volunteering to be our next chew toy, during which you’ll be repeatedly chewed up and spit out! :evilgrin:
You were warned. 😈
Non-story???? I attended TBS in 95/96 and as a prior enlisted Marine. I am proud to be a Mustang and TBS was one of the defining periods of my career. It is where new Marine officers qualify with the service rifle for the first time, work together in the field regardless of MOS, learn the traditions and history of our Corps, and begin building lifelong bonds with fellow officers through shared hardships and achievement of goals. I was always proud to point out that “all Marine officers must go through TBS.” It is disappointing to see that I have been wrong.
Also, some of Amos’ positions and priorities as Commandant make more sense to me now as he missed the foundation of Marine Officer development.
Non-story? The story is about a man exposed as a total fucking liar 13 years ago who is caught lying to Congress and still makes rank afterwards. That’s a far more interesting story than just his lies on his resume. This lying prick told McCorkle the flight ready numbers for Ospreys was about 25% then told Congress those numbers were 75% and got caught in that lie.
Non-story? In what fantasy world do you live that a Brig Gen is exposed as a liar and continues his rise to the top? Who allowed that to happen? Which asshole behind the scenes allowed this LSOS to continue on?
That level of dishonesty is a career ending maneuver for almost anyone else enlisted or officer. But not this lying asshole. There’s another story inside this story Carrie and it will expose more of the low character of this liar and the corruption of others to advance the career of a proven liar. But you keep thinking it’s like junior high gossip, must be quite interesting to be that naive or that dishonest with yourself.
“7th-grade girls’ bullshit?” eh, Carrie?
Tell me, is it “7th-grade girls’ bullshit” to expect a high level of integrity and professionalism from the Commandant of the Marine Corps? Or, hell, from any flag or general officer in any branch of service? Because what you seem to think is “7th-grade girls’ bullshit” sounds to me like it’s supposed to be the fucking primary job requirement!
Amos has demonstrated neither integrity nor professionalism during his tenure as Commandant. He was caught trying to exert inappropriate command influence over investigations of alleged misconduct by Marines in Afghanistan, throwing young Marines under the bus for political reasons and trying to deny them the due process required by the UCMJ–so much for “leave no man behind.” He is known to have shitcanned staff members for the egregious sin of not being yes-men. I’m sure Marines here like Stacy0311 or Master Guns can list more examples of his fine professional conduct. And now there’s this.
I don’t know about you, but I sure as hell wouldn’t want to be commanded by an asshole who gets rid of anybody who doesn’t tell him how great he is, who throws his guys under the bus to win points with his boss, and who is known to lie whenever it suits him. That pretty much runs contrary to all the hallmarks of a good leader, to say nothing of the values of the USMC.
Amos is a reflection of the commander-in-chief who put him there (yes, I know he had to be approved by Congress). There were dozens of better choices for Commandant, Mattis being the most obvious. But the Glorious Leader didn’t want what’s best for the Marine Corps or what’s best for America, anymore than he wanted what’s best for the Army when Dempsey got his job.
Amos doesn’t deserve to retire. He should be demoted, disgraced, and shitcanned. He earned it.
It is a BIG story – not only did the moron not have a CAR – he never even spent time in the dirt! He also destroyed troops lives for not having paperwork right, etc. He CRUSHED one of our American Heroes to death – literally with spiteful interference in the justice system – refusing to go under oath at any time over his actions in those cases. The guy deserves anything he gets. They should cancel his retirement like he did SGT Richards – and sit him on legal hold on limbo for ever.
You’re getting TBS confused with OCS. Officer Candidate School is sort of the officer version of Boot Camp, and if you complete OCS then you can get commissioned. After you get commissioned, you go to The Basic School at Quantico, where spend six months learning what you need to know to be a good Marine officer. There’s a certain amount of harassment, but the students there are Marine officers, so no is calling you “maggot” or anything like that. But it’s not the sort of thing you can do through the mail.
YGBSM
P.S.
You forgot capitalize “Marine”
Amos was commissioned in the Navy, and went to flight school in the Navy. He then lateral transferred to the Corps. Apparently, for a brief window of time around 1972, the need for Marine Aviators was so pressing, a handful were exempted from TBS and sent directly to the squadrons. Amos appears to have been one of these officers.
