Out, Damned Spot! Posted by: Dale Franks
on Monday, May 22, 2006
Apparently, someone over at Just Citizens decided to do a little citizen journalism, and contacted the Army about "Special Forces Ranger" Jesse MacBeth.
Today, the Army ran a check on Mr. MacBeth’s credentials. It turns out, not surprisingly to anybody with half a mind, that Mr. MacBeth has NO Army service record. Anywhere. Period. This is a direct quote given to me by Army spokesman John Boyce:
“Initial research by the U.S. Army Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg shows no Soldier with the name of Jesse Macbeth having ever been assigned to the Special Forces or the Army Rangers — which are, in fact, two separate disciplines. This appears to be some sort of hoax. No Soldier by that name at Fort Lewis to our knowledge, in the past, either. Of course, the line about "go into the Army or go to jail" is vintage TV script not heard since the 1960s. There are also numerous wear and appearance issues with the Soldier's uniform — a mix of foreign uniforms with the sleeves rolled up like a Marine and a badly floppy tan beret worn like a pastry chef. Of course, the allegations of war crimes are vague, as are the awards the Soldier allegedly received.”
My only objection to this statement is that the spokesman kept referring to Mr. Macbeth as "the Soldier". I know it's the term of art the Army routinely uses, but, still, it irks me.
This guy's story came out yesterday, and 24 hours later, it looks as if the guy's a total poser (That's right. "Poser". I'm not French.). The information superhighway is cool. 'Cause, you know, back in '68, this guy woulda been testifying before the Senate before anybody tracked this down.
Note to Mr. Macbeth: You'll never be the King of Scotland leader of the revolution if you can't learn to slap together a better story. Although, I gotta say, it held together for longer than Dan Rather's story did, so, I guess that's progress.
Just for giggles, let's take another look at the video capture, and recount the things that are wrong in this single picture. And bear is mind, if this is Mr. Macbeth's official US Army photograph, that means that it is highly unlikely that any noticeable deviations from AR 670-1, Wear and Appearance of Army uniforms and Insignia would be allowed.
1. The beret is worn with the crest over the right eye. The crest should be worn over the left eye.
2. The beret is improperly shaped. US military berets have a stiffener in the front, which is pulled forward, so that the front of the beret stands up straight, allowing the crest to be visible. The excess fabric is folded over the right side of the stiffener, and pulled down over the ear. A real ranger beret is worn like this:
3. The gold and black beret flash appears to be the current flash of the 1st Special Forces Group. Special forces are a separate discipline from US Army Rangers, and do not wear the tan beret.
4. There is no regimental crest on the beret flash, as is required for enlisted members.
5. The rank insignia on the collar are anodized black metal. Nearly all US Army units' local uniform regulations specify the use of sewn-on collar insignia, although the black metal insignia are authorized by the Army regulation.
6. He wears no qualification badges for Airborne, Air Assault, CIB, CAB, or any other special qualification.
7. Sleeves are rolled up, instead of rolled and folded over so that only camouflaged fabric shows, as specified in AR 670-1.
8. The black t-shirt is worn with BDUs only by USAF personnel.
9. The moustache—such as it is—extends beyond the corners of the mouth. This is strictly prohibited.
Not a bad roundup if uniform violations from one single picture. Other uniform problems also appear in portions of the video. (Milblogs, by the way, has been all over this.)
10. He is wearing a Special Forces combat patch. This is incorrect.
11. There are two tabs sewn above the Special Forces patch. Only one is allowed.
So, for any future "Iraq War veterans" out there, you should probably download and read AR 670-1 before going public with your story. Getting hold of a fake DD-214 that matches your uniform, and secretly inserting a bogus service record into the DoD archives would be helpful, too.
UPDATE: Something else bothers me about Mr. Macbeth's picture. The background is all wrong. All five services usually have a standard blue photographic backdrop, with an American flag on a flagstaff over the member's shoulder. This flat, flag background is not consistent with the standard practice.
