{"id":30566,"date":"2012-06-28T17:45:47","date_gmt":"2012-06-28T21:45:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/valorguardians.com\/blog\/?p=30566"},"modified":"2014-07-25T18:26:38","modified_gmt":"2014-07-25T22:26:38","slug":"ken-aden-another-story-we-wont-get-credit-for-breaking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/?p=30566","title":{"rendered":"Ken Aden: Another story we won’t get credit for breaking"},"content":{"rendered":"

We first wrote about Ken Aden, the phony “Green Beret” running for Congress in Arkansas back on May 17th<\/a> which inspired a reader to hound the crap out of the Arkansas media and the Aden campaign until today, the Arkansas Gazette<\/a> published their story. It’s behind a pay wall so here’s the whole article as the TAH way to thank them for not mentioning us;
\n<\/p>\n

LITTLE ROCK \u2014 Third Congressional District candidate Ken Aden has claimed he\u2019s a Green Beret, but his military records indicate he washed out of Special Forces training, not once but three times.
\nAden, a Democrat from Russellville, has said throughout his campaign that he is qualified as a Special Forces soldier. Documents obtained Wednesday by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette through a federal Freedom of Information Act request indicate that Aden never completed the qualification course to become a Special Forces soldier.
\nThe discrepancies have also brought into question Aden\u2019s academic claims. Aden claims to have an associate degree from Arkansas State University, but the registrar\u2019s office said he never took a class there.
\nIn a telephone interview Wednesday morning, Aden said he could have worn the coveted green beret of a Special Forces soldier if he had been assigned to a Special Forces group after graduation from the Special Forces Qualification Course, commonly known as \u201cQ Course.\u201d But, he said, an injury resulted in his transfer to a regular Army unit, the 82nd Airborne Division.
\n\u201cI am a Special Forces qualified soldier,\u201d Aden said. \u201cI completed the entire course.\u201d
\nHe said he does not have a copy of the document proving that he graduated from the course but said he has requested a copy of his entire military file from the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis.
\nThe military records obtained Wednesday from the U.S. Army indicate that Aden received some training in Special Forces but didn\u2019t complete the year-long course required to be qualified as a Green Beret soldier. Aden left the Army with an honorable discharge in December 2010.
\nDocuments obtained from the Army\u2019s John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School in Fort Bragg, N.C., indicate that Aden washed out of the training program three different times.
\n\u201cHe is not a Green Beret,\u201d said Janice Burton, deputy public affairs officer for the Special Warfare Center, which conducts all Special Forces training under U.S. Army Special Operations Command.
\nAccording to information gleaned from the Special Warfare Center and School administrative records tracking system and Army training records, Aden was selected for the Special Forces Qualification Course on Nov. 9, 2006. He passed the Basic Non commissioned Officer Course on April 26, 2007, and survival training on Sept. 16, 2007. Those are two of more than 10 courses required in the six phases of training needed to become a Green Beret.
\nOn Oct. 9, 2007, four months into his training, he was bumped from the program after failing medic training \u201cfor academic reasons.\u201d
\nAden was allowed back into the program almost immediately to train as a \u201cSpecial Forces weapons sergeant,\u201d denoted as an 18B on military records. He again failed the training on March 3, 2008, \u201cfor academic reasons\u201d and tried a third time.
\nOn April 29, 2009, Aden failed an unknown portion of the program, again for academic reasons, eight months after he crushed two fingers in a weapons vault door. The Army had already transferred him out of Special Force straining to the 82nd Airborne Division by that time.
\n\u201cIf he left the Q course and went to the 82nd, he is not a Green Beret,\u201d Burton said.
\nAden has been quoted several times as saying he was a Special Forces soldier.
\nOn Feb. 27, after announcing his candidacy at the state Capitol in Little Rock, Aden said, \u201cI finished up my tour of duty with Green Berets, Special Forces. I did a tour of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.\u201d Video of that interview was still available online Wednesday at youtube.com\/ watch?v=9NnONPghgZc.
\nAt least three newspapers have reported that Aden said he was a Green Beret: The Courier of Russellville, the Evening Times of West Memphis and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.<\/p>\n

In a March 19 article, The Courier quoted Aden saying, \u201cI\u2019m a former Green Beret. And I was making $7.75 per hour,\u201d referring to a civilian job as a security guard.<\/p>\n

On March 30, 2011, the Evening Times reported that Aden was \u201ca former Green Beret\u201d in the first sentence of an article about a 210-mile run through Crittenden County to raise food donations for charity.<\/p>\n

Aden sent the article to a Democrat-Gazette reporter on Nov. 18 to promote a similar run planned for this spring in Northwest Arkansas. Aden didn\u2019t indicate that there were any inaccuracies in the article.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, however, Aden hedged when asked about the Green Beret claim.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnly those individuals who serve with a Special Forces unit are qualified to wear the Green Beret headgear,\u201d he said. \u201cAs a result of my injury, I never served with a Green Beret unit.\u201d
\nMedical records indicate that Aden crushed two fingers in the weapons vault door on Aug. 12, 2008. The initial triage report describes his fingers as crushed, swollen and red with limited range of motion but without any cuts.<\/p>\n

During a Nov. 16 interview, Aden said he had \u201ccut off\u201d parts of two fingers with a 40-foot-long sliding door at Fort Bragg. A doctor \u201csewed them back on,\u201d he said, adding that he still had numbness in the fingers.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, Aden said he had to have the tip of one of the fingers on his right hand reattached. That injury kept him from being assigned to a Special Forces unit, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI pleaded my case, I argued my case to stay in,\u201d he said.
\nAccording to records provided by the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, however, his exit from the program was for academic reasons.<\/p>\n