Amos also left active duty from 1977 to 1982, and flew for Braniff Airlines. A very unusual career path, certainly.
xbradtc…I sure hope the scenario you wrote is true for this guy. Not just for him but for the betterment of the Marine’s and the military in general.
If my memory serves me correctly … that airline had a pilot and steward in flight sex scandal years ago … We should ask what he knows about that!
Just sayin!
You’re an idiot…just sayin’….
Bring it on “Carrie”, and you’ll be our new chew toy!! 😈
Your statement may well be true and makes good sense, but why then did he lie of the paperwork and to congress?
I knew it was fucked up when the let a winger be Commandant. I didn’t realize that it was so fucked up that they let a squid winger be the Commandant. Archibald Henderson is screaming from his grave “WTF did you do to my Marine Corps.”
And Carrie, STFU and go make a sammich
Took the words out of my mouth Stacy. Semper Fi.
Make that 2 Sammiches Carrie and no tomatoes.
According to the bio, Amos was an instructor at TBS while a Captain, just before he left the service to fly from Braniff. The “correspondence course” to me sounds like just a hand wave paper drill that was done at the time for him and likely all the other officers who came into the Corps via inter-service transfer.
Since this was not Amos first rodeo with the Senate Armed Services Committee, I’d be interested in what his other bio’s stated.
That’s kind of a big deal, right?
Bet Gen. Mattis’ stuff is legit. I hope.
And some wonder why they can’t get straight answers from the top brass about anything. Padded his resume for the fourth star huh? Great, now I am beginning to understand better why these guys don’t stand up to Obama or tell the American people the truth. They don’t want close scrutiny into their affairs and doings. Instead we get global warming issues and new camo patterns.
He has submitted other resumes. (Add the accent marks yourself, please.) This isn’t his first, by a long shot. If the ‘error’ is on them, too, then he’s a very bad boy. If not, it’ll be blah, blah, aide, blah, blah, oversight, blah, mistake, blah, blah, done.
I agree. If his records are all legit then this can be a minor lapse. If there’s a pattern or a change to records then there need to be changes.
This is awesome.
Of course a shitlord of that quality was responsible for extending active duty marines in places like Okinawa while he sent reserves to Iraq.
Fuck this guy until the end of time.
TBS by correspondence???? Words fail me. I am at a complete loss as to how to comprehend this. My faith in the whole world is shaken. Do the basic laws of physics even still apply? Is up still up? Is down still down? Excuse me, I have to go lie down now.
Pink is now blue, Sun rises in the West then sets in the West, Moon rises before the sun in the East and outshines the Sun, The cows came home and Hell froze over and Reagan appointed a Kennedy to the Supreme Court…
Any questions ???
That makes every bit as much sense as going to The Basic School by correspondence.
BREAKING NEWS:
Amos said, “the correspondance course was grueling, I expended my last drop of blood, sweat and tears in my quest … spelling and grammar mistakes thoughout … I spent most nights ’til about 2145 attempting the final push to the end … It was my Crusible!”
Maybe he can hang out with Senator Walsh (D-MT)?
Yeah, that was before spell check.
Hey, they had to do that stuff back in the 70s with pen and paper and those old manual typewriters. you can’t imagine how tough it is to run one of those typewriters…
I’m not surprised. I’m really not.
This was the guy who was ready to throw Marines under his command under the bus to satisfy the PC crowd in Congress. He’s the one who wanted Marines under his command to be found guilty without trial.
This is the guy who was always ready to screw the troops to save his own ass.
Fuck him.
Just fuck him.
Exactly. He is dead to this Marine for his actions in that asinine pissing – on – dead – Talibans flap.
He’s a squid?!
Explains a few things.
Squid?
“Once a Marine…”
How’s that taste, H1?
Heh. Yeah, but now us Marines have an out.
It wasn’t the Corps that originally indoc’ed him. He came to us tainted with squid juice!
😛
H1 … I have a squid for you and it is not a Sailor!
Check that term!
Airdale didn’t convey the same sentiment.
BTW. Speaking of the Navy … We had a birthday yesterday and no one wished me a Happy 239!
I try to stay out of the old goats locker Master Chief, but I will stick my head in long enough to say Happy Birthday, wish we had a 1MC here to pipe it through.
