John William Zelenock, BUD/S grad phony SEAL
Our partners at Military Phonies share their work on John William Zelenock with us. He claims that he was a Navy SEAL and that he was also part of the search and rescue (SAR) effort at the Beirut bombing on October 23, 1983;
According to Military Phonies, the USS Saratoga was going through sea trials in October 1983 and the ship didn’t deploy until 1984.
Here’s what he claims that he earned;
According to his records, he did graduate from BUD/S but he didn’t complete the training to be a SEAL. His only awards, as far as I can tell are two sea service ribbons and the NDSM;
He also bumped into some non-judicial punishment (NJP) according to the United Press International;
Military Phonies also found some evidence that he was a bad boy after he left the Navy, but I don’t do that stuff, you’ll need to go over there to read about his arrests.
Category: Phony soldiers, Valor Vultures
I read through all of that over on Military Phony.
I had questions about the student’s fear of water and why he’d join the Navy in the first place, if that was his problem, but it’s in the past and what’s done is done, and can’t be undone.
But this guy just annoys me.
Wait….so the guy legitimately made it through BUD/S but STILL had to embellish? Dude….
Yes. He went all the way, but didn’t complete the rest of the SEAL training.
However, what he did IS an accomplishment and should be sufficient to stand by itself, shouldn’t it?
For him, it isn’t enough, and that’s why he pisses me off.
A Sailor that Graduates BUDS and is sent out of the community, never to return is a guaranteed untrustworthy bag of shit.
I’m not interested in digging into that, because his puffing himself off as what he is not is enough by itself. It’s bolstered by that episode with the death of the recruit. This guy obviously hasn’t got a lick of common sense, and that’s what his history says.
You’re quite right: he’s not trustworthy. Ballooning his history just emphasizes it.
What he is is nothing…he has nothing. He was shitcanned from the community so graduating BUDS has become meaningless.
Because of Joint Service assignments, I have experience in what it takes for a SEAL to lose that bird temporarily and/or permanently. The SEAL community doesn’t do that lightly.
When I was at Orlando (gag), I found that the swim instructors had stopped teaching the recruits water safety, which surprised me.
One thing we were taught in boot camp (Bainbridge) was that you can make a set of water wings out of your dungarees by tying knots in the legs, closing the fly, and splashing air and water into the waistband opening.
As long as the fabric, which was cotton, stayed wet, it would stay inflated enough to hold you up.
I never got an answer to why that was no longer taught, but if it isn’t, it should be.
1n 96-97 a Marine went overboard and I believe he used that technique(which we were taught in boot camp) to keep afloat until he was found and rescued 36 hours later.
Having taught American Red Cross First Aid and Boy Scouts various survival, I know that they’ve changed the protocols a lot over the years – often, it seems, because some cannot master the skills as taught and they want a higher “pass” rate.
Doesn’t stop me from teaching my grandchildren the skills, though.
Why force one to learn the proper techniques of what works when all we have to do is dumb it down so the students can all pass without stress.
It’s happening everywhere, not just in the military, but the consequences are much more grave in the military.
Who needs Land Nav skills when you have a GPS? (sarcasm)
I dunno – not being able to do full CPR (rescue breaths not just compressions) can have some grave consequences.
6-foot deep grave consequences.
Oh, and read a topo? Why – the GPS will guide me.
(Right over a cliff.)
True. My apologies if it read as only the military faces grave consequences for dumbing down training.
I was being a smart-a$$ Chris.
Cris, I know people who can’t find their way out of a cardboard box with a map and arrows pointing to the exit.
They call those “LT”
Spew alert
—-
http://scontent.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/s480x480/e35/c80.0.750.750/14733198_1513117765370597_417358138409222144_n.jpg?ig_cache_key=MTM2NTM4OTk5OTEwNDc2ODAxNQ%3D%3D.2.c
————-
http://militaryhumor.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/military-humor-corn-maze-for-2nd-lieutenants.jpg
—————-
https://imgur.com/IN46jcf
———–
http://memecrunch.com/meme/16NIQ/lost-lt/image.png
PH: I was taught that technique, in Orlando boot, 1968.
1963 Great Lakes boot camp had us guys jumping off of the I believe 12 foot tower into the pool, bottom of dungaree legs tied in a knot and just before hitting the drink, you held the dungarees over your head then when you went under, the dungarees filled with air on impact then you laid on top of the jeans. The splashing of air and water into the dungarees sounds familiar but this was back in October/November of 1963.
Yes, we jumped from a 12′ tower, too, but we were wearing the dungarees and took them off once we were in the water. It’s a lesson I never forgot, and I do not understand why it isn’t taught at all.
Like Brian Culp.
101st Airborne veteran of Desert Storm with CIB.
Back to Iraq 2004ish with MI unit.
Years of service.
But no…. he HAD TO BE a double purple heart Army Ranger Somalia Black Hawk Down vet. Facepalm!
At least he graduated BUD/S
Which now means NOTHING thanks to him smearing shit on it.
Pretty Much ^THIS^
Wow. A real live unicorn. The folks at Military Phonies appear to have enjoyed this one. Outstanding research.
Oh. Hell. No. He’s from MY Rating? He went to HS-1, so that means he was an SH-3 Sea King crewmen. So Aircrew and BUDS wern’t enough, and he’s involved in the Mirecki incident at the Navy Rescue Swimmer School? This clown has “shitbird” written all over him.
I have a? I know. I know NCF , you always seem to have questions. Lol my ? Is this so besides Airborne , what other follow on training after Buds completion is required before someone gets the coveted Trident and joins the teams?
It is explained in the blog over at MP
Roger that . Thanks Dave.
