By Yet another phony bites the dust:
Second Lt. Douglas Sofranko, a Florida National Guard officer photographed wearing a Navy SEAL Trident insignia he didn’t rate, has been relieved of his full-time duties with the Guard, and his future in the military is uncertain.
Sources told Navy Times that Sofranko had been fired from his full-time job under state orders after Navy Times informed Guard officials that Sofranko was wearing unauthorized insignia. But a spokesman would confirm only that he was no longer on temporary Guard orders.
Sofranko was a sailor from 1996 to 1999, during which time he attended Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training in Coronado, Calif., but did not graduate. He received his commission in the Florida National Guard in August 2009 and, when confronted by Navy Times on Aug. 4, admitted occasionally wearing the SEAL Trident on his Army combat uniform. Sources in his unit — 1st Battalion, 124th Infantry — said he also posted a copy of the SEAL Creed on his office wall.
When asked why he did it, he said “No excuse, really. Just poor, poor judgment.” [Navy Times]
11:25 am on August 22nd, 2010 1
"Phony Soldiers"… hmmm…..
Every week there's somebody getting busted for lying about their records. So how many are like this guy, that are unreported? Probably the problem is much wide spread all throughout the corrupt US military.
11:33 am on August 22nd, 2010 2
Tom, I'm glad he got busted. He is a lier and rather stupid. Even for an officer.
But he did serve and train. He is better than you. I wouldn't drink with either of you.
2:52 pm on August 22nd, 2010 3
Tom ~ I'm sure this never happens in Korea…right?
7:50 pm on August 22nd, 2010 4
Look at that combat patch! Oh wait, he doesn't have a combat patch.
Just another scumbag in the great social welfare system.
1:38 am on August 23rd, 2010 5
Lemmy, so the military should discharge all soldiers not directly participating in combat? That sure is a great plan.
3:43 am on August 23rd, 2010 6
I never understood why so many phonies decide to be fake SEALs. Yeah, they're uber cool. But on the other side, they're a small and tight knit community where they all seem to know each other. To make matters worse, you have a number of SEAL vets out there who keep lists of those who have the decoder ring and secret handshake just waiting to find fakes like 2LT Sofranko. To me it seems to make more sense to pretend to be a part of a much larger organization.
10:41 am on August 23rd, 2010 7
#6,
Not to mention the dozens who took the course with him who would distinctly remember he had failed.