The men’s department has their 239th birthday in less than a month. :>)
Phildo will be there.
In the changing room.
I assure you.
Just remember the men need us ladies to get them every where they need to go. And we do a fine job at doing that!
Oh and I retired on Nov 10th 2011 … The USMC 236th.
Yeah!??! but that’s just until we can learn to walk on water. Stride are being made in that direction as we speak!!
Btw, Happy belated Birthday! USN!
Happy belated birthday, Master Chief!
Master Chief, I heard that you and Noah made third class on the same orders. What was it like in the Navy on the first day of its founding?
Happy 239 th.
I have been posting about this on several closed USMC groups for a while now. I have never liked his style of leadership. The only reason Headquarters Marine Corps still has a urinal installed in the head is because the SgtMaj has to take a piss on occasion.
He is a Mattis wannabe but his bravado makes statements his ass can not back up. The Commandant is appointed by POTUS need I say much more. There has always been something off about his ass, he is a poser. Muggs for the cameras at every opportunity. Its not that he is an airwinger that is the problem, it is that he tries so hard to act like he is not.
There will be more than just TBS coming out, I will bet anything he tried to stick his wee wee somewhere it got laughed at. He leads through the creative use of the UCMJ, he is a political hack, a REMF, he is everything in a leader I detest. Ok, I am done with his good points now I can tell you why he cant lead a roll of shit paper to the head.
He is a pussy.
Who’da fucking thought that shitbag Amos would be an embellisher?
I’m being rhetorical, of course. Worst commandant, by far, in a long long time, if not ever.
Glad to see that someone’s replacing this POG POS.
So is Austin and his Silver Star gonna get the same scrutiny someday??
I’m more curious about his reasons for leaving the Navy and taking a break in service. What could have pushed him in that direction? Hmmmmm……
Every few (very few) years USMC pilot numbers aren’t as robust as HQ would like and the offer is made to recent (or upcoming) Navy flight school grads to make the swap to USMC. Sometimes it comes with a platform guarantee. But for the last 15-20 years it always meant all of TBS in-person before hitting the Fleet.
His break in service came after his USMC Fleet time, probably thought the grass was greener in commercial air, then changed his mind.
’81-’82 was a bad time to go to work for Braniff. Great airline, my Mom worked for them. Bad timing.
On a somewhat related note, this is always fun reading if you haven’t seen it before:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diploma_mills_in_the_United_States#Government_jobs_scandals_and_Senate_Committee_Hearings
I recall some report estimating that roughly 20-30% of ‘management’ at various three-letter agencies had what are essentially ‘fake’ credentials and training.
I’m SHOCKED. Shocked I say. Amos strikes me as the “Do as I say not as I do” kind of guy.
Im not an Amos Fan, but if his resume said “completed TBS” vice “attended TBS” I wouldnt make a big fuss.
In 1982 we had a 1st Lt in the Battery next to us that was an Army officer. He never did TBS or Marine OCS either.
He was a real asshole. He was on the wide side and wasnt with the Battalion that Long. I remember he hard a hard time keeping up with the runs, so I imagine he got shit-canned.
Amos as a BrigGen survived a pretty nasty Osprey scandal. Yeah he was cleared, but normally just the stink of impropriety derails a career (like the Senate refusing to confirm a GO/FO promotion). Whether it was Rummy, SECNAV England, or CMC Hagee pulling strings…Amos’s career advancement was obviously unimpeded.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/top-marines-in-osprey-cover-up/
He has obviously put political correctness as his top priority, and now I bet he wonders why nobody wants to go to bat for him now that his arse is in a sling! He’ll just have to EXCUSE ME for not having even the tiniest drop of sympathy for him!!
Another Marine Commandant pulling another one over…still remember Gen. Hagee and his unearned medal(s) wearing crap. Oops…the higher you go, the higher the standards?
As stated above, when he threw his Marines under the bus and the associated horror stories of undue command influence came out, I lost all respect for him. It’s been a long ugly fall from lejeune, Holcomb, Vandergrift, and Gray to the current occupant of the office. Another Marine put it this way to me, though. He was the perfect Commandant for our current President. On the bright side, there is no direction but up.