Wow… I remember hearing about the incident in ’88 (I was at Corpus Christi at the time). Thought that he should have been blessed that the Navy didn’t kick him to the curb because of his role in it. But, after seeing the stuff over at Military Phonies, I guess the message didn’t get through.
Here’s a link from the Chicago Trib’s story on it… page 2 has what role Zenelock had in the incident:
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1988-06-05/news/8801040895_1_navy-pilot-lee-mirecki-recalls
I read the Tribune article, and a couple of the articles linked on the sidebar, and this guy Zelenock is, in my personal opinion, a slimeball who belongs in Teti’s company. They belong on the same deserted island where they can tough each other out.
What. A. Shitbag.
What puzzles me most about this case is the fact that the guy apparently was selected to attend BUD/S roughly a year AFTER the incident in which the trainee died, and for which he received an Admiral’s Mast.
Seems to me that Mast would have put him on the fast track for administrative separation vice attendance at one of the Navy’s most competitive schools.
Navy guys, please – am I out to lunch here? Or does that seem as fishy to you as it does to me?
Totally fishy…he would have had to put his last 3 evals in his package for BUDS and there’s requirements for schools including records of NJP…dunno how he would have even gotten approval unless his Career Counselor was putting in a package that made sure there were no visible red flags.
When he reported though with his Service Record unless that too was purged somehow, he should have been flagged then.
I know nothing of the admin department in Coronado though, so…no real idea. I have seen guys in my career though that somehow can charm their way through into places they should never have been allowed.
I’m thinking the same thing… someone “cleaned up” his record. His mast should have been a ‘no-go’ for any schools for a while, if ever (especially one that made the national press) and I’d think someone would have told him to finish up his enlistment and leave at EAOS.
Military Phonies pointed out in the records from NPRC that some of the dates of the courses he attended don’t match his Chronological History of Assignments. Sounds like he, or a buddy, had a history of altering his service record to make him look like a good Sailor.
Maybe the Bubbas at SEAL Team 2 saw that shit, and said No way…
Or maybe one of the Team 2 guys said, “Zelenock? Hmm, I’ve heard that name somewhere . . . . ” and started digging. And then discovered the guy’s full history – as well as the fact that pertinent portions of that history had been omitted from both his BUD/S selection packet and his field file OMPF.
You put it so much more eloquently than I did Hondo. 🙂
OK – took your original comment to mean the dates of schools in his records not lining up. But either way, we’re tracking.
The SO community in any service is hardly composed of fools. It’s a group you probably don’t want to try and BS.
I found it interesting that Zelenock also has an arrest record.
He reminds me of Joe Teti. Teti or The Runt as I call him, was sent to Force Recon right after basic training. He graduated from the basic Recon crs in Little Creek but was skimmed out of the pool during the first part of scuba qual. Fail a crs in Force Recon and you are generally gone, as Teti was. He was sent to pick up cigarette buts on barracks duty but talked his way back in a division recon unit. Then The Runt went Army forged graduation certs for courses he did not complete and got them entered in his Army records. We still have The Runt in court. Some of these little shits can be crafty.
hehe you said teti…hehehe
So John William Zalenock is a failure after all.
Sad.
We shouldn’t have ever started this medals system. A lot of stolen valor would have been avoided.
Look at what was said about the Medal of Honor.
When the Civil War started in 1861, the United States had no awards for military service although, in the Mexican-American War of 1846, there had been a Certificate of Merit but this had been discontinued. Toward the end of that first year of the war, a proposal was made for some recognition for conspicuous gallantry in action to be awarded but the commanding general of the army, Gen. Winfield Scott, did not like the idea. He thought it to be a European tradition and said no.
It was left to the Secretary of the Navy, Gideon Welles, to resurrect the idea for an award for valor and on Dec. 21, 1861, Abraham Lincoln signed the law creating the Navy Medal of Valor.
Now look at this progression of insanity ->
So, recognizing someone for doing something heroic or valorous should be avoided just to keep lowlife, bottom sucking miscreants from being forced to make up their pathetic stories is your answer? I bet you also blame the victims of criminals…if only he didn’t have money I wouldn’t have robbed him.
So, one General doesn’t like medals and he’s the only authority we should listen too?
The original Purple Heart, designated as the Badge of Military Merit, was established by George Washington on August 7, 1782.
lily, I respectfully disagree with the sweeping statement – although that may have been hyperbole on your part.
Even if, as in the case of my father (WWII vet), one seldom brings ones medals out to display, many of them are ways of thanking and recognizing ones service.
Any “thank you” ought to be sincerely given and graciously accepted. That the system has gathered some “participation trophies,” as some view them, is not sufficient cause to forego all tokens of appreciation and recognition.
Even the NDSM is a recognition that one has served when many have not. It may or may not be superfluous to being a veteran, but it can be considered a sincere thank-you for volunteering.
It’s reasonable to say the award system has gotten out of control. Look at the photo graphs I posted. At this rate in 200 years both legs of a general will be covered in ribbons. George Washington gave a purple heart badge, not a medal. Then for the next 50 years no medals were given.
I do agree that there are some medals/ribbons we can do without, but to sh*tcan the whole thing seems just as stupid. But, we do live in this era of winning doesn’t matter as long as you participated and feel good about it. Oh, and by the way, here’s your participation trophy…
Looking at the incident where the trainee drowned Zelenock appears to have been one of the ones caught on the fringe of it with several other instructors. He and two others were given NJP and suspended reduction in rank two were busted and the Instructor that pulled the trainee under was taken to a CourtMartial.
I wonder WTF was going through their minds when they threw that trainee back into the pool after he darted out and grabbed an equipment rack in a panic fit especially after they had that letter from a Psychiatrist? Maybe they were just acting like a high school jock clique and their shit-for-brained ego feeding stunt cost a young Sailor his life?
Assclown.