Alex Vanderheide; phony SF soldier

Our friends at Green Beret Posers Exposed send us their work on this fellow, Alex Vanderheide, an amazing story of deceit and lies. I’ll let them tell it;

We present First Sergeant Arnout Alexander Vanderheide, Retired, who claims to be a Special Forces First Sergeant assigned to USASOC. He has made claims of being assigned to the 1/10 Special Forces Group in Bad Toelz, Germany, 1/7 Special Forces Group at Fort Bragg,NC, 3/7 Special Forces Group in Panama, and insinuated he served in SFOD-D. So we attempted to verify his service with a group of about 4500 Special Forces soldiers and not one had any knowledge of Vanderheide. On his entry on the VetFriends website, Vanderheide claims to have served from 1997-2014, listing his rank as 1SG E-8. He claims USASOC as his unit. Many of the photos in this post, show Vanderheide in military uniform and VFW garb displaying all of his unearned awards, decorations, and badges.

In an article published in the Wilkes County, NC newspaper, The Record, titled Veteran suicide awareness promoted, dated December 16, 2015, Vanderheide’s service is discussed as well as his being the state designated recruiter for VFW Post 1142. In the article, Vanderheide discusses the brotherhood. Vanderheide is quoted “Eventually it will catch up with you. It always does. You’ve probably heard that from others. And you never know when it’s gonna hit you.” The article then lists Vanderheide’s service in Afghanistan, Iraq, Desert Storm, Desert Shield, Somalia, Sarajevo, Bosnia, and Panama.

Like so many Posers, Vanderheide was able to join the Veterans of Foreign Wars, serving in Post 1142. I spoke to the commander of VFW Post 1142 located in North Wilkesboro, NC. He stated that Vanderheide was no longer a member of that post. I also spoke with the Commander of NC VFW District 15 and he told me Vanderheide had been accepted into VFW Post 7034 in Sparta, NC. I have been unable to ascertain how Vanderheide was verified for membership in the VFW. The District 15 commander also verified that Vanderheide is on the NC VFW color guard and serves as a state recruiter for the VFW. Pretty good for someone who never served in the military.

In his role as a member of the NC VFW Color Guard, he actually has a photo of him kneeling and presenting a folded flag to a real veteran’s next of kin. As a member of the color guard and bugler, Vanderheide most certainly represented the VFW at many funerals of true veterans. It is hard to believe anyone could present themselves as a highly decorated veteran in the time of grief for so many families.

As you look at the pictures and documents that are a part of this thread, you see his need to feel self important as he takes photos with politicians and celebrities as part of his duty as a member of the NC VFW Color Guard.

The photo of Vanderheide in his Class A dress greens makes it hard to view all of the badges, decorations, and awards but one can make out the ribbons for the Distinqished Service Medal, the Silver Star Medal, the Purple Heart Medal, the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, Master Parachtist Badge, Master Military Freefall Badge, Combat Divers Badge, Special Forces Tab, and Ranger Tab.

Our next step was to request Vanderheide’s military records under the auspices of the Freedom of Information Act from the National Personnel Records Center. We soon had our answer and there is no record of Vanderheide ever having served in the military.

On February 28, 2017, I spoke with Vanderheide. I identified myself as a retired Special Forces Officer and I wanted to discuss his service. I asked him about the information in his Vet Friends account which stated he had served from 1997-2014 and listed his rank as 1SG e-8 assigned to USASOC. As is often the case, he denied that was him. So I told him I had requested his military records under the Freedom of Information Act from the National Personnel Records Center and had the response in my hand. I then told him his DOB and last four of his Social Security Number and asked if that was his correct information. He verified it was correct. I told him there was no record of his ever serving in the military and also that I had a photo of him in the Army Dress Green uniform wearing as a minimum the Silver Star, the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, Master Parachutist Badge, Master Military Freefall Parachutist Badge, Combat Divers Badge, Special Forces Tab, Ranger Tab, USASOC unit patch. I asked him again and he admitted to the lie saying he made a big mistake. I also brought up the Stolen Valor Act of 2013 and his receiving a $50,000 scholarship from the University of Phoenix and Country Music Television.
In 2007, apparently Vanderheide and his wife submitted Vanderheide as an entrant for the University of Phoenix/Country Music Television contest to be named their volunteer of the year. Vanderheide won and the award came with a $50,000 scholarship. This was in the local newspaper.

In our conversation on March 1, 2017, Vanderheide stated that although he won the scholarship, he never accepted it.. So I contacted the University of Phoenix on March 1, 2017 about the scholarship and they statedI needed a signed and dated release from Vanderheide to obtain the information. I called Vanderheide and he agreed to sign a release, so I typed it up and mailed it to him. During this conversation, Vanderheide admitted he started taking course from the University of Phoenix using the scholarship. So now we wait for him to sign, date, and return the document to me. I will then fax it to the University and they will provide the documentation.

So he never served, let alone earned anything he displays on his uniform.

Some of his claims;

Here’s his FOIA;

Here’s the recording of his admissions;

Note: Update on the story. The Commander of NC VFW Post 7034 contacted us after the story was posted. While Vanderheide sought to transfer from NC VFW Post 1142 to NC VFW Post 7934, the transfer was not approved due to the fact that Vanderheide could not produce a valid DD 214 discharge document.

Category: Phony soldiers, Valor Vultures