Posted on 12/22/2004 6:34:09 PM PST by tht73a
Fake SEAL accuses soldiers of torture
21 DEC 2004
VeriSEAL
TAMPA, Florida - A former California National Guard soldier who accused others in his unit of torturing Iraqi prisoners may have military justice problems of his own.
Frank "Greg" Ford claims to have witnessed members of his National Guard battalion torturing Iraqi prisoners while his unit was stationed in Samarra in 2003, according to David DeBatto, a former National Guard Tactical HUMINT Team (THT) member and author of a story titled "Whitewashing Torture" published on a far left web site in early December.
DeBatto says that Ford reported the alleged abuse to his commanding officer and, hours later, was strapped to a gurney and flown out of Iraq for psychiatric evaluation. According to Army sources contacted by VeriSEAL, an informal investigation pursuant to Rules for Courts-Martial was conducted in response to Ford's allegations and the allegations were determined to be unfounded. Ford was medevaced from Iraq only after exhibiting what was described as delusional behavior.
Ford's claims of torture and abuse witnessed while in Iraq are not the only contentious issues surrounding him. Over the years he has made numerous unsubstantiated claims including being a medical doctor, a Navy SEAL, and a member of President Nixon's security detail. In May 2003, Ford claimed to know the exact whereabouts of Saddam Hussein and Ali Hassan al-Majid known as "Chemical Ali". Hussein and al-Majid were not located and captured until many months later.
Just prior to his battalion's deployment to Iraq, Ford was photographed at Fort Lewis in Washington state wearing unauthorized insignia on his Battle Dress Uniform. The insignia -- a Navy SEAL Trident -- is authorized to be worn only by qualified U.S. Navy SEALs, something Ford is not and never was.
While in Iraq, Ford also claims to have saved the life of a wounded soldier. According to sources familiar with the incident, sworn affidavits from medics and other witnesses at the scene say Ford did nothing more than hold the wounded soldier's IV bag.
As for wearing a Navy SEAL "budweiser" on his Army uniform, Ford has said he attended a discontinued BUD/S program for Navy corpsmen in the 1980s and was a "medic" assigned to a Navy SEAL team. While there once was such a program for SEAL corpsmen who, at the time, were precluded by the Geneva Conventions from attending BUD/S, Navy records held by VeriSEAL do not list Ford among the graduates of that program.
"The subdued Trident on his BDUs is easily recognizable by any Naval Special Warfare personnel as the SEAL breast insignia," says Kent Dillingham, a retired Navy SEAL who is the founder and project director of VeriSEAL. "He wasn't a SEAL. He wasn't authorized to wear it. Period."
Dillingham, a 30-year veteran of the active duty military, recently retired after returning from deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan with a Naval Special Warfare unit.
David DeBatto acknowledges that while in Iraq he personally did not witness any incidents similar to those reported by Ford. He maintains "every army psychiatrist diagnosed Sergeant Ford as completely normal with absolutely no psychological or mental health issues whatsoever."
DeBatto is currently writing a work of fiction based on Army counter-intelligence which is said due to be published in 2005.
Ford is reportedly close to retirement as a prison guard at California's Folsom State Prison. He claims to have retired with 30 years service in the Navy, Coast Guard and Army. VeriSEAL researchers are puzzled as to how he could have spent 30 years in the armed forces along with a presumed 20-year career as a prison guard. It is not known if the Army is investigating Ford's UCMJ violations or false military qualification claims. Wearing unauthorized insignia is a violation of both military and federal law and is punishable by up to six months in jail.
Ford could not be reached for comment.
© 2004 VeriSEAL.org. All rights reserved
This fake navy seal was part of my military intelligence unit in Iraq.
A story about his allegations was run in the LA Times on 05 Jun 2004 @ http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/iraq/la-me-tempest5jun05,1,1094982.story
Now this reporter, by the name of Dave DeBatto, who was also in my unit in Iraq, is reporting on this liar's version of events on DEC 2004 (in Salon.com) @ http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/12/08/coverup/index_np.html and this radio interview transcript @ http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/12/09/1516228
Anyway, I just wanted to show just a little tidbit, and what delusional people do when they try to clear their names.
By the way, DeBatto is also milking this story, in order to advertise his military intelligence "expertise", so that he can sell his ficion book "CI Team Red", coming out next year. He is also a radio talk show guest, self-proclaimed expert in the MI field, and a motivational speaker. Check him out at www.davedebatto.com.
Take care,
John (a former THT member in OIF I).
Ping for item of possible interest.
This is the same sort of think that John Kerry participated in when I was young.
Maybe you can give your side of it to the officials investigating.
Sometimes in war people do get mad and go overboard, but people are trained to follow the rules.
AP reported his name, it was something like "Muhammad Al-Jaheir Mubak." He claimed he was a SEAL in Vietnam.
It would have been comical if it was not so ridiculous.
Nothing like on the spot reporting!
Thanks for serving!!!
ALERT!!!!
So how long were these two gold diggers with your
unit in Iraq? This sounds like another John Kerry
4 month UberSoldier in the making...
Read up on the Swifties... We may need another
"tour of duty" from you any your fellows.
Gee, wasn't this a VVAW tactic?
..
Thanks guys,
My side of the story is almost irrelevant. All the statements have been made, and the investigation is underway. The big problem for me is that two of the accused are either friends of mine, or subordinates. It is very demoralizing to see this crap come up again. We left Iraq, thinking that all that was past, and this morons are just making waves in their baby pools. It is offensive. You should see how the left lionizes this Greg Ford.
Anyway, take care and talk to you soon.
John.
Thanks for signing up to post the story....
WELCOME!!!
Thank you for posting about this fraud.
Funny you ask how long they were there.
They both left early. Go figure. One because he was crazy. The other one because of a car accident.
Oh well. I guess they need to make money somehow. Pieces of... never mind.
John
DeBatto=Legend in his own mind. I hate braggarts. His bio is thin and I suspect for good reason. Thanks for the post.
Isn't there an island somewhere we can send these delusional wannabe's? There must be a division's worth of phony Nam vets too- just send em all to an island and let em work out their "issues".
Thank you for your service- welcome to FR.
ping for later,
thanks for the post.
bump
There are probably 100 phonies claiming to have been SEALs for every true SEAL out there. About the only positive thing you can say about such liars is that it shows what an accomplishment it is to really be a SEAL.
No kidding? Did he claim to be at Ft. Riley from '81-'84? Or is it possible that was a different Greg Ford....?
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