I recall back in the 70s and 80s there was the Special Forces Correspodence Course for Reserve / National Guard personnel. They had to attend a resident course as well, but “Phase 1” was correspondence.
They used to call those guys “Paper Tigers” which sounds like its fitting for Amos at this point, from the sound of all you Marines.
I will also take a stab that this guy was put into this position to be the “Yes Man” they always wanted, which is why he has the job. Incidents like this are a perfect example of why.
The SF correspondence course covered all three phases, except medical. They were called “paper flashes.” Many in the guard and reserve were paper trained, tab wearing “qualified” soldiers. Most will deny being paper flash qualified because many don’t know about that scam. They shit-canned that program in the early 80s…sadly many of the paper flashers rose to many high level leadership positions in SF.
And the fine tradition continues with Civil “we’re pretty much operators” Affairs. I love it, but the training disparity between AD and RC is huge. If they (USACAPOC) are going to pretend we are SOF of any stripe, we should be held to the same standard as our AD side, starting with our qualification.
A squid is a lower form of Marine life….. yup, that splains everything. You’re right TankBoy, no other direction but up.
I never had a problem with squids. They took care of me and fed me well on the boat, and my Corpsmen were some of the best of the best, willing to die to take care of their Marines. My problem is with a leader that is so weak he has to lead by fear and intimidation. In other words, a leadership poser. Again, a perfect fit for the current occupant of the White House.
One of the best quotes I ever saw that encapsulates the always tender relationship between the Navy and Marine Corps was written in a shitter stall on board the USS Guadalcanal circa 1989
It said thusly:
“United States Marine Corps, Cargo That Eats…..”
MARDET and Missile Monkeys would hang at the same bar in Gaeta. Small ship, small club, one mission set. The deck hands that tried to get me to look at a “snipe” they had in a card board box sitting on the deck was another matter. The guy holding the broom looked suspicious.
A “snipe”??? WTF, that’s what girl scouts hunt. Back in the day we reeled in sea bats from time to time….
That’s right it was a sea bat.
Getting old sucks.
This is the same guy who was discovered to be a liar way back in 2000 or 2001 if I remember correctly….he had an email that he sent to another LSOS with some data in it that didn’t match what he testified to in Congress….if I my CRS is not confusing him with someone else.
Why do so many of these senior officers not understand what the words true faith and allegiance or faithfully discharge the duties actually mean and what that oath signifies?
It would appear that among the senior officer ranks Honesty is about as easy to find as a virgin at Scores in New York City.
Undue command influence due to the pissing on Taliban incident…
Shitcanning two fine General Officers over the airbase attack in A-Stan when they did not control security on the base…
Rolling over on social engineering (repeal of don’t ask don’t tell, women in the infantry)…
Blaming the troops for a drop in standards, when the troops don’t make the standards…
Said he was going to empower NCO’s to do the small unit leadership that is essential to the Marine Corps and then gave them a bunch of checklists to fill out rather than actually get down in the trenches and lead…
and that is just the shit I can come up with off the top of my head…
When General Amos was the CG of II MEF, he had a draconian system in place for Marines who committed suicide. He brought in the chain of command of the deceased and made sure that all of the “cover your ass” paper work was in order ie. Did said Marine attend “don’t kill yourself training”? Did said Marine have a safety brief? Did said Marine exhibit any signs that he was going to kill himself? Why didn’t you notice it? and on and on….Good Marine SNCO’s and officers were put in a world of hurt over this, on top of losing their Marine through suicide. It was stupid and it was petty but that was how it was done.
Amos was also a motorcycle Nazi and if he had been able to, he would have banned motorcycles in II MEF. Said they killed too many Marines and if a Marine was injured or killed on a motorcycle, the chain of command went to see him, where another “cover your ass” paper drill would occur. He did not so much lead as he managed. He was big on checklists.
I will not be sorry to see him go. I hope that General Dunford is made of sterner stuff than the paper asshole that Amos was.
One last nail in the coffin of this idiots reputation. God, I hope Dunford undue the damage Amos has inflicted on the Corps.
So in the Air Force they fire Generals for getting too drunk. In the Army we fire Generals for speaking the truth and in the Marines they promote Generals who lie out their ass to the highest position possible.
So passes Denethor, son of Ecthelion.