Amy Apodaca; stolen smarts
Kevin sends us an Associated Press article about Amy Apodaca, an Army contracted civilian who was a statistician at the Army Institute of Surgical Research in San Antonio until early this year when it was discovered that she had none of the college education that she claimed when she was hired;
Officials at both schools [University of Texas at San Antonio and the University of Maryland at College Park] said their records show her registered for classes there, but that she didn’t earn any degrees.
Apodaca did earn a B.A. in sociology in 2003 at the University of Texas at Austin, but not a B.S. in biomedical engineering, as she listed on her LinkedIn page, according to that institution.
Despite the Texas and Maryland LinkedIn entries, Apodaca convinced many co-workers she had earned her Ph.D. from Yale, records show. In one case, she put a Yale insignia next to her name in an Army slide show.
A Yale spokeswoman said there is no record of anyone by that name holding any degree from Yale.
Oh, yeah, she had a security clearance, too, but no one uncovered the discrepancies until she pissed off a co-worker who raised concerns about her lack of training;
Suspicions about Apodaca’s degrees were first raised by a former co-worker, who refused to be quoted by name because she feared being labeled a troublemaker in future jobs. On Jan. 21, the whistleblower says, she raised concerns about Apodaca with Dominique Greydanus, a contracting officer representative. He responded by defending Apodaca and calling the co-worker a troublemaker and mud-slinger, the co-worker said.
Her duties included performing statistical analyses that were sent to the military treatment facilities in war theaters, where doctors used them to evaluate treatment decisions about injured soldiers, according to documents and interviews. She also contributed to scholarly research published in medical journals. She had access to the military’s classified network.
Apparently she’s in Scotland, according to AP, ducking AP’s questions. So, I guess any liar off the street can be a statistician for the government.
Category: Big Army
Hey Chevy! Here’s bride number 8, or is it 9?
Save for the funky teeth, she’s not awful, face-wise.
She’d be a step up from the usual girl Chevy “snags”.
Yeah but she has a fake degree just like Chevy. They could hang their fake diplomas in the Casa Chevy.
Chevy…please reappear. We miss you and know you are lurking. But, alas, I know it is busy season coming up in the mall security business. Have you been issued a Sedgeway yet?
Hang or bang…
“Scratch that: Reverse it; thank you.”
Holly Shit this really happened!!
Also my first thought.
http://www.mnbe.com/
So the contracting agency was the Muscogee Nation Business Enterprise. Considering their “special status”, any chance that they will be held accountable?
…..oh, and boy am I glad that I’m not doing the spillage/classified clean up. No telling how long or expensive that will be.
Swept unda the rug, bro….”special status”
Worked there for 5 years as Maintenance Manager over medical equipment (35U back then). They had a duel mission, burn / inhalation research and burn patient care. The Officers always played a great game of CYA when anything happened.
How in the hell did this happen?
When I had my ten year security review I got put through the ringer because they found I had a twin sister I never reported….a twin sister who died at birth mind you.
It never comes to mind.
Not to mention when I signed in as a civilian I had to produce official transcripts that had to be mailed from my univsity…AND I was two months off Activ Duty!
This is just nuts. Someone else had to know about this.
I was thinking the same thing. I had my 10 year review and they went over my SF-86 line for line with me during the interview. 2 1/2 mind numbing hours of interview. I was waiting for them to grab the microscope and start climbing up my ass.
My security officer wanted to know all times and dates I had ever been in a foreign country. He got all freked out when I enplaned the Canadian border from the 1970s. Guards? Passports? nope. Buy some nice fireworks and drive home.
Liars, damned liars, and Statisticians! Real nice she’s sending BS analyses to MDs in the field, endangering injured personnel. This one needs to go directly to jail.
BS analyses to MDs in the field, endangering injured personnel
It may not have risen to that level. If she was, for example, faking lab results or misreading radiology stuff I’d agree about jail, but based on a Pubmed.gov search of her publications, it looks like she was involved in analyzing long-term aggregate data, which might have impact on future policy, but was unlikely to have affected the care of any given patient.
Incidentally, of the 19 Pubmed hits from searching for “Apodaca-A” it looks like only the most recent 13 are her.
Not a defense of her incontrovertably wrong actions, but she may have had the ability to do her job. Much as it pains me (as a STEM major back when I was young) to admit, some Sociology people do have real statistical chops based on rigorous coursework. Too bad much of Sociology is garbage in, garbage out. On the other hand, claiming to have a PhD from Univ Maryland on your LinkedIn page, then claiming to be also a Yale PhD is a special kind of stupid.
So at least Apodaca is out. I wonder what if anything will happen to Mary Ann Spott. Surely she failed in her role as well. Per the linked article:
the whistleblower emailed Mary Ann Spott, deputy director of the Army’s Joint Trauma System, which evaluates battlefield care. Spott wrote back, “I have confirmed that Dr. Apodaca did attend Yale and does in fact hold a degree in statistics from that institution,” according to emails obtained by the AP.
Four days later, Apodaca admitted degree fraud and resigned.
“Ms. Spott’s actions were appropriate,” [Army spokesman LTC] Garrett said.
That appears to be a novel definition of “appropriate” of which I was previously unaware, Colonel.
Why do I smell a CID investigation? Dipshits In Another agency & the Fools, Bunglers & Incompetents didn’t do their fucking jobs Maybe CID will up to the task. *Maybe*.
None of those alphabet soup agencies impress me any more. Too much politics and too many “other considerations”. Catch ’em in the act, investigate the shit out of ’em, prosecute them, and pack ’em off to jail if it’s a criminal offense. Really, how hard is that?
