"I am from France."
Posted on 09/10/2008 10:40:37 AM PDT by AlaskaErik
The lead dog on the Troopergate smear campaign has a little explaining to do himself. On his official State of Alaska website he claims to have been in the Marine Corps Reserve in 1977-78 as a private. There is also a reference to (PLC). As a former Marine, this smells fishy. In another story French claims he spent six weeks at Quantico, VA. As every Marine knows, Quantico is where Marine officer training occurs. For French to have been a Marine private he would have had to complete basic training at either Parris Island or San Diego, which takes about three months. I also did a military.com search of Hollis French and came up empty. For Hollis French to claim to have been a Marine Reservist is stretching the truth and an insult to all Marines, past and present.
Excerpt from AlaskaLegislature.com:
French listed his service as "USMC (ROTC) 1977-1978," which he later explained was six weeks training at the Quantico, Va., Marine Corps base. French said most people saw his military record as a non-issue and he never tried to make it out as anything more or less than was stated in the pamphlet.
Letter from Freedomwriter.com:
INFLATED-FALSE POLITICAL RESUME
Paul A. Bauer, Jr.
Anchorage, AK
Oct. 6, 2002
To All Concerned,
I take special note of those politicians and candidates that inflate or add false information to their resume by misrepresenting themselves to the public just for a vote.
The political resume of Hollis French that was listed in the Sunday Anchorage Daily News said that he has military service in the U.S. Marine Corps ROTC, 1977-78. This is misleading. A student in the ROTC program is not in the military, nor is it counted as any such service. I am guessing, the most Mr. Hollis did in ROTC was to take a few ROTC college courses, maybe he was washed out after a year, and he wants the public to believe that ROTC constitutes as military service. It is not.
The ROTC program is also available to students in high schools around the nation. Does Mr. French want the public to believe that those students also had service in the military?
A military member in the service who is caught inflating their military record is "busted" and would never have a chance of promotion. In a similar situation, one top-ranking officer in the Navy committed suicide when he was caught inflating his military record.
Hollis's misrepresentation is a dishonor and disservice to all servicemen and women that truly served, as well as to the public he wishes to serve.
The media has the responsibility to inform the public of the truth. When gathering information, media reporters should understand what constitutes military service and report it accurately
Paul Bauer Jr.
Maybe FReepers need to put a little heat on Hollis French for his blatant dishonesty about his Marine Corps service.
College students can enroll in PLC when they are freshmen, sophomores, or juniors in college. Those who enroll as freshmen or sophmores attend two 6 six-week summer training programs at the Marine Corps Officer Candidate School, located at Quantico, Virginia. Students who enroll in the program as juniors attend one 10-week summer course.
PLC summer class sizes are typically 250 to 300 students, broken into four to six platoons. The platoons train in a physically demanding environment where sleep deprivation, military tasks, and memorization are constantly forced on candidates to test their ability to handle stress. The course of instruction is much the same as Marine Corps Officer Candidate School.
Travel costs, meals, textbooks, uniforms and lodging, during the summer training sessions are provided by the Marine Corps, and students are paid for their time. Additional financial assistance may be obtained for participation in active duty. Participants may receive tax-free financial assistance of up to $7,000 for Platoon Leaders Class participation. In addition, participants earn up to $2,985 during the training. Most colleges will grant academic credit for the summer training.
Upon completion of the first summer training session, applicants may begin receiving a $150 per month (tax free) stipend. Upon completing their 4-year degree, applicants are commissioned as 2nd Lieutenants in the United States Marine Corps. Unless one accepts tuition assistance under the program, there is no obligation to join the United States Marines after completion of the course. However, there is also no obligation on the part of the Marine Corps to offer a commission upon completion of the course (although, unless one totally screws up, they usually do).
