Freshly re-elected Maryland Gov. Moore accused of inflating his Afghanistan service

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.

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. 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. 

“Be honest,” Gottschling told the outlet when asked what he would say to Moore. “His service in Afghanistan was good. He was a valued member of the brigade staff.” 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.”

Neither Moore nor Gottschling responded to inquiries from Just the 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.

Gottschling was able to highlight Moore’s actual daily activities in Afghanistan, which did not include combat or leading troops. 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. Moore arrived in Afghanistan on Aug. 15, nearly five months after the 1st Brigade of the storied 82nd Airborne Division had deployed.

“He’s not a paratrooper,” Gottschling told the 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.

“He did a really good job trying to train the Afghans how to kind of sell their own story,” Gottschling said. Gottschling told the outlet that Moore was not part of the brigade’s kinetic combat activities, but was involved in “information 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. Which ones were motivated by carrots, which were motivated by sticks. Which ones were making the military a career, etc.” 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.

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. You coordinate with staff 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. 

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. It requires extensive training to ensure physical and mental 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." 

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. Gottschling confirmed that Moore is airborne qualified, but neither trained with the brigade before deployment nor conducted training 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. “He’s not a paratrooper,” Gottschling told Fox Baltimore. "It’s self-promotion, it’s self-aggrandizement,” he added.

Not quite "stolen valor"

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. They are perpetrators of the worst kind of fraud. Their lies are an insult to all who have truly stood in harm’s way and earned their 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. 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.

Moore would likely not face the fines and/or imprisonment for up to one year that the law calls for. 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. The Baltimore Banner described him as a potential Democratic contender.

A not uncommon fib in politics

Moore is not the first prominent politician to inflate his military record on the campaign 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. The New York Times reported the differences between Blumenthal’s claims and his military record, noting that he was in the Marine Corps Reserve for six years. Blumenthal was never deployed to Vietnam, and Connecticut’s Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) demanded that Blumenthal apologize.

"Mr. Blumenthal is not a Vietnam veteran, and whether he misspoke, was misquoted or regrets that some people believed he was a veteran of that war is not the issue," said Richard G. DiFederico, who at the time was the department commander for the VFW. "The issue is about the top law enforcement officer in my state — someone whose very position requires higher standards of personal integrity and accountability — who won't apologize to those he has deeply offended."

Blumenthal was Connecticut’s attorney general before entering the U.S. Senate, where he still serves. Blumenthal eventually said he “regrets” making the claims.

Other politicians accused of inflating or exaggerating their military service include Troy Nehls, R-Texas, who listed receiving two Bronze Star Medals, although he had been awarded one Bronze Star, not two, according to The Texas Tribune.

Mark Kirk, former Republican Senator from Illinois, claimed during his 2010 campaign for the Senate that he had been named the Navy's "Intelligence Officer of the Year" for his work during the 1999 conflict in Kosovo. He also claimed to have served "in" Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

In a collection of anecdotes about inflated military service claims, NewsNation pointed out that former Senator Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, made statements throughout his career in the House and Senate implying he had flown combat missions as a Navy pilot in Vietnam, mentioning flying F-4 Phantoms over North Vietnam. While Harkin did serve as an active-duty Navy pilot from 1962 to 1967, he was stationed primarily in Japan and Hawaii, flying aircraft that had been repaired before sending them back into service.

Perhaps befitting a former actor, even President Reagan was subject to scrutiny for his claims of military engagement. The 40th President of the United States was accused during his first term in office of embellishing his World War II service. Though Reagan did serve in the Army Air Forces, his poor eyesight kept him stateside for the entirety of his military career.