Marine Sgt Maj busted down to Sgt for false awards and doctorate

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2024/10/28/marine-sergeant-major-demoted-wearing-purple-heart-combat-action-ribbon-and-other-awards-without.html?ESRC=eb_241029.nl

Article notes he also falsely claimed a PhD from Liberty.

 

This was a very mind-blowing article... like he thought no one would notice... although it did take them YEARS to figure it out. Who would have ever thought a Sergeant Major would do such a thing?

 

Most people accept such claims at face value, even if they're made with no basis. Did you check to see if your dentist's license was up-to-date the last time you went in?

 

I read the article. It was remarkable that he made such brazen claims while still on active duty.

The fake PhD was of particular note to our crowd. He didn't just claim it; he created fake transcripts and a fake diploma and submitted them for inclusion on is military records.

I used to do that in the Air Force. We would enter changes of education level for enlisted personnel locally, but we'd send all officer updates to the registrar's office at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), who maintained officer education records. In either case, we only accepted official transcripts from the school directly in sealed envelopes mailed to us. This was in the late 1970's; it's hard to believe a fake set of papers would slip past their (the Marines') system in 2019, but there you go.

Ironically, doctoral degrees are the easiest to check up on. "Directory" information is available to the public under FERPA. This would include things like the student's name, degree, area of study, and degree awarded. It would NOT include things like grades and GPA. Thus, one can go directly to the school in question and query about the status of a claimed degree. But doctoral degrees are even easier. Just go to Proquest's Dissertation Abstracts International and do a search. You'll not only verify the graduate's school, you will also get a look at the title of the student's dissertation title. A subscription will get you the dissertation itself.

There is no excuse for what he did. But there is also no excuse for the Marine Corps not to detect it.

(Even easier: use Google Scholar. I searched on "Richard Douglas" and Leicester. My thesis was the 4th hit on the list. When I searched "Richard Douglas" and "Union Institute," it was the first hit. Totally easy. A search of "Charlie Clawson" and Liberty yielded zero hits. Zero, relevant or not. Nothing. "Charles Clawson" and Liberty yielded 3 irrelevant hits.)

It's a wonder diploma mills can exist when it's so easy and cheap just to fake your credentials from a real school. Now, please excuse me while I go print up my new MBA from Hurford. Or something.

 

As a U.S. Army veteran, I am appalled at the actions of this Marine. He is lucky to have only been reduced in rank where removal from service and revocation of time served might have set a higher precedent.

 

He retained a sufficient pay grade (E-5) to be able to retire at some point. I don't know his length of service, but he might already have served beyond the period permitted for his new grade. This would require him to retire very quickly.