For those who accept tuition assistance (up to $15,600 over three consecutive years), there is a military service obligation of four years. A member of the PLC-Aviation option or PLC-Ground option (including a Selected Marine Corps Reservist) who receives tuition assistance may be ordered to active duty as an enlisted Marine for not more than four years, if the member:
Completes all PLC program requirements but refuses to accept an appointment as a commissioned officer in the Marine Corps Reserve; Fails to complete program requirements; or Is disenrolled from the PLC program for failure to maintain eligibility for appointment under 10 U.S.C. 532. Following commission, Marine Corps officers attend The Basic School, six months (also in Quantico) of training in leadership, land navigation, weapons, small-unit tactics, and communications.
"I am from France."
Candidates dismissed from the PLC receive an honorable discharge at the rank of private.
Ping
“Maybe FReepers need to put a little heat on Hollis French for his blatant dishonesty about his Marine Corps service.”
Stands out in my mind that if he is embellishing his Military Record, what else is he embellishing for votes?
Liars don’t quit with just one. Lies are to liars like Potato Chips. You can’t have just one.
I personally “washed out” of the PLC program at Quantico in 1968. I was a very immature 18 year-old at the time and it is one of my greatest regrets in life. I did receve an honorable discharge as a result, but would never try to pass that off as “military service” on any kind of resume. That would not be right and I would expect that, if I were to try to do so, I would be justly ridiculed and vilified. I was, coincidentally, in Vietnam briefly in ‘69, but as a crew member of a merchant marine cargo vessel NOT as any kind of military service. I always try to make it clear that the two things are not in any way related and do not accord me any kind of “veteran” status. So, speaking as someone who has had similar experiences which could allow me to make the same kind of claims, I think it’s wrong for this man to do so.
I just did, to Special Report with Brit Hume.
Since you did a report on the Democrat team investigating 'Troopergate' on last night's Special Report, I thought you'd find this related information interesting. The link is to a Free Republic thread about the lead investigator Hollis French, D-AK, and his misstating his military credentials (actually the lack thereof) on his State of Alaska website and elsewhere.
It would seem to me, Hollis French has his own explaining to do, on an issue far more onerous to the American public than this fallacious Troopergate nonsense.
Sincerely,
Me
So if he did six weeks, is that just one of two periods? It was my understanding that OCS was 90 days (hence the term 90 day wonder). If that's the case, then that doesn't explain why French lists 1977 and 1978 if he only completed one of the training periods.
Attend the first 6-week session of PLC and changed his mind.
I decided to go Army (now into my 26th year).
ChiefKujo
LOL of the day.
Since he’s a liar, his nose needs the Pinocchio effect.
In NROTC - Marine option, members go to Quantico and graduate as a 2nd Lt.
All it means is he did finish his Officers’ training. He didn’t finish his second six week course and didn’t accept his commission.
Trust me, I’m the proud mother of a USMC Officer’s Candidate now. He will leave for 10 weeks at Quantico next Spring and barring any unforeseen events, will accept his commission and leave for TBS. Hollis French may have wanted to be a Marine, but he didn’t complete the Officer’s Training and may, or may not, have enlisted.
You actually enlist in the USMCR when joining the PLC program. It appears he only spent some or part of the 6 week PLC Junior increment and then dropped out, which is the beauty of the PLC program as most of the attrition comes from those who decide not to return for their second, or Senior, increment.
If you drop out you are given an honorable discharge from the USMCR.
another rat-wing phoney soldier???
He appears to be a lawyer.
See if he lied on his bar examination or whatever that thing is called.
Someone call the AK bar . . . .
If he was in ROTC which is the first step to becoming an officer would he have gone to summer camp at Quantico? I was in AF ROTC and we had a summer training camp after our Sophomore year. Just askin’.
You have honorable service, as do I. If Hollis French was honest he would have claimed no military service or told the truth...that he quit, got kicked out, resigned in lieu of being terminated or whatever. Instead, he claims military service in the Marine Corps Reserve on his official website biography and that is a blatant falsehood.
Huh? When I went to USAF Officer Training School, they took the non-prior service guys in as SSgts. This was just a record and pay thing. No one was called SSgt. Anyone who washed out would never claim to have been SSgts....
Mr. French. As in Family Affair?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.