Category: Phony soldiers

Our partners at Military Phonies share their work on this Karl Avery Dawson fellow. He claims that he’s a “highly decorated” Marine who was “missing in action” during a secret squirrel mission. That the Corps had already set aside a burial plot for him until he made it home and they took him to see the President, for some reason.

Then the Marine Corps bought him the uniform that he wore at his wedding;

Well, he was in the Marine Corps for nearly three years, but he was a 3072 Aviation Supply Man and he was discharged as a Private (E-1).

His only award is a marksmanship badge, no Silver Star or any of the other mountain of medals he is wearing.

Our partners at Guardians of the Green Beret share their work on this fellow Gilbert Rainault, who also goes by the name Tim Gibson. He pretended to a special forces soldier and weaseled some big money out of an investor, when she confronted him, he took the money and ran….for ten days before he was arrested in a motel parking lot by authorities in Colorado;

The only thing special about Rainault is the number of arrests and his criminal history, the details of which are at the Guardians’ link above. He has not one minute of military service;

Our partners at Military Phonies share their work on this fellow, Phillip Parrish, who apparently wants people to believe that he’s a Navy SEAL. He wears the Trident while he’s on Patriot Guard missions;

He was in the US Navy, but he was an AN (Airman E-3) after ten years of service.

Our partners at Military Phonies send us their work on this fellow, David Willard. He claims to be a Navy SEAL, and he’s convinced a lot of his friends that he’s a SEAL. Willard even has a jeep with the Trident painted on the hood and a fugly cap that only pretenders buy;

Well, he was in the Navy for less than six years and he served as an Airman Apprentice (E-2) but no SEAL Training or assignments;

Someone sent us their work on this Catalino Aguda fellow. He claims that he was a member of an Air Force Tactical Air Control Party. A TACP travels with Army and Marine Corps maneuver units and act as advisors to commanders in the application of air power to the battle. They establish and maintain command and control communications, and provide precision terminal attack guidance of U.S. and coalition fixed-wing and rotary-wing close air support aircraft, artillery, and naval gunfire.

They have the AFSC (MOS) 1C4X1 and wear the distinctive black beret after they complete the grueling 85-day course (which traditionally boasts a 50% washout rate). After the completion of the course, graduates attend the USAF Survival School at Fairchild AFB, WA. So they are a tight-knit bunch. When the picture above of Mr Aguda appeared in their Facebook page, no one recognized him. Probably because he never attended the training and he was never assigned to a TACP.

In the picture, he’s wearing Master Sergeant rank (E-7), the TACP black beret with the TACP Crest (without the flash), a Meritorious Service Medal, the Joint Service Achievement Medal, and the Air Force Combat Action Medal – none of which he earned according to his records. Now, I know that he left the service before the Air Force Combat Action Medal came in to existence in 2007 (the Air Force equivalence to the Navy Combat Action Ribbon or the Army’s Combat Action Badge), but it was backdated to 2001 and his name isn’t on the list of six Airmen who were awarded the medal.

Maj. Steven A. Raspet of Fountain Valley, California (for actions on January 8, 2006 at Afghanistan)
Capt. Allison K. Black of Northport, New York (for actions on December 4, 2001 at Afghanistan)
Senior Master Sgt. Ramon Colon-Lopez of Bridgeport, Connecticut (for actions on March 11, 2004 at Afghanistan)
Master Sgt. Charlie Peterson of Detroit, Michigan (for actions on July 28, 2004 at Iraq)
Master Sgt. Byron P. Allen of Birmingham, Alabama (for actions on April 12, 2004 at Iraq)
Staff Sgt. Daniel L. Paxton of Abingdon, Virginia (for actions on March 28, 2003 at the Kuwait-Iraq border)

Aguda retired with twenty years of service in 2006 as an E-6 Technical Sergeant AFSC 2E173 Ground Radio Communications Craftsman and none of the training allowing him to wear the beret appears on his DD214. He served in Desert Storm, but I don’t see anything in his DD214 that indicates that he served in Iraq, like he claims in this picture of his MC vest;

There is nothing in his records that indicates he attended the Army Basic Airborne Course, but there are the jump wings in the above picture. Everyone wants to wear jump wings, but no one wants to haul their parachute off of Fryar Drop Zone.

It’s strange how in the top picture he’s wearing three medals he didn’t earn and there are are tons of stuff he did earn on his DD214 but he’s not proud enough of his real accomplishments to wear any of them.

Our partners at Military Phonies share their work on this piece of work, Darrin Sealy who used to be the CEO and President of the Collegiate Officials Group, an organization of referees and umpires. For some reason, he decided that he needed to be a former Marine, but, he couldn’t stop there. He claimed to be a MARSOC Marine and that he had parachuted into Cuba – to actual veterans;

So eventually, he resigned as President and CEO;

The National Personnel Records Center confirms that he never served in uniform;

Our partners at Military Phonies share their work on this fellow, Anthony Vanderplow who claims that he was a “Naval SEAL” and claims that he served in Iraq;

Yeah, well he was in the Navy for less than nine months and left the service as an E-1 Seaman Recruit and he trained as an Electronic Equipment Repairman. No SEAL training, naval or navel or otherwise. He was out of the Navy before anyone set fire to any oil wells in Kuwait (not Iraq, why would Hussein set fire to his own oil wells?)