And, what's with the soft focus. Compare the official photo of Pat Tillman, and you can instantly see that the tillman photo is sharp, clear and well-lit. Mr. macbeth's photo looks like it was taken through a jar of Vaseline. In fact, what it really looks like is one of those photos they take at the mall, at the those "Glamour Shots" places: Soft focus, muted colors, subdued lighting.
I seriously doubt that Mr. Macbeth's photo is, in fact, an official US Army photograph.
Thank you for including the picture of Pat Tillman as a reference for the proper wear of the uniform and how a REAL Ranger picture is taken. Mr. MacBeth can’t exactly defend the photo in today’s instantaneous age of communication.
The beret is worn with the crest over the right eye. Mr. Macbeth’s beret is reversed.
I think you meant this the other way around; either the crest is required to be over the left eye, or that Mr. Macbeth’s should be reversed.
Also, nice reference to Lady MacBeth ... somehow seem’s appropriate in this case seeing how she could not rid herself of her sinful reminder. I wonder if Mr. Macbeth will have any such remorse/regret. I kinda doubt it.
Great roll up on the inconsistencies...2 more for you.
1-the flag stripes are perfectly horizontal. This means the flag is either tacked to the wall (BS) or strung between two poles (more BS). Notice how Pat Tillman’s flag is draped? That’s because it’s attached to a pole that has been placed in a flagstand, which is how we ALWAYS do official army photos.
2-look at the difference in posture. No private in training would get a photo with such crappy posture. The photographers are generally quick and taking photos one after another. They have this down to a science: sit down, back straight, tilt your head boom boom boom.
Umm, actually a lot of lefties questioned this as well. (Yes there are idiots who didn’t.) I certainly have no experience with which to critique this, but it appears that the bigger disagreement on the left and right is probably whether we should call him a poser or poseur.
Aside from all the obvious uniform discrepencies, does this fellow look to you like someone who actually graduated from basic, let alone RANGER school?
The average GI adds weight and muscle to his frame, and that includes the facial areas. It’s simply a result of the diet and training. This fellow looks like a deer in the headlights with his expression, and has a sort of "heroin chic" frame, not at all what one sees from soldiers.
In the end though, is anyone really surprised by all of this? John Kerry set the standard for fabrications and this is simply what gets birthed by later generations. The left will never let facts get in the way of their perception of reality. The MSM will always follow suite. Research? What’s that???
I see nothing here that is any more solid than the Jesse Macbeth video. The uniform nitpicking doesn’t impress. Many soldiers during and after Vietnam didn’t conform to the dress regs. Seems kinda stupid, after participating in the ultimate disorder, to be dressing like the noncombatants at the pentagon, inside the beltway.
Also, I hope you will forgive me but I don’t believe a thing from any Army spokesman; their policy and practice towards information is completely driven by game theory. When US military thinks that misinformation would reduce american casualties, or advance any (ANY) other goals of their unit or command, obviously they are going to lie. And have lied, massively in the current campaign in Iraq,
So show me the beef. Jesse didn’t show us the beef and neither have you guys, you’re useless,
I’d believe the Army Spokesman before taking the word of some tweaked out pimp daddy. Reinstatement of the draft, in this one case, is called for. Then let him make his video.
I see nothing here that is any more solid than the Jesse Macbeth video. The uniform nitpicking doesn’t impress. Many soldiers during and after Vietnam didn’t conform to the dress regs.
Not in their official DoD photo they didn’t. And they certainly didn’t wear a Special Forces flash on a Ranger beret along with an unauthorized t-shirt and non-reg roll on their sleeves. The picture simply would not have been made until all of that was corrected. And here’s a clue, this isn’t the VN era military, this is an all volunteer force who are very proud to serve and wear their uniforms accordingly.
This has got to be one of the weakest and most pathetic "rebuttals" yet.