Yet, late Wednesday in an e-mailed response to this newspaper\u2019s questions, Aden\u2019s spokesman, Vince Liebowitz, repeated Aden\u2019s assertions that he had completed the Q Course. Liebowitz is an Aden-campaign consultant based in Texas.<\/p>\n

Aden further stated that proof of his Special Forces qualification is based on the \u201c18B\u201d designator listed in Aden\u2019s official military record, known as a DD214. Q Course is not mentioned in the record.<\/p>\n

The inclusion of the 18B on Aden\u2019s record is a mistake, said Maj. Rebecca Lykins, public-affairs chief for the U.S. Army Special Warfare Center and School.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt shouldn\u2019t be [listed in his military record] because he didn\u2019t graduate the Q Course,\u201d she said. \u201cWithout the certificate of completion, it never should have been on his DD214 [military record]. It has to be an error, unfortunately.\u201d
\nAden released a copy of his orders that showed he passed the weapons sergeant, known as 18B, portion of Special Forces training.<\/p>\n

That indicates that he passed one portion of training, Lykins said, not that he graduated from the year-long Q Course.
\n\u201cHe can finish the 18B course and be awarded 18B, but in the end, if he doesn\u2019t graduate, he doesn\u2019t get to keep that [18B military specialty],\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She added that to have the 18B designation added to his military record when he left the military in December 2010, he should have been required to produce hisAcademic Evaluation Record to confirm graduation.<\/p>\n

Liebowitz agreed that it was an error by the Army but said the error was in not listing Aden\u2019s Q Course graduation. He also said the award of the 18B designation showing Aden\u2019s training as a weapons sergeant, which comprises one phase and just three months of the 12-month Q Course, indicates he completed all six phases.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe U.S. Army quite frequently makes omissions on the issuance of [military records] because the individuals compiling the DD214 often do not have at their disposal all records relating to the individual soldier, and often rely on that soldier to provide the records during an exit interview,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, Aden\u2019s Republican opponent in the race, said he\u2019d heard questions about Aden\u2019s military record claims, but it wasn\u2019t his issue to pursue.\u201cHe served his country in a combat theater,\u201d said Womack. \u201cThat\u2019s something I haven\u2019t done, and it\u2019s an honorable accomplishment. But to go beyond that accomplishment and suggest that you are a member of the Special Forces community, if not true, that\u2019s a pretty serious breach of trust.<\/p>\n

\u201cMr. Aden needs to be truthful about his military record. Making claims of being a Green Beret is very serious if not true. We\u2019re talking about what is called in the military community \u2018stolen valor.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Womack said Aden served under his command in the Sinai in Egypt in 2002, when Womack was a lieutenant colonel in the Army National Guard. Womack had said previously that he didn\u2019t remember Aden.<\/p>\n

Democrats also have been concerned about Aden\u2019s military claims.
\n\u201cI think everyone agrees that we hold our military in the highest respect,\u201d said Candace Martin, spokesman for the state Democratic Party. \u201cWe have been under the impression that Ken Aden served in the military andwas discharged honorably. We\u2019ll wait to learn all the facts in this particular situation.\u201d
\nChecks into Aden\u2019s academic credentials revealed discrepancies as well. Under \u201cMeet Ken\u201d on Aden\u2019s campaign website, aden4arkansas.com, it states: \u201cKen has attended the University of Chicago and Mid-South Community College. He holds an AA from Arkansas State University,\u201d meaning an associate of arts degree.
\nBeverly Weems, graduation coordinator in the registrar\u2019s office at ASU in Jonesboro, said there was no record of Aden taking classes, although he applied and was admitted.
\n\u201cIt does not show a degree was awarded,\u201d she said. \u201cIf he did receive one through us, it would show up here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leibowitz said Aden had taken correspondence courses at ASU and had accumulated enough credits for an associate degree. But Weems said the record would also indicate if Aden had completed any correspondence courses, and no such courses were mentioned in his record.<\/p>\n

Registrars at the ASU campuses in Beebe, Mountain Home and Newport said Aden had no academic record at those campuses.
\nA search of Aden\u2019s academic records through studentclearinghouse.org indicate that he attended Mid-South Community College in West Memphis in 2011, but not that he attended the University of Chicago, which was tied for No. 5 in the nation this year in the U.S. News & World Report ranking of national universities.<\/p>\n

In his e-mail, Leibowitz said Aden took online courses through City Colleges of Chicago, not the University of Chicago. City Colleges of Chicago is a system of seven community colleges that provides on-site and online courses.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The word is that the Associated Press has picked up the story, too, sans TAH credit.<\/p>\n

But the Aden campaign has tried to stand by his initial tales says the Arkansas Times<\/a>;<\/p>\n

I mentioned earlier the Democrat-Gazette’s reporting today on discrepancies it found in checking the military record of Ken Aden, the Democratic candidate for 3rd District Congress.<\/p>\n

He’s issued a statement in response. In short, he stands by his assertion that he earned Special Forces designation, though he says he had misspoken on at least one occasion as describing himself as a member of a Green Beret unit. He did not address the article’s finding that he didn’t have an associate degree from Arkansas State University, as claimed. There is no dispute that he served three combat tours in Iraq and held the parchutist badge as a member of the 82nd Airborne.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Aden’s stuttering statement is at that link, too. But there’s punishment in line for Aden, despite the SVA being overturned – he won’t get elected, so there’s that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We first wrote about Ken Aden, the phony “Green Beret” running for Congress in Arkansas back … Ken Aden: Another story we won’t get credit for breaking<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-phony-soldiers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30566"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30566\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}