Freshly re-elected Maryland Gov. Moore accused of inflating his Afghanistan service
Moore built much of his political identity on a combat-leader story that the officer who supervised him in Afghanistan now says isn’t true.
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who → re → Afghanistan
That raises the question of whether a governor seen as a possible future national candidate has been honest with voters about his military record.
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governor → raise → record
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat who won re-election on Nov. 3, reportedly lied about his military service, claiming he saw combat when he did not.
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he → win → combat
In his 2015 book, “The Work,” Moore claimed that he went through months of pre-deployment training with the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, but Fox Baltimore reported that it found no Army records substantiating that claim.
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it → claim → claim
Moore has also claimed to have led troops in combat and to be a paratrooper, but neither are accurate representations of his military service, the outlet said.
His service was good, but he was not in combat, says former supervising officer
Retired Lt. Col. James A. “Jamie” Gottschling, the Army officer who supervised Moore, told Fox Baltimore that while Moore served honorably, he wasn’t in combat.
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he → claim → combat
“Be honest,” Gottschling told the outlet when asked what he would say to Moore.
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he → tell → Moore
But he added, “It’s disingenuous to say that you led paratroopers in combat or that you did what would be direct action activities in a combat zone.”
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what → add → zone
Neither Moore nor Gottschling responded to inquiries from Just the News.
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Moore → respond → News
Moore said in his May 2022 victory speech, after first being elected governor in Maryland, that he had “led soldiers into combat in Afghanistan,” The Hill reported at the time.
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Hill → say → time
Gottschling was able to highlight Moore’s actual daily activities in Afghanistan, which did not include combat or leading troops.
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which → highlight → combat
The Lt. Col. told the outlet that Moore is airborne qualified, but did not train with the brigade before they deployed in 2005, nor did he conduct any training jumps.
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he → tell → jumps
Moore arrived in Afghanistan on Aug. 15, nearly five months after the 1st Brigade of the storied 82nd Airborne Division had deployed.
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Brigade → arrive → Division
“He’s not a paratrooper,” Gottschling told the outlet.
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Gottschling → ’ → outlet
Instead, Moore said Gottschling’s daily work included analyzing reports from infantry battalions and reconstruction teams, coordinating civilian assistance, and training Afghan officials how to communicate with the public, Fox Baltimore reported.
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Baltimore → say → public
“He did a really good job trying to train the Afghans how to kind of sell their own story,” Gottschling said.
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Gottschling → do → story
Gottschling told the outlet that Moore was not part of the brigade’s kinetic combat activities, but was involved in “information operations.”
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Moore → tell → operations
In Moore’s 2015 book, he claimed he had soldiers assigned to him, saying he knew “which ones were having financial or marital issues.
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ones → claim → issues
Which ones were motivated by carrots, which were motivated by sticks.
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which → motivate → sticks
Which ones were making the military a career, etc.”
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military → make → ?
Moore also wrote that he would make himself available for his troops even when he was exhausted because that’s what he needed to do to lead them.
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he → write → them
An administrator, not a warrior
Gottschling, however, said those actions were reserved for “a platoon leader or a company commander [...] He didn’t have any troops assigned to him,” Gottschling told the outlet, adding that Moore was a brigade staff officer and in that capacity, “You don’t really lead staff officers.
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You → say → officers
You coordinate with staff officers.”
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You → coordinate → officers
Moore told the USO’s in-house magazine, “On Patrol,” in 2014 that he had served as an infantry officer, a military police officer, and claimed to be “special ops” with the 82nd, but his military records only showed qualifications as a Military Police officer.
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records → tell → officer
Moore produces self-promoting PBS miniseries
The Army defines "special ops" as five units with unique specialties, and says soldiers in Special Operations "work in small tactical teams to take on the Army’s most challenging and sensitive missions.
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soldiers → produce → missions
It requires extensive training to ensure physical and mental resiliency."
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It → require → resiliency
Despite the exaggeration, Moore's claims became the focal point of a PBS three-part miniseries he produced, called "Coming Back with Wes Moore."
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he → become → Moore
Gottschling emphasized that Moore served honorably during his time in the military, but took issue with the way Moore inflated his military career to become a politician.
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Moore → emphasize → career
Gottschling confirmed that Moore is airborne qualified, but neither trained with the brigade before deployment nor conducted training jumps.
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Moore → confirm → jumps
He acknowledged that Moore served with the 82nd in Afghanistan as an attached Army reservist, but said he was not in a jump status, didn’t receive jump pay and was not in a parachutist’s position.
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he → acknowledge → position
“He’s not a paratrooper,” Gottschling told Fox Baltimore.
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Gottschling → ’ → Baltimore
"It’s self-promotion, it’s self-aggrandizement,” he added.
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he → ’ → ?
The Stolen Valor Act of 2013 was signed into law by then-President Barack Obama, making it a "federal crime for an individual to fraudulently hold oneself out to be a recipient of any of several specified military decorations or medals with the intent to obtain money, property, or other tangible benefit."
At the time, the American Legion said: "Those who deliberately lie about military service, wear medals they did not earn or make claims of combat heroism they did not achieve are more than just liars.
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they → sign → liars
Their lies are an insult to all who have truly stood in harm’s way and earned their decorations.
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who → stand → decorations
Moore was discovered in 2014 to have claimed he had received a Bronze Star for his military service in Afghanistan, though he did not, after The New York Times obtained a copy of the application and reported on it.
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Times → discover → it
Moore said later he made “an honest mistake” in failing to correct a White House fellowship application 18 years prior, and according to the Associated Press, was awarded the highly regarded decoration 18 years after claiming he had.
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he → say → decoration
Moore would likely not face the fines and/or imprisonment for up to one year that the law calls for.
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law → face → that
But Moore's claims of military combat are important because of the integrity issues attendant to the fact that he is regularly asked whether he plans to run for president in 2028.
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he → ask → 2028
The Baltimore Banner described him as a potential Democratic contender.
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Banner → describe → contender
A not uncommon fib in politics
Moore is not the first prominent politician to inflate his military record on the campaign hustings.
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Moore → inflate → hustings
Most famously, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., falsely claimed that he served in Vietnam on multiple occasions during his 2010 U.S. Senate campaign.
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he → claim → campaign
…and 15 more, not listed.
The Aporia