Also, I hope you will forgive me but I don’t believe a thing from any Army spokesman;
Well you don’t have too ... if you’d buy a clue, you’d know this geek did himself in by doing just about everything he could do to stamp "fraud" across his forehead.
I hope you’ll forgive me, but I’d bet you’ve never had to put a uniform together, have you? Anyone who ever has wouldn’t make such assinine comments as yours. And, as you might imagine, anyone ... anyone ... who has ever worn a uniform knows this yahoo is a stinking fraud.
?" John Kerry set the standard for fabrications and this is simply what gets birthed by later generations."
Loathesome as he is, this is one thing he cannot be justly accused of doing. Virtual veterans have been around long before Kerry thought of doing his remake(or is hommage the phrase du jour?) of PT-109. And, pace McQ, I have seen other ranks and even NCO’s embellish their uniforms with idiotic mistakes like wearing multiple copies of the same campaign ribbon. Not good NCOs, but NCOs nontheless. Or wearing jump wings with low quarters(sp?). And it is truly amazing how many men qualify as marksman, sharpshooter, AND expert on a half dozen weapons. Stupidity is not, unfortunately, limited to civilians.
Huh? Unless you’re with an airborne unit you wear your wings with low quarters.
And it is truly amazing how many men qualify as marksman, sharpshooter, AND expert on a half dozen weapons. Stupidity is not, unfortunately, limited to civilians.
There is stupidity and then their is fraud. This, sir, if fraud wrapped in utter cluelessness. It’s embarrassing it is so bad.
But hey, if you feel it is a wonderful thing to excuse, go for it.
@timactual: "Loathesome as he is, this is one thing he cannot be justly accused of doing."
Yes, he can. Virtually every word Kerry said in his little speech to the Senate was not just a lie, but a damned lie, cooked up to kill the nation’s will to fight in Vietnam.
Speaking as a veteran who actually believed the snake back then, his testimony was based on comments that were made during the Winter Soldiers conference in Chicago in 1971. It was subsequently found out a large number of the participants who spoke at the conference were outright frauds, many who had actually been in the army had never been to Vietnam, and that many who were legitimate were coerced. Kerry was one of the creators and moderators of that conference, so if he was ignorant of the fraud that was happening under his nose, then he was a complete incompetent and should never have been elected as dog catcher, never mind to Congress or the Senate. So he was either incompetent or a fake from the start. Either way, bad news. I will personally never forgive him for his role in killing the nation’s will. I remember how it felt to feel that I had spent four years working toward "imperialistic" goals. When I found out the truth, I was completely outraged.
I have the opinion that this turkey who was just exposed was another attempt to pull off a Winter Soldiers fraud exactly like the one in 1971, an attempt to kill the nation’s will in Iraq.
It isn’t going to work this time because of easy access to the internet.
Perhaps my comments regarding Mr. Kerry ought to be revised to saying that "he set the gold standard for fabrications".
Because of his lies regarding atrocities in Vietnam, millions of honorable veterans, myself included, were tarnished by his broad brush. He never gave names, dates, places, or any specific information. He was an officer, and it was his duty, his obligation to stop any such actions he witnessed, or if he could not, to gather the facts and report it to his superiors, which he also failed to do.
John Kerry showed how to throw the reputations of honorable men and women veterans into the mud, and then use that path to gain political power. He came d*mned close to walking on the backs of his fellow veterans all the way from Boston to the Presidency.
The false allegations given during Kerry’s senate testimony resonate to this day, and the damage done to America’s veterans and to our armed services is incalculable. Witness the fifth-column MSM attempts to "Vietnamize" Iraq. Look at Mr. Murtha follow Kerry’s well-laid path to face time and national exposure. It is a sorry state of affairs that could have been avoided had anyone in Congress bothered to actual research and challenge Kerry’s claims.
