Exposing Walter Mitty's
 

Military Imposters Exposed

A military impostor is a person who makes false claims about their military service in civilian life. This includes claims by people that have never been in the military as well as lies or embellishments by genuine veterans. Some individuals who do this also wear privately obtained uniforms or medals which were never officially issued to them.

In British military slang, such impostors are called "Walts", based on James Thurber's fictional character, Walter Mitty, who daydreamed of being a war hero. In the United States since the early 2000s, the term stolen valor has become popular slang for this behavior, named for the 1998 book Stolen Valor. Other terms include "fake warriors", "military phonies", "medal cheats", and "military posers".

Lying about military service or wearing a uniform or medals that were not earned is criminalized in some circumstances, especially if done with the goal of obtaining money or any other kind of tangible benefit, though laws vary by country.

 

107

EXPOSED

32

INVESTIGATING

0

FALSE ALERTS

POTENTIAL WITTY 108

A former L/Cpl in the airborne reserves (TA) this particular individual has chosen to falsely embellish his achievements by :

  • Wearing a maroon beret with a Colonels uniform. It has been verified that he did serve in an airborne reserve unit as a JNCO (10 PARA) but he has at no time served as part of an airborne unit while an officer. He is therefore NOT entitled to wear a maroon beret while in uniform.
  • What unit is he in? He is currently in the Engineer and Logistic Staff Corps . Members of whom hold their commissions as officers in the Royal Engineers (Volunteers), have no official military duties and are unpaid.  He was 'invited' to join 'the club' as a Lt Col and has not undertaken any kind of  official military officer training. 
  • Beard? Not sure what service he thinks he's in!
  • OBE. Yes he was awarded a civilian OBE (no white stripe) and is thus entitled to wear it (although not with that beret while in that uniform).
  • Operational Service Medal – Afghanistan. There is no record of him having completed a qualifying tour of duty in Afghanistan. Possibly there for a few days as a Corp Advisor which does not qualify him to wear a campaign medal with clasp.
  • GSM. Currently unable to confirm or deny this since the operation displayed in unclear. Any info appreciated.

Once the details we've received are verified and the individual has been provided with an opportunity to comment we will either inform the relevant units, associations and local press or delete any reference depending on the outcome.

UPDATE 24/10/22

Following requests from members of his unit and his local PARA Association we held of publishing any further information for the last month. We now have positive confirmation that this individual is  NOT entitled to wear the campaign medals he has been wearing.  The Engineer and Staff Corp have declined to comment, however members of his Bde. have notified us that he has been reprimanded for his dress and his disgraceful behaviour.  More to follow.

 

Previous Updates

UPDATE 09/08/22

This individual has contacted us and has provided some explanation as to why he believes he is entitled to wear a maroon beret despite not having served as an officer in an airborne unit. We have contacted REG HQ PARA for verification of his claimed  'honorary' entitlement. Other details provided are being investigated but as yet there are no indications that he is entitled to any of the campaign medals he is wearing. 

UPDATE 17/08/22

We have received a tremendous amount of emails in relation to this post (over 200). While some have provided us with information regarding his status and entitlement to the medals he wears, most have been about the Staff Corp and the wearing of the maroon beret. Since this appears to have raised some interesting questions regarding the ability to gain a commission based on your civvy cv and personal  relationship with senior officers, we have decided to post some of the comments to stimulate further discussion and perhaps a plan of action. They should be up by the end of the week. No further details on the campaign medals although all indications are still that they are 'self' awarded.

UPDATE 29/09/22

We have been requested to pause our press release for this individual so that the local Regt Association can communicate with him directly in relation to the campaign medals he was seen wearing at their last event. Our information (verified) is that he is NOT entitled to wear them but we are in full support of any attempts to have him resume contact with us before we are forced to go public.

 

 

Col Walt 
Airborne

Comments

A sample of the 200+ comments to date. Included to stimulate debate.

https://www.paradata.org.uk/decoration/operational-service-medal-afghanistan

F@** me there's a whole Regiment of  Wittys!

Bluff organisation for Bluffers.

You watch he'll be a Brigadier next year and Knighted the year after.

This unit is a clear indicator of why the Reserve Forces continue to struggle to be recognised as a genuine fighting force and why recruitment is failing.

It is highly commendable to want to give up your time to indirectly help the military as a civilian.  Such support should always be recognised. However I'm not sure that gifting a military commission is the best way to do it.

It is deplorable that the Army is so desperate for support that they have to hand out senior rank in exchange for it.  

The Royal Engineer Reserves have hundreds of highly qualified civilian engineers within its ranks. Why is this unit even needed? Probably because if soldiers civvy experience was actually recognised by the Corp there would be no junior rank reserves just a thousand Majors and above!  Sign me up, who wants to have do MATTS anyway.

If ever you needed proof that senior officers are completely out of touch then here it is. No doubt some buffoon is under the impression that  granting a non airborne officer permission to pass himself off as one is great PR for airborne reserves.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Handing out maroon berets to pseudo officers simply because they are perceived as being a civvy expert is deplorable  PR.  It is in fact an indictor of desperation and massively undermines the achievements of those who have genuinely earned the  right to wear a maroon beret..  What next ? How about a campaign of  ' Wings for Wannabes ' because it looks good to have lots of 'airborne' on parade.

He's a f$%^ing hat.

This is a classic case of embellishment by omission.  'I served in Afghanistan'  but omits to say 'tea and biscuits in the canteen'. I'm in the PARA's'  but omits  'because the Col Commandant said I could say so'. I have permission to wear a beard' but omits 'cause I'm not actually in the real Army'.

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E-mail: Info@waltersexposed.com

OUR STORY.

We are a group of former and serving military personnel dedicated to exposing those who publicly present themselves  as having received military recognition or honours (including regimental affiliation) for which they are not entitled. 

Unfortunately in the United Kingdom the wearing of military uniform and or military awards when not entitled to do so is not yet illegal. We are currently working to change this.

We carry out a significant degree of research before posting anything and are ALWAYS open to hearing from those we've listed. So far we have not had to retract any posted detail and are striving to make that the case 100% of the time.

 

 

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