Um, street . . . the FBI isn’t generally involved in personnel security investigations. Also, DIA doesn’t conduct most background investigations for clearances, either; they’re done by a different agency (I believe either OPM now conducts those for civilian employees; DSS used to, but that function transferred to OPM some years ago). DIA only adjudicates access decisions for certain levels of access; a routine TS clearance isn’t one of those levels.
Besides: if the investigators don’t find a discrepancy, the adjudicators don’t know about it. They can only act on what’s in the investigative file, and if a discrepancy isn’t noted there, well, . . . .
It’s not Spott that should be fired it’s Greydanus. He covered for Apodaca while Spott did the hard work of investigating. Greydanus threatened people who might tell about Apodaca and then he didn’t renew whistleblower’s contract a few weeks later.
Only a Statistician? Speaking from the experience of working for a few real shitbags, with her creativity she could have been a Site Lead easy if she was willing to work OCONUS. She probably could have been a Theater Lead but I’d have to see a full length photo (if you know what I mean).
Well her degree was in sociology which shares a few letters with biomedical so, yeah, I can see this. I can also see other people knowing or suspecting her fraud but remaining quiet–until one of them got pissed off. Besides, biomedical engineering sounds like a natural for OJT.
The least she should have done is buy fake degrees just like CSM ret Terresa King did.
That’s still a good read on Wikipedia. She has spent a lot of time trying to rewrite the past. Just more losers living the lie.
I know one thing!
Her fake front three tuffesses were probably knocked out in an alcohol related fight and or auto accident. Look closely at her ugly mug shot.
Now back to the the Scotland angle … I bet I know exactly where she is from!
But what the ef do I know!
Buctoof Ridge?
The old phrase, “she could eat corn through a picket fence,” comes to mind.
No problem. I’m sure she can just transfer over to the VA. She’ll fit right in over there.
Damn Tim… Ya read my mind (such as it is).
I heard she was already picked up as chief medical examiner…
For the Park Service at Sequoia National Park?
Agreed.
Or Merritt Island.
Not if All Points Logistics snaps her up first.
I’d hit it….bada bump bump
Seriously though, how stupid do I feel for actually sitting through a bunch of classes for years that cost a ton …could have saved a bunch of money and time.
I kind of like the sound of Dr. Guard Bum, PhD instead of what my wife calls me…just Guard Bum, PITA
“On Jan. 21, the whistleblower says, she raised concerns about Apodaca with Dominique Greydanus, a contracting officer representative. He responded by defending Apodaca and calling the co-worker a troublemaker and mud-slinger, the co-worker said.” Any bets on whether Dominique was hittin’ that? Or, that the female co-worker had shot him down?
No bets needed on that, probably a toxic work environment if this Dominique fella was vehemently defending this weird looking chick. I am guessing both probably happened. Hit and miss.
Dominique Grey-d-ANUS. How the heck did I miss that the first time around?
No, I am not above laughing at a name, especially one with an anus in it, so to speak.
What do you wanna bet Dominique GreyAnus is rocking a fake degree or two AND hitting that?
In the immortal words of that great American Mark Twain: “Liars, damned liars, and statisticians.”
Fraud and abuse.. Charge HER accordingly. Garnishment of future wages should be her main problem. Well we are dealing with the federal government and a female who will claim sexual harassment made her do it (forgery) to get ahead over male contemporaries.
Amy to coworker on first day:
“Okay, okay, little help over here for the new gal…hee-hee-hee! I know I’m the new statimutestical around here but it’s just been SOOO long since I worked down at “this level”, so tell me sumpin’ will ya, cause I been Googlin’ the hell outa this all mornin’! What’s the difference between this whole, mean, median and average business? I know…I know, you’re wondering where in the hell did “she” come from, right? Hee-hee-hee! But like I said, it’s just been SOOOO long now and what with my Phd and all, I haven’t worked down on “this kind” of statimutesticals in ages, ya know? You been there right…hee-hee-hee”.
Coworker: “Uhm…yea…right. So…here’s a junior high school, bonehead arithmetic text. It should be in there.”
Amy, as she thumbs through: “Okay, I think I’ve seen this before. Are there pictures too or just all these numbers? I mean…really now!”
From Sparks, by the way Amy, NICE TOOTH!!! That would be the first one, on your front left…if you can count it without knocking any out! Good luck with that!
Holy shit those are some ugly-ass chiclets. You’d think if she could get a fake degree she could get some fake teeth.
Shove a stick up her ass and use her for a rake.
She could eat an apple through a picket fence.
That’s odd, usually you have to be elected or appointed by the president to lie in government.
Sarah Jessica Parker isn’t the only one who looks like a horse.
Hopefully the whistleblower gets an apology from all involved but I wouldn’t hold my breath.
The wrong with this pos could have been found with a few simple phone calls and data searches.
Whoever, and I mean all whoevers, in the chain that are responsible for hiring this pos should be having their heads accessorized with claw hammers.
Actually, this probably happens more often in both private industry and government than we like to think.
Many if not most organizations make hiring decisions based on documentation provided by the individual under consideration. The individual is often hired – sometimes provisionally, sometimes not – on the basis of that self-provided documentation.
Sometimes the hiring is provisional/probationary, contingent on providing official transcripts/documentation from the source at a later time. Sometimes not, or sometimes that getting the official copies from the source slips thru the crack.
I’ve seen one other such case. In that case, the guy worked for a number of months before he got caught, not years. But if HR someplace is a bit lax (or overwhelmed due to personnel turnover), I could see that persisting for several years.
However, I do kinda wonder how
DISthe OPM investigators missed the lack of a grad degree from UM on the individual’s security questionnaire. Only thing I can figure out is that she was honest there and only lied on her application for employment. It’s my understanding that the two (the security questionnaire and the application for employment) aren’t necessarily always cross-checked against each other.