Mow, we have Mr. McBeth. Thanks Senator Kerry. Your example has spawned a new generation of posers and anti-American zealots, parasites who crave the rights gifted them as citzens, whilst seeking to destroy their own country through those same rights and privlidges. Welcome to the American Cancer, feeding off it’s host while killing it.
"Huh? Unless you’re with an airborne unit you wear your wings with low quarters" I didn’t know that.
"There is stupidity and then their is fraud. This, sir, if fraud wrapped in utter cluelessness. It’s embarrassing it is so bad."
Yeah, that was my thought too.
" But hey, if you feel it is a wonderful thing to excuse, go for it."
What are you talking about? I am not excusing anything, just pointing out that there are, or were, people who wore the uniform who thought they could get away with such stupidity, at least partially because they didn’t know any better.
My point about Kerry was that although he may have scaled new heights in profiting from lies, etc., he was not the first, nor will he be the last, to manufacture tall tales of military derring-do. I would bet that the vast majority of poser hosers out there were not inspired or motivated by Kerry’s example.
Wings have little to do with what footwear you wear with your greens. Airborne status, however, does.
Wings, non-airborne unit, low quarters.
Wings, airborne unit, boots.
What are you talking about? I am not excusing anything, just pointing out that there are, or were, people who wore the uniform who thought they could get away with such stupidity, at least partially because they didn’t know any better.
And that has what to do with this fraud?
My point about Kerry was that although he may have scaled new heights in profiting from lies, etc., he was not the first, nor will he be the last, to manufacture tall tales of military derring-do. I would bet that the vast majority of poser hosers out there were not inspired or motivated by Kerry’s example.
Most of them aren’t doing it for the reason Kerry did it either ... are they?
Not much. I was just pointing out that he is not unique in his cluelessness, nor did he invent this particular brand of fraud.
"Most of them aren’t doing it for the reason Kerry did it either ... are they?"
Partially, I think. All of them do it to make themselves look more heroic, but Kerry had additional reasons; political ambition. Just a guess, of course.
I haven’t seen anyone else bring this up, but in my experience in the Army, (86-91), nobody had an "official" photo unless they were an E-5 promotable or higher and needed a photo for promotion purposes. (Promotions E-5 and below were handled at the company level. E-6 and above had to go through someone at the Pentagon). Here is a good website explaining the official photo and providing an example.
Per AR 640-30, official photos will be taken in a properly fitted and pressed Class A Army green uniform. Basic branch insignia, all permanently authorized awards, decorations, combat and special skill badges, tabs, and if affiliated, regimental insignia will be worn. The shoulder sleeve insignia (patch) and distinctive unit insignia (crests) will also be worn, and are the only exceptions to the permanent rule.
Soldiers must ensure that their uniforms and authorized permanent accessories, decorations, and insignia are worn in accordance with AR 670-1.
Note that the soldier is wearing a Class A uniform, (dress greens), the photo has a neutral background, a name board in the upper left corner, and it is a full torso pose. This is nothing like MacBeth’s image.
Something that has changed since I got out is that the Army takes it’s own official photos. The way I remember it, a soldier could provide his own official photo taken at a studio. I remember hearing about a guy who’s official photo was taken with him laying flat on the ground to appear slimmer. He got caught because the drape of his uniform wasn’t right.
As far as the people who are still believing this.... you are wrong. This "boy" not soldier or ranger is just infact that. A BOY. The first obvious mistake is the beret. insignia is ALWAYS worn over the left eye. no matter if you are back from war or not. also this is clearly not an army taken picture, we drape our flags. i guess i havent seen the video, but going off this picture... there are about 16 mistakes in his wear of the uniform. and as rangers, we are known for a higher level of discipline... war time or not. the kid is a fake, and needs to be beaten sinceless. send him down to Ft.Sill and i’ll do if for you on behalf of all of us rangers. he should wear a multi color beret to match his a55hole story.... green and tan... if youre gonna mess up, why not mess